The Rose Quartz Mountain Range – referred to as the Jathika Namal Uyana by the locals – is a scenic series of pink quartz mountains that are covered in a verdant stretch of ironwood forests – the largest collection of such forests found in Sri Lanka. The ironwood tree is actually endemic to Sri Lanka, so the site is extremely important from a conservation standpoint as well.
The Rose Quartz Mountain Range has a history that spans back over 550 million years. The forests that cover it are relatively recent addition by comparison. It is believed that the ironwood forest was first planted during the reign of King Devanampiyatissa in the 8th century AD. The forest was to serve as a sanctuary for the newly arrived Buddhist monks from India. Its purpose shifted in later centuries with certain rulers turning it into a prison camp where criminals would have to continuously work by planting Na trees.
Not often mentioned in tourist literature, but to a rockhound it was a must do on our tour of the area between Sigirya and Anuradhapura. We set off with our host and guide for the day Lakmal. A few miles out from our destination the road was blocked by a large pile of boulders. Helpfully placed to prevent people driving into the river, since most of the road had fallen into the river. The remaining bit of road was just wide enough to walk on or go across on a motorbike. We left the car and continued on foot unsure of how we would travel the rest of the way. Not deterred we flagged down a random man on a motorbike and asked him to phone a friend with a tuk tuk. He obliged and the tuk tuk guy met us from the other direction to continue our journey. Sometime later we arrived at the Forest of Na, purchased tickets and set off into the jungle.
We didn’t see anyone else on our trek, the jungle was quiet. I had hoped to see the monk who lived in the jungle but he was busy meditating. As treks go it was fairly short and easy, a path had recently been laid for most of the way.
At the end of the track is a short scramble over boulders and you emerge onto the mountains. The first thing you notice is that they are not really pink like the oversaturated photos online! Quartz is a “fader” and the entire area is more of a grey with a bit of pink here and there. Apparently if you dig down a few metres it is more pink, but it is illegal to dig or take any quartz away so we had to satisfy ourselves with a few photos before making our way back. We were very pleased with ourselves for getting to the largest rose quartz deposit in Southern Asia and even more pleased that the tuk tuk guy came back for us!
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