It was 8 a.m in the morning. The rays of the sun touched upon the emerald countryside of Embekke. I was in Embekke to visit Sri Lanka's finest example of ancient wooden architecture, the Embekke Devale. However, also outstanding in its architectural style is the less famous Embekke Ambalama which was a royal shelter for the Gampola kings, situated close to the famous Embekke Devale.
Embekke is situated in Udunuwara in the Kandy district. One turns off at Daulagola on the Peradeniya-Pilmathalawa road, proceeding about two kilometres on the Welamboda road. One has to walk about a kilometre in distance across paddy fields in the countryside.
Today, some of these stone pillars that have fallen from the top are lying on the rock base becoming stone benches for weary farmers working in adjacent paddy fields.
Some parts of these ruined pillars have been covered with a thick growth of weeds- a great contrast from their royal origins.
