The escapade

A jungle trek by four adventurous young monks end in a jungle cave surrounded by wild animals until rescued by combined search teams :

by Manjula Fernando

It all began with a nice cool dip in the temple pond early morning, on November 22. Three samaneras, who were in their pre-teens, were joined by a 13- year- old young monk visiting them from a temple in Wanathamulla, Colombo.

Dananjaya Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandegama, Aralaganwila

The four friends were having a good time while the chief incumbent of the Dananjaya Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandegama, Ven.Mawanelle Sirasalankara thera was attending a seasonal Katina Pinkama at the Senanigala Aranya Senasanaya. This was one of those rare moments when the small samaneras could take the risk of being up to a few boyish pranks and dabble in things lay children of their age would. Many of these are prohibited for the young who have entered the Sasana.

The temple was home to nearly 10 samaneras and they were all learning the Buddha's teachings under the guidance of the chief incumbent of the temple daily.

As they were engaged in careless play in the pond, one of the adventurous samaneras came up with a suggestion. "Let's all go and see the ancient Buddha statue atop a mountain close by. We could come back before the Nayaka Hamuduruwo returns."

The site the young monk was referring to was a historic site with caves, used by Buddhist monks for centuries for purposes of meditation since the time of King Maha Parakramabahu the Great. The jungle that led to this site was just behind the temple. But the place was more than 1 km off the temple and located in the dense forest. It was by no means a safe place for young monks on the lookout for some adventure.

Dangerous terrain

The villagers knew the forest was infested with poisonous snakes but moreover it was home to the wild bear, the leopard and 'Thaniya,' the lone elephant. The little samaneras discussed the adventure and asked others to join in the expedition. All but the four agreed. One samanera, who was close to nine years, was approached by the adventurous four but was promptly refused by him. It was this young monk who tipped off the search teams of the whereabouts of the four missing samaneras, when they did not return after many hours.

The four friends left the temple around 11 am, skipping their midday 'dane,' in their desire for a new adventure. It was a hike the elders of the village undertook from time to time and thanks to proper timing, they always returned to the village before dusk.

In a few hours, they completed the difficult jungle trek uphill. The ache in their small feet was forgotten in the spirit of their adventure, and finally, they made it to the site where the Buddha statue stood. But the samaneras were certainly not prepared to climb down yet. It was too exciting. They decided to climb further up to savour the beautiful scenery. There is a place that villagers climb up from where the road network and the temple premises itself can be viewed from a higher elevation. The view was breathtaking and the little samaneras were excited about having reached the 'point' that only adults would access.

STF team with the four novice monks who went missing

Once they reached the top and spent some time up there, the friends concluded it was time to go back. But a heavy downpour forced them to take shelter in one of the abandoned and dangerous caves. As night fell, the place was wrapped in darkness, the little samaneras who were by this time both tired and hungry, were trapped in the cave, unable to find their way back.

Trapped

They fell asleep, not aware of the possible lurking dangers just outside the cave, with a jungle full of wild beasts.

Later that day, the OIC of the Aralaganwila Police station received a call from the Chief Incumbent of the Dananjaya Rajamaha Viharaya. The chief incumbent had just returned to learn about the escapade. The inmates told the priest that the four samaneras were missing since morning. In the next hour, the Special Task Force (STF) and the Army together with the Civil Defence Force (CDF) were alerted about the missing little monks. Calls included one from the Inspector General of Police as well. The villagers and the CDF were the first to launch their search operations in the jungle.

The little samanera, who declined to join the four monks, alerted that they headed towards the ancient Buddha statue in the thick jungle. A pair of slippers found near the statue gave the first clue as to their whereabouts.

By 8.00pm, two teams from the STF joined in the search. The soldiers braved inclement weather and undertook a difficult trek in pitch dark in search of the missing. "I could not even see who was next to me. The night was so dark," Commanding Officer of the Aralaganwila STF Camp, IP Ashok Kumar, who led the STF teams, said.

"We were worried that the samaneras could have met with some accident. There are deep pits and you could even get lost inside those caves. Besides, it is home to wild bears and elephant attacks was another petrifying possibility," OIC of the Aralaganwila Police, IP Lasantha, said. Giving leadership to the mission was Polonnaruwa SSP Laksiri Wijesena and ASP Dhammika Weerasekera.

The wild trek: Search teams in action

He said, altogether about 300 members of the forces and police were called in for the search operation. Their anxiety was heightened after discovering traces of blood on the trail by the STF team. Apparently, it was later found to be from a wound caused by a cut, suffered by a villager, who had also joined in the search.

The teams worked for hours with only a brief break, until the search concluded by 1.00 am. Despite calls by search teams, they found nothing till the next morning.

Missing

The monks were gone missing for nearly 24 hours by the time the search operation found the four, in 'not so shaky' condition and apparently having no idea as to the freight they had caused the elders in the village, the chief priest and inmates. They had no idea as to the size of the combined search operation undertaken on their behalf.

The monks have woken up in the morning and decided to find their way back to the temple. A group of villagers and the CDF, still searching for the missing had run into them. The youngsters have neither heard the calls nor seen the flash lights in their deep sleep. The rescue parties finally heaved a sigh of relief after finding the little samaneras in good health.

The story of the four little samaneras, who went missing in the Maduru Oya Forest Reserve, could have ended in some form of tragedy, if not for the search teams that refused to give up until the missing four were made safe and handed over to their worried chief incumbent.

Photos courtesy: STF