OMUNA (Cave at)

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

Caves that would have housed some hundreds of men (BAKER 1854 edited 1871, 1875, 1898: chapter xii: A jungle trip) consist of a wide rock shelter (SARASIN & SARASIN 1908: 1-15), which is partly closed by a wall and characterised by a nearby spring. At least in the 1930ies, it contained a Buddhist sanctuary and hermitage (SARASIN & SARASIN 1939: 83). ETYMOLOGY: The caves at Oomanoo (BAKER 1854 edited 1871, 1875, 1898) and Höhle am Omuna Felsen (SARASIN & SARASIN 1908) are but other names of the cave on Omuna Galge / Omunagalge (Omuna Rock) near the village of Omuna. SITUATION 1: Below an overhanging wall of the Omuna Rock / Omuna Galge (N07°37': E081°16'), which lies in the Omunagala Forest Reserve (N07°39': E081°18') and at a travelling distance of about 12 miles (19.3 km) approximately north-west of Maha Oya (N07°32': E081°21'). SITUATION 2: BAKER (1854, 1871, 1875, 1898: chapter xii: A jungle trip) came across the caves at Oomanoo on a route from one Monampitya (note 1) ast a 2000 feet high hill called Gunner's Coin (note 2) to the village of Oomanoo (note 3) in Veddah country (note 4). CAVE DESCRIPTION (BAKER 1854 edited 1871, 1875, 1898: chapter xii): In one part of this forest a rocky mountain appeared at some period to have burst into fragments; and for the distance of about a mile it formed the apparent ruins of a city of giants. Rocks as large as churches lay piled one upon the other. forming long dark alleys and caves that would have housed some hundreds of men. The effect was perfectly fairylike, as the faint silver light of the sun, mellowed by the screen of tree tops, half-lighted up, these silent caves. The giant stems of the trees sprang like tall columns from the foundations of the rocks that shadowed them with their dense foliage. Two or three families of 'Cyclops' would not have been out of place in this spot; they were just the class of people that one would expect to meet.Caves that would have housed some hundreds of men (BAKER 1854 edited 1871, 1875, 1898: chapter xii: A jungle trip) consist of a wide rock shelter (SARASIN & SARASIN 1908: 1-15), which is partly closed by a wall and characterised by a nearby spring. At least in the 1930ies, it contained a Buddhist sanctuary and hermitage (SARASIN & SARASIN 1939: 83). ETYMOLOGY: The caves at Oomanoo (BAKER 1854 edited 1871, 1875, 1898) and Höhle am Omuna Felsen (SARASIN & SARASIN 1908) are but other names of the cave on Omuna Galge / Omunagalge (Omuna Rock) near the village of Omuna. SITUATION 1: Below an overhanging wall of the Omuna Rock / Omuna Galge (N07°37': E081°16'), which lies in the Omunagala Forest Reserve (N07°39': E081°18') and at a travelling distance of about 12 miles (19.3 km) approximately north-west of Maha Oya (N07°32': E081°21'). SITUATION 2: BAKER (1854, 1871, 1875, 1898: chapter xii: A jungle trip) came across the caves at Oomanoo on a route from one Monampitya (note 1) ast a 2000 feet high hill called Gunner's Coin (note 2) to the village of Oomanoo (note 3) in Veddah country (note 4). CAVE DESCRIPTION (BAKER 1854 edited 1871, 1875, 1898: chapter xii): In one part of this forest a rocky mountain appeared at some period to have burst into fragments; and for the distance of about a mile it formed the apparent ruins of a city of giants. Rocks as large as churches lay piled one upon the other. forming long dark alleys and caves that would have housed some hundreds of men. The effect was perfectly fairylike, as the faint silver light of the sun, mellowed by the screen of tree tops, half-lighted up, these silent caves. The giant stems of the trees sprang like tall columns from the foundations of the rocks that shadowed them with their dense foliage. Two or three families of 'Cyclops' would not have been out of place in this spot; they were just the class of people that one would expect to meet.