We beat the sun to the top of Pidurangala

Two weeks ago I had an opportunity to experience this incredulously fulfilling feeling that I had never ever experienced in my whole life before. I would even say that it’s a moment of epiphany that made me realize how small a midget I am in a gigantic world. This happened at the top of Pidurangala rock on a fine dawn in March 2021. We chose this trip based on the recommendation from my best buddy, who said it would be an ideal hike for someone like me (she knows how much an acrophilic sunset/sunrise enthusiast I am). Her suggestion was to start the hike as early as possible so that we’d be at the zenith, just in time to greet the sun (that’s how she had gone about it).

So, our group (my brother, his friend, two of our cousins and me) we travelled to Sigiriya the previous day and stayed at a very friendly guest house there, awaiting our long anticipated hike on the following day. The evening was nice and peaceful and we decided to visit the Cave Temple of Dambulla (Dambulla Raja Maha Viharaya) to spend the evening (although we’ve been there several times previously, this was the first time I actually enjoyed the hike to the temple since we saw almost no one else throughout the whole ascent whereas usually this trail is teeming with worshippers).

The plan for the next day: CATCH THE SUNRISE! With this in mind, we set our alarms at 4.00 am for the following day. We had already read online that the hike would take approximately 45 minutes, so we departed at 10 minutes to 5, hoping to arrive at the foot by 5.00 am, which would give us a good one hour to hike to the top to catch sunrise which was around 6.15 am that day.

The road leading toward the rock was dark and utterly desolated (obviously since it was very early in the morning and nobody was up) and we didn’t even have a guide and to be honest we weren’t even sure if we were going in the correct roads (we were using GPS but still…). On top of that, it’s a known fact that the threat of wild elephants is very real in this part of the country and we were praying that we wouldn’t have to meet one as we drove all alone, deeper and deeper into a dark forest area along a progressively narrowing gravel pathway (the smell of fresh elephant poo was strong enough to scare us to our very cores).

Pidurangala rock viewpoint, at a height of 200 m, is the best place to view Sigiriya Rock Fortress from an ideal distance and is just one meter shorter than the legendary lion rock. The temple and the monastery, Pidurangala Sigiri Rajamaha Viharaya, at the foot of the rock was said to have been built and refurbished by King Kashyapa to relocate the monks that were originally residing in Sigiriya. And on the first landing, after climbing the easy phase of the trail, you can find a majestic brick statue of a reclining Buddha, which was also said to be commissioned by King Kashyapa.

Somehow, we managed to arrive at the car park and we entered the historical Pidurangala temple through which and from where the ascent starts. Of course, the temple was deserted as well and a very friendly pack of dogs greeted us with great enthusiasm. We placed our trust in our new guides, the dogs, and followed them up as they led the way along nicely (it was like they were faithfully waiting to guide us all up). The hike up was a bit hectic and strenuous (since it was dark and the torch we bought the previous day proved to be very helpful) and particularly a bit tricky  toward the top where there was no clear path and we had to haul ourselves up along huge boulders sometimes with each others’ help. We were not, however, exactly sure if we were trekking along the correct trail, but we trusted the dogs, of course to lead the way.

The culmination of our efforts was undeniably rewarding as we finally beat the sun to the top of Pidurangala, and it was definitely an unbelievable moment for me; for what greeted our eyes was this splendid view of the full moon (it was “madin” full moon poya day that day), bright and massive and descending in the horizon, cradled in a bed of illuminated clouds. It was like watching a painting, standing 200 m high above everybody else, on top of a rock, a perfect appetizer for the main sunrise course to come. At that particular moment, we owned that place. We had this whole massive flat rock to ourselves after a tiring hike at the break of dawn, which was one of the best feelings I’ve ever known yet. The silence of the day break perceived at the top was massively calming and totally out of this world. We rested for a while, lying flat on our backs, watching the full moon gradually disappear. The dogs ran about for a while and took a nap themselves and we figured that this might be their daily routine; hiking up with the first visitors and probably climbing down in the evening.

Then, for the crowning moment, we set up our camera to get a time lapse shot of the sun rise and enjoyed the spectacle thoroughly as the magic unfolded. We watched the sky in awe, painting a breathtaking sunrise before our eyes, demisting the mist covered hills and forests beneath us and most importantly unveiling the Sigiriya rock from its shadows, only just around 2 km  away from us. We were at the top by 5.30 am (we made it to the top in just 30 minutes) and it was not until around 7 that another group of three came along. So we had ample time to shoot as many photos as we liked, which also included the ones with the most famous Sigiriya backdrop. We started the descent at 8 am, hoping to be at the guest house for breakfast and it was only on our way down that we saw the red arrows marked on the boulders for directions and it turned out that we had actually made a couple of wrong turns on our way up in the dark.

Although it is a bit cliché, catching the perfect sunrise or sunset will never fall out of vogue with me. That’s why a wonderful hike like this is totally MyCuppaTea.