Reminiscenecs of Dambulla in 1960s

By H.M. Nissanka Warakaulle

It was the year 1962. I was getting ready to sit the final year examination of the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, in April of that year. The University authorities had distributed a schedule among the final year students for those who would like to get a teaching appointment to indicate their preferences of Districts where they would like to teach. I indicated Kandy as my first preference and Matale as the second. I finished my last paper on the 26th of April. Soon after finishing the examination, I received a letter from the Department of Education appointing me as an Assistant Teacher in the Maha Vidyalaya in Dambulla with effect from 2nd May. That was how the undergraduates were given recognition then. Teaching appointments even before the results of degree examination were released!

On the 01st of May in the afternoon I left home and boarded a long distance bus from Kandy which was going past Dambulla. In those days as there was not much traffic on the roads and the drivers were very careful, the bus reached , covering the distance of forty 45 miles (this was how we measured the distances then before the metric system took over) in one and a half hours and stopped at the small bus stand close to the Dambulla temple. I alighted from the bus and now had to find my way to the school. As I was a stranger in town (I am not sure whether it could be called a town at that time), I had to ask a few persons and after getting the directions right, arrived at the school. The school was located between the Kandy and the Kurunegala Roads. Later, I used to carry a torch in case I arrived in Dambulla after dusk the trek to the school though short, was dangerous as there were serpents on the road.

The school at that time had only one building and there was another old building which was divided into two separate sections. One section was used as the teachers’ quarters and the other as the home of the Overseer of the then Public Works Department. The teachers’ quarters had accommodation for only four persons. Fortunately for me there was accommodation available with a bed, mattress, pillow and a mosquito net. I immediately parked myself in this gloomy place as there was no other suitable place in the whole town. Just before darkness fell, one of the resident teachers would light the petromax lamp which was the source of light at that time.

Having arrived at the school and sorted out the accommodation, the next thing was the meals. Fortunately the other teachers had arranged a woman to supply the meals and I too joined the club. So this woman, better known as Buth Amma used to bring the meals always on time. We did not worry to find out her real name but continued to address her in the newly established name linked to her then vocation. Of course, at that stage I could not worry about the hygienic ways of her preparing the meals as it was Hobson’s choice! There was no decent place in Dambulla town at that time to have even a good hygienically prepared cup of tea, except the dingy looking rest house.

Dambulla at that time was famous for the cave temple. Then it was in its original state without the hideous looking additions that have come up of recent times which have spoilt the appearance and the value of the temple. From the point where the temple is situated up to the Mirsgoniyawa junction there were only three permanent buildings in Dambulla. They were the school(then a Maha Vidyalaya), the police station and the government hospital. Of course, in addition to these there were the rest house on the Kandy Road and the small building on the Kurunegala Road used as the circuit court (this was used about once in two months).

As Dambulla was bordering the dry zone, most of the period of the year it was dry and hot, especially in the afternoons. During this dry period there was no cultivation possible. The farmers in most of the areas had to depend entirely on the North East monsoon and the convectional afternoon thunder showers in April and October to cultivate the paddy lands as well as the vegetables and fruits, including those lands that were used as chenas. Those farmers who had their paddy fields close to the Kandalama tank used to get water for cultivation from the tank. When the harvesting is done, the vegetables and fruits were sold at unbelievably low prices so that for a mere five rupees one could obtain a large amount of vegetables. At that time Kandalama was just a village with a few inhabitants and remained as such till the hotel designed by Bevis Bawa, was constructed.

We had to have our baths drawing the water from a well. The water in the well as elsewhere in Dambulla was brackish. We had to use this water for our tea as well as to drink after meals. As a result of this water I had kidney problems which was overcome with the help of antibiotics from a reputed doctor in Kandy.

During the time I was in Dambulla, a group of us went to do some cleaning of the roadway to the Somawathi Chaitya on a shramadana basis. At that time there was no macadamized road leading to the chaitya which was in a thick jungle. It was a cart track with footprints and dung of wild elephants seen everywhere. We cleaned the shrubs that had grown on this cart track. The Chaitya was discoloured, it had not been whitewashed for a long time as there was no temple near the chaitya at that time.

There was no laundry in Dambulla to get the soiled clothes and linen laundered so that I had to take them home to be laundered and take them back when getting back to school on Monday morning.

It was with the Gam Udawa that was held in Dambulla that the town developed to what it is today. By that time I had left Dambulla as I managed to get a transfer to a school in Ankumbura. With the advent of the Gam Udawa, gradually the sleepy hamlet developed into a busy township. Now there were street lights and water on taps and house owners were able to obtain electricity to light up their houses. Then came the first five star hotel in Kandalama overlooking the Kandalama tank and the hotel being merged with the vegetation in the background. A number of other hotels sprang up later on. In addition the cricket stadium too was constructed just outside the town limits. Dambulla developed into the main distribution centre for vegetables and the town became a very busy hub with a heavy flow of traffic.

The Maha Vidalaya where I was teaching has been upgraded to a Madhya Maha Vidyalaya with a number of new buildings coming up. The school which had about 60 students and a staff of about 10 teachers had now developed to cater to a student population of about 600 students with a staff of about 25 teachers. However, I must mention that even with the few facilities we had at that time a few students gained admission to the universities and some even were successful in joining the Sri Lanka Administrative Service. Though the facilities available at the time I was in Dambulla was nowhere compared to what we enjoyed at Peradeniya, it was a fruitful experience as I was able to teach the children to enhance their knowledge in the subjects I taught which gave me a lot of satisfaction.