Sri Pada is derived from Sanskrit, used by the Sinhalese people in a religious context; roughly translated as “the sacred foot”, It refers to the footprint-shaped mark at the summit, which is believed by Buddhists to be that of the Buddha. Christian and Islamic traditions assert that it is the footprint of Adam, left when first setting foot on Earth after having been cast out of paradise, giving it the name “Adam’s Peak”. The legends of Adam are connected to the idea that Sri Lanka was the original Eden, and in the Muslim tradition that Adam was 30 ft tall. Hindu tradition refers to the footprint as that of the Hindu deity Shiva, and thus names the mountain Shiva padam (Shiva’s foot) in Tamil. It is also fabled that the mountain is the legendary mount Trikuta the capital of Ravana during the Ramayana times from where he ruled Lanka. Another Sinhala name for the mountain is Samanalakanda, which refers either to the deity Saman, who is said to live upon and protect the mountain (a shrine dedicated to the deity can be found near the footprint), or to the butterflies (samanalayā) that frequent the mountain during their annual migrations to the region.