Ancient artefacts

Ashraff, the 15th century Persian poet and chronicler, describes this odyssey of Alexander to Sri Pada in his work ' Zaffer Namah Skendari '. After landing in the island and indulging himself and his retinue in orgies and revelry he explores the wonders of the island. Here Alexander is known to have sought the assistance of the philosopher Bolinas, a celebrated Greek occultist and magician, to climb the sacred peak then supposed to be zealously guarded by various deities.

Among the artefacts devised to ascend the almost inaccessible peak were massive iron chains affixed to stanchions of the same metal secured to the bare rock face. The chains were secured to the stanchions with rivets of iron and bronze. Remains of these artefacts still exist. Early pilgrims to the peak sought the assistance of these chains to hoist themselves up to the summit.

The belief that Alexander visited Sri Pada existed before Ashraff. Buddha the romantic 14th century pilgrim traveller from Tangiers in Morocco who sojourned in the island visiting the sacred mount, refers to a grotto at the foot of the peak with the name ' Iskander ' inscribed on it. This ' Iskander ' and ' Skendari ' of Ashraff are identical, both names refer to none other than the celebrated Alexander the Great himself. Notes Batuta in his memoirs: "The ancients have cut steps of a sort on the vertical rock face, to these steps are fixed iron stanchions with suspended chains to enable pilgrims clamber up to the top with ease and minimum risk. The impression of the Almighty's foot is observed upon a black and lofty rock in an open space on the summit.

Apart from scanty and much belated Arab sources, history is strangely silent for over seventeen centuries on the visit of Alexander to the island and his journey to Sri Pada. Neither the Great Dynastic Chronicle ' Mahawamsa ' or any other historical record of significance refer to it. Alexander's exploits were centered mainly in and around Persia and the Persian empire, the legends and folklore of the early Persians were, as a matter of course, handed over to their Arab posterity.

Commenting on the ancient artefacts on Sri Pada, the Englishman Robert Percival, who served with the British garrison in Colombo in the early nineteenth century, notes: "The iron chains on the rock face of Adam's Peak have the appearance of being planted there at a very early date, who placed them there or for what purpose they were set up there it is difficult for anyone to know. The beliefs and superstitions of the natives present difficulties. Whatever it is, all evidence indicates that the Peak was in the limelight long before the recorded history of the island.