POSTCARD FROM THE ISLAND

JEALOUSY IN MOFUSSIL DAMBULLA

If you are a Bangladeshi in Sri Lanka, and a bit of homesickness has crept in after three weeks of relentless cricket coverage taking you from hotel to ground, hotel to team hotel and back to hotel again, the modest township of Dambulla can come as a momentary cure. While Galle with its rampart shores was otherworldly and Colombo's multicultural, big city refinement a world away from Dhaka, Dambulla can fool you into believing that you are back in good old Bangladesh.

Mofussil is a term that comes readily to mind when talking of Dambulla. The highway from Colombo to Dambulla is much like the two-lane roads that connect Dhaka to most other cities of Bangladesh and once in Dambulla, whether it involves going to the team hotel or the stadium, the highway is the main artery of travel and intermittent markets along it have collected small settlements in the surrounding areas. The best approximation of a Bangladeshi counterpart can be said to be a cross between a mofussil town and the stretch of road from Gabtoli to Savar.

But the similarities are momentary; as soon as your eyes stray from the road and its immediate vicinity, you will see the largest rose quartz mountain range in South Asia, and perhaps subconsciously curse Mountbatten for depriving us of mountains when he sat with pen and map to carve up the subcontinent.

But we can only curse ourselves when we look at the heritage these Sri Lankans hold on to. The Cave Temple is a major attraction in Dambulla and a big source of tourism revenue. 160 metres above the surrounding plains is a complex of caves covered in glowing murals and adorned with a total of 153 statues of Buddha. It is not just the beauty of these caves or that they were adorned thus around 2,000 years ago, but the fact that it has been maintained with such integrity in an area far from the madding crowd that is awe-inspiring.

A view of the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium from the stands. Photo: Sakeb Subhan

THE STADIUM

That mindset is reflected in the venue of Bangladesh's recent glory -- the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. In every sense of the word, the 16,800-capacity venue is of international standard. It showcases the best of the area it occupies -- the ground is open on three sides, taking in the surrounding forests and also allowing the water body known as the Kandalama Reservoir on one side to draw the eyes away from the hubbub inside the ground to the soothing sunset behind the lake and faraway mountains.

Perhaps that is why there was not much public reaction to the home team's big loss to Bangladesh on Saturday. The crowd just cheered Thisara Perera's late blows as long as possible, then walked away knowing that there are treasures to be had beyond the confines of the cricket field.