Members of expedition. From left: Danny Mackerle, Kula (Nimal Kulatunga – local driver and guide), Ivan Mackerle, Walter Pavlis, Franta Topol.
We went through beautiful and wild country.
Dwarf nittaewo, whom we looked for in Sri Lanka, looks like little wild man orang pendek from nearby Sumatra.
Current locals know nothing about nittaewo to our surprice. Old legend don´t interest them.
Aborigines Veddha were constant enemies of the nittaewo. The Nittaewo often had a habit of disembowelling a sleeping Veddha and stealing his meat - which was left to dry.
Last group of Veddha live in rezervation deep in the isle. In the Kota Bakinaya village. Half naked with their arrows and axes.
Their chief Uruwarige Wanni Aththo is called the president of Veddha.
He talked about history of the tribe, but did not say any new about nittaewo.
But we saw the old ritual about nittaewo.
Veddhas danced in the cave and remembered about extermination the nittaewos in the cave by fire.
Veddha dance for money now.
Kudimbigala in southeast part of the isle is the area where nittaewo lived formerly. This place full of rocks lies on the border with Yala East National Park.
There are many caves ihabited by nittaewo in past. Spelunker Walter Pavlis had explored them.
We could find the bones of nittaewo there.
Expedition led by an Army Captain A. T. Rambukwelle in 1968 stumbled over the arrangement of stones reminded the strange miniature 'stonehenge'. It was supposedly builded by nittaewo. Unfortunately they did not made a photo.
In Kudinbigala there are old dwellings of budhistic monks. Mostly uninhabited now.
Monk Sulamula Pinosiri Tearo lives here, and „nittaewo altar“ which we showed him on the picture recognised.
But it is not nittaewo altar, but the seat of monks for meditations. It was not build by nittaewo, but by monks.
The stones standing in half circle around, symbolise protective Gods.
The stone in the center is the seat.
Monk sat to meditation and falled in transe.
During the way back to car we saw the fresh elephant dropping.
Our guide found the elephant tracks and warned us before danger of meeting with wild animals.
Realy we heard cracking of branches in bush and the elephant appeard.
Elephant was surprised as we were, and quickly disappeared.
