Last Saturday (8th) morning Major Suranga, one of my dearest friends informed me that the Abimansala team and he  was going to visit a unique hotel in

Anuradhapura and if I wished I could join them. That suggestion instantaneously made me happy as I had not been able to go out from Abimansala for the last couple of months due to some surgery that I recently underwent.

As I was asked just before they were supposed to leave, I only had a few minutes to get myself ready. So in a flash my assistant and I got ourselves ready for the journey, but we got a bit late, however, the commandant Lt. Col Kanishka bandara generously waited till Suranga and I came. Then we set off on

the journey in his jeep to the hotel Forest Rock Garden which is situated at Andarawewa, just about ten km from Anuradhapura on the Puttalam Road.

On arrival we were warmly welcomed by Mr. Shehan, the front office manager and Ms. Chathuri who explained to us the significant features of that resort throughout our stay.

As it was explained to me by my assistant, the resort reminds you of an ancient palace from the moment you enter. The resort is the first of its kind in

Sri Lanka, built on stone boulders and cement pillars which extend over a 50 acre land with flora and fauna to give the exact look of the kingdom of ancient kings.

This hotel is different from any other hotel as it offers Sri   Lanka’s rich cultural heritage along with an unmatched closeness to nature. As we were told, the forest Rock Garden Hotel is the first four-star luxury hotel built on concrete pillars allowing animals to walk underneath it.

This resort is located on a strategically important place of the Andarawewa forest reserve as that area functions as an Elephant Corridor linking Wilpattu National

Park to Thalawa and Galgamuwa. The entire resort including the Chalets, restaurant, Ayurvedic Spa, meditation centre and all walkways are connected at

20-25 feet from the ground level by an array of bridges that run all around the hotel premises extending over more than 4 Km. It was done in such a way that saved trees and causing minimum damage to the environment.

To appreciate the natural beauty, It has 18 numbers of “ambalama” in between all connected walkways to all rooms, the restaurant, Spa and meditation centre.

Another important fact at this resort is that they serve only vegetarian cuisine which is ideally suited for a sacred city like Anuradhapura. Another important aspect is that there is no hard liquor available and only wine and beer are served.

As this hotel was built with the emphasis on promoting eco-tourism, this venture will make a significant contribution towards improving human contact with nature, as well since other creatures are be able to roam underneath the pillars without being disturbed.

The most noteworthy weakness that I notice in the resort is the very poor wheelchair accessibility. It seems that they haven’t paid any attention to that aspect. Considering the way it has been built it must be difficult for them to address the needs of physically challenged persons, but if the hotel management pays attention on improving that aspect it will certainly help them to enhance the hotels star class status.

You can get more information about the hotel from the following link..
http://www.forestrockgarden.lk