Adam's Peak (Sri Pada)

Sri Pada has been sacred to Sri Lanka's indigenous Vedda people since prehistoric times. Buddhist veneration is documented from at least the 5th century CE. The mountain accumulated Hindu, Islamic, and Christian layers over subsequent centuries while never losing earlier traditions.

Each tradition tells its own origin story. Buddhists relate that the Buddha visited Sri Lanka three times, and on his final visit in the 6th century BCE, at the invitation of the god Saman, he left his footprint on this peak as an eternal symbol for worship. Hindus teach that while dancing to create the world, Lord Shiva stepped here, leaving his mark at a cosmic axis point. Muslims and some Christians tell of Adam, expelled from Paradise, landing on this peak and standing on one foot for a thousand years in penance—his tears of remorse becoming the gems for which Sri Lanka is famous. The indigenous Vedda people, predating all these traditions, recognized the mountain as the abode of Saman, guardian deity of the island.