Keith Bennett
Several centuries ago, only footpaths connected Sri Lanka’s villages, so there was a need for wayside shelters where wayfarers could rest on long journeys. The solution was a classic example of indigenous architecture: the ambalama.
“The last Rest-house [ambalama] on the way to Adam’s Peak” by Prince Waldemar from Early Prints of Ceylon (De Silva 1985)
In the days when travel by foot was the custom (unless you were privileged enough to be transported in the box-like palanquin), different types of people frequented the paths that traversed the plains, pierced the jungle and climbed into the mountains. There were people going to and from the capital of Kandy; officials on tour accompanied by an entourage; king’s messengers; traders of various descriptions; mendicants; and pilgrims, mainly travelling to Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak). Men and women were able to walk long distances but required a wayside shelter to rest, eat, wash in a local stream, and possibly stay overnight. Thus the mellifluous-sounding ambalama evolved and became a classic of Sri Lanka’s architecture alongside, for example, the pirivena (monastic college) and the padhanaghara (meditation unit).
