Balangoda Man and a bridge not too far!

April in Sri Lanka means a national holiday with immense significance as this is the month when the nation’s New Year dawns and Sri Lankans for the second time within four calendar months wish each other Happy New Year and take time off! While many stick to the exact timings given via observing planetary movements to stop, start and eat, some others make use of the time available to wonder about enjoying the freed space on some of the better roads in the country today.  

This year, the choice for me was the latter and we travelled to Bandarawela – reputedly the town with the best quality of air in the world. My route took me past Kuruwita, Balangoda and the thoughts I had as I passed these places took me back about 30,000 years. It has been at the back of my mind to raise the following point.  

As we traverse across our cities and villages, we do not notice historical aspects or events shown quite visibly to visitors. One cannot see a distinct identity or a character. What is evident are the colour combinations of drinks or mobile communication companies giving the landscape a branding of their identities rather than the identity of the location.  

You may find that the provincial tourism ministry places some boards with details all clubbed together but the information is scarce and sometimes needs some additional validation as per distances etc.  Even places of stay do not have enough information available except for some of the tried and tested locations.

Why 30,000 years when you pass Balangoda? Sri Lanka boasts archaeological evidence of intelligent human presence dating back 30,000 years and he of course is known as the Balangoda man (Homosapiens Balangodancis), and with a tool kit, is considered to be anatomically modern. He is named as such because the early findings were made around Balangoda and resulted in these Mesolithic period attributes been given the name Balangoda Culture.  

I tried asking some questions with regard to these sites from a person who is currently residing at Balangoda and of course blank stares greeted my questions. So much for local knowledge. I thought tuition classes were not the best of places to generate this type of belonging to the land or nurturing natural inquisitiveness towards culture and nature but at the same time, we do not have any others doing that much either.  

Beyond knowing the elevation of the town from the mean sea level, nothing of significance usually greets the visitor. Few professionals and many not from the town itself will definitely know but alas, those on the ground near the very spot stares back at you with a blank face. Awakening interest is also a part of leadership and we should be seriously interested in the past.  

Can the tourism authorities do this and make a difference? Can each of our towns and places of importance have more information kiosks coupled with local studies generating income and opportunities for the local communities?

From Bandarawela, we wandered in search of a few places to see and one site included in the hotel literature on excursions that caught my eye was the Bogoda bridge. The photocopied page did not describe much – the website had a bit more information - but what was stated was quite interesting.  The paragraph read: “The 16th century Bogoda bridge is the only Kandyan period wooden bridge left in Sri Lanka.” The Wikipedia entry stated this as the oldest surviving wooden bridge in the world! And that the bridge was constructed without any nails. So much of data but much less in validation. Yet the entries were exciting and the bridge was not too far away!

Of course this description took my mind back to a famous site in Cambridge - the mathematical bridge of the Queens College across River Cam. The story there states that the bridge was the work of Isaac Newton and that he assembled the bridge without any nails. The story goes on to add that the current bridge standing there is actually a reassembled one but with nails etc. as those who dismantled it to study the creation were not quite able to repeat the task.  

However, the story told by many tour guides to unsuspecting visitors is only a story as the bridge was in fact constructed after Newton’s time. However, Cambridge loves this story and the mathematical bridge is more associated with Newton than the historically accurate recorded story of the bridge. The bridge was built in 1749 according to the design of William Etheridge and Newton passed away in 1727.

It was subsequently rebuilt according to the same design in 1866 and 1905. Cambridge University however has recorded the story diligently and in detail. Tour guides perhaps do not like to miss out on a better story and may admit later on that the truth is otherwise. Louis Stanley’s Cambridge City of Dreams states the story smoothly in the following way: “The timber mathematical bridge is a copy of the original constructed in 1749-50 without any nails, the parts being pegged together. Wishful thinking gave the credit to Sir Issac Newton.”

I was contemplating on why we have not made some of Sri Lankan more notable sites more meaningful as it also gives a wider meaning to your living in a location. Bogoda bridge is definitely older than the bridge over at Cambridge and thereby more original too. Getting to Bogoda bridge is an event on its own.  

Most of the time, people will take one look at your vehicle and say cannot go or do not go. No motivational guide is available to support you. Their love for the vehicle is more! Of course not being a politician, you do not have a vehicle to match all terrains and are reduced to make do with what you have and hope for the best of conditions.  

Yes, the road proved to be atrocious after the initial part and at the point of entry, the board put up by the local tourism authority was on the ground upside down and the distance to the site stated was quite suspicious. However, armed with the knowledge that we were about to see our own ‘mathematical bridge’ we moved on.  

Getting to the site, we found out that the bridge was adjoining an old temple which is even more historical – a double delight! The place was out-of-bounds for my parents due to the flight of steep steps and they were not able to see both places. The concept of universal access should be extended to all worthy places and should be followed up with vigour.  

The span of the bridge is not great – around 54 feet - but so is the one at Cambridge. The instructions to preserve it appears to have fallen on deaf ears as there are names scratched across wooden beams disfiguring it and indicates a basic disregard for values by some visitors. Of course, you will not find the place teeming with visitors as the site is rather inaccessible due to the bad road and appears to play more of a local role.  

However it is a pity that these locations are off the beaten track. Even for those who do find their way to the site, information is scarce as the place being a temple is more in tune with day-to-day affairs and lacks historical information. As an ordinary citizen, I felt that we really are not doing things quite right in these situations. Something is amiss although I am not quite sure what it is, not being a professional in this sphere.  

However, I am positive that lots of children are growing up minus an understanding of these places and to some, these places may merely be either pieces of rock or some old wooden planks not worthy of a second look.

Back again to Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare reigned, to emphasis a point. You visit the village in Midlands and walk about in wonder across the cottages and they show you everything from chairs to tables, stating that it was on those things that young Shakespeare sat when he was schooling.  However, in one place, an answer to a detailed question was, “No the chair was not actually used by the little William but it is from the same era!” A far cry from what you are supposed to take in.  

This I believe, must be the way the tourist is fed misleading facts as the whole truth may not always be quite exciting and not in line with the expected feeling as you are parting with some significant amount of money to make this journey across centuries. Maybe there are quite a few things in some areas where Sri Lankan Tourism has some learning to do.  

However, as a scientist I will stick to what is known and work towards getting to know more as science has developed ways of exact dating and much more. Sri Lanka lacks carbon dating facilities and I ask the question why? That is important not only to generate tourism. Honesty is always a better way of doing things, even though the returns for a certain period may not be quite what you would like it to be.

At the end of a journey, I have tried to connect some viewer insights and hope that some ideas may resonate from some who are active in this area. For me, it is back to my kind of work!