Abour Sri Lanka

Those of the Islamic faith believe it to be the footprint of Adam, the first man, who stood there on one leg for a year, in repentance after being banished from the Garden of Eden. To Hindus it is the footprint of the Lord Shiva, and they call it "Shivanadi Paadam". Eastern Christians believe the depression to have been caused by the knee of St. Thomas, the Apostle of Christ who came to preach in India and the East, as he knelt down in repentance for his doubting the divinity of Christ. Nowhere in the world do the four major faiths mingle in this manner, and it is from the springs at Adam's Peak or "Sri Paada" (the sacred footprint) as referred to by Buddhists, that the four main rivers of the country begin their flow to the sea, meandering through mountain and valley. Not without reason has Sri Lanka also been referred to by travel writers of the past as "this other Eden".