Wewurukunnala Viharaya – A Ride to Hell

Cultures across the world describe hell in a number  of ways. No description has ever been pleasant. An inland road to Beliatta will bring you to Dickwella, a village that is at a distance of twenty-two kilometers from Matara. The village has made it on to travel maps on account of the Wewurukunnala Viharaya, The most convenient way to get here from Colombo is to ride your own car or simply rent a car. Sri Lanka is a country where history is highly influenced by Buddhist traditions and beliefs, including its architecture. If you aren’t a much into driving but would prefer having yourself to your destination, Kings Rent A Car offers the chauffeur driven car rides to any location from Colombo.

The Wewurukunnala Viharaya depicts Sri Lanka’s own rendition of Inferno. This temple has a history that dates back to the 18th century, a time when King Rajadhi Rajasinghe reigned over Kandy (1782AD – 1798AD). The entrance of this 250 year old structure is dominated by a 162 feet colossal statue of a seated Buddha which spans the entire height of the six-storied temple. In fact, you can take the stair to reach the top of the building and gaze into the massive head of the Buddha statue.

The first part of the building is houses the image temple- a spectacular collection assemblage of statues that narrate stories of gods and princes. It is from here that you enter a long hall with garish and gaudily crafted life-size clay figures of scenes from hell as described in Buddhism. From being ripped into two halves mercilessly to getting yourself skinned and being dunked into scorching lava; there is a punishment for every act of sin. There is a written catalog that describes punishment specific to the misdeeds committed. The semblances, however, fail to strike much fear into the heart, unless you let your imagination wander a bit. Nevertheless, the mix of history and lore makes the ride fascinating.

The Solar Timeline

You would be surprised to know that solar energy has been harnessed since the 7th century B.C. In the 7th century BC, the sun’s energy was concentrated using magnifying glasses to produce fire and kill ants. It was in the 3rd century BC that the Romans and Greeks harnessed the sun’s energy to light torches by reflecting the sun’s rays using mirrors. Even today, this practice continues to be used for lighting the Olympic torch. Documents from 20 AD explain the use of mirrors in religious ceremonies by the Chinese to light the torches at the temples.

The first solar collector was designed in 1767 by the Horace de Saussure, a Swiss inventor. It was this design that was later adopted by Sir John Herschel to cook food on his South African expedition in 1837. Further developments began around 1873 when the photo conductivity of Selenium was discovered by Willoughby Smith.

The first commercial solar water heater in the world was patented by Clarence Kemp in 1891 but it was only in 1982 that the solar water heater was manufactured domestically in Sri Lanka. While these developments occurred, Einstein’s research paper on photoelectric effect was published in 1905. It was at the same time that he had published his paper on the theory of relativity.

The first photo-voltaic cell was designed in 1954 by Calvin Fuller David Chapin and Gerald Pearson. This was capable of converting sunlight into electrical energy. 1963 -Solar cells were successfully mass- manufactured and in 1976 Calculators with dual property, that used both batteries and tiny photo-voltaic cells to power the device were released into the market. However, it wasn’t only in 1994 that the first residential roof top solar cell was commercialized.

Sri Lanka has only begun taking its first steps towards solar energy. Hambantota Solar Power Station (Buruthakanda Solar Park) became the first commercial solar power plant to harness solar energy in Sri Lanka in 2012. With the recent introduction (2016) of Surya Bala Sangramaya’s ADMO Solar became the first company in the country to adopt and implement Net Accounting System, a program through which a consumer gets paid for the additional energy  that gets redirected to the national grid through net metering.