1750 Schley, Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka (Ceylon), hand coloured engraving

Sheet: 24 x 19.5 cm

1750 c

Antique copperplate engraving. Later hand coloured.

Adam's Peak is a 2,243 m (7,359 ft) tall conical mountain located in central Sri Lanka. It is well known for the Sri Pada (Sinhala: ශ්රී පාද), i.e., "sacred footprint", a 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) rock formation near the summit, which in Buddhist tradition is held to be the footprint of the Buddha, in Hindu tradition that of Hanuman or Shiva (Tamil: சிவனொளிபாதமலை, lit. 'Sivanolipaathamalai'), i.e., "Mountain of Shiva's Light", and in some Islamic and Christian traditions that of Adam, or that of St. Thomas.