The  Gal Oya National Park is located in Monaragala District of Uva Province in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1954 and serves as the main catchment area for Senanayake Samudraya, the largest reservoir in Sri Lanka. The park is administrated by the  Department of Wildlife Conservation. The Gal Oya National Park is spread over 259km2. The park is mainly famous due to its elephants, where you can see them throughout the year. The place where the Gal Oya falls to the Senanayake Samudraya is called Makara (See the gallery). In this place, the Gal Oya disappears under huge rocks. According to legend, the original Read more...

The Bahirawakanda Buddha Statue can be seen from many places of the Kandy City. The statue is 88 feet in height. The temple is located 1km away from the Kandy Clock tower (2km away from Sri Dalanda Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic)). Read more...

Thanthirimale Rajamaha Viharaya is located in Anuradhapura District of North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The temple was built in the 3rd century BC. It is believed that, when the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi was brought in to Sri Lanka, one night along the way to Anuradhapura, the pot containing the sapling was kept at Thanthirimale.   Read more...

The Jetavanaramaya is one of the Eight Sacred places known as “Atamasthana”. It is located in the Sacred City of Anuradhapura in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. The Jetavanarama Stupa was built by King Mahasen (276-303).   During the reign of King Mahasen, this has become a center of Sagalika sect (also it is said that the Sagalika sect has started in Jetavanaramaya). This stupa was rehabilitated for the last time by King Parakramabahu in the 12th century. It is believed that this stupa has enshrined a part of a sash or belt tied by the Lord Buddha. Read more...

Lankathilaka Vihara is a vaulted type (gedige) image house located in Polonnaruwa District of North Central Province, Sri Lanka. It was built by King Parakramabahu the Great (1153-1186 A.D.). This image house is considered to be the largest image house built in ancient Sri Lanka. There is evidence that the image house has been renovated during the Dambadeniya Period (13th century A.D.). The giant standing Buddha statue, two pylons at the entrance, and the remaining walls signify the extent of it.  The building, including the giant Buddha statue, is completely built with clay bricks. According to some chronicles, the building has Read more...

Tivanka Image House is identified as the image house of Jetavanaramaya Monastery built by the King Parakramabahu the Great (1153 – 1186). It is located in the main archaeological site of Polonnaruwa District in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The name Tivanka (means three bends) is given due to its giant Buddha image is bent at three places, namely shoulder, hip, and knee. The image house is famous due to the paintings on its interior walls. The paintings belong to the 12th century and they depict certain incidents from Jataka Stories and the life of Buddha. Like Thuparamaya and Lankathilaka, this image Read more...

Koneswaram Temple is a Hindu temple in Trincomalee District of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. The temple is located in the top of the Swami Rock promontory that overlooks the Indian Ocean, Trincomalee Harbour, and the Trincomalee District. The exact date of construction of the temple remains vague. However, according to the historical evidence, the temple was likely to found before 400 B.C. External Links Koneswaram temple – Wikipedia.org Swami Rock and Koneswaram temple   Read more...

The Moragahakanda Reservoir is the largest reservoir of the Mahaweli project. The Moragahakanda Dam is a high gravity dam with a height of 65 meters. The dam has created the Moragahakanda Reservoir, which has an active storage capacity of 521,000,000 cubic meters and is four times bigger than the gigantic Parakrama Samudraya in Polonnaruwa. The main viewpoint of and the dam can be easily accessed via Naula – Elahara – Pallegama – Hettipola (B312) road which is starting from Naula on Kandy – Jaffna (A009) road. The reservoir mainly belongs to the Polonnaruwa District of North Central Province. You can also access this Read more...

Meemure is a village in Kandy district in Central province of  Sri Lanka. It is located near the border between Kandy District and Matale District in the Knuckles Mountain Range. The village is rich with natural beauty. The Lakegala mountain, which is part of the Knuckles Mountain Range is also located in Meemure. According to the legend, Lakegala is the place King Ravana landed his historical airplane called Dandu Monara. Read more...

The Embekka Dewalaya was built by the King Vikramabahu III during the Gampola Era.  It is located in Udunuwara in Kandy District. The Embekka devalawa is dedicated to the worship of Katharagama Deviyo. The Embekka Dewalaya is mostly famous for its wood carvings. UNESCO has identified the wood carvings on the pillars as the finest to be found in any part of the world. Read more...

Kiri Vehera is an ancient stupa located in the Kataragama area which belongs to Monaraga district of Uva province, Sri Lanka. It is believed that the stupa was built by King Mahasena, a regional ruler of this area in 6th century BC. This is one of the 16 sacred sites in Sri Lanka called Solosmasthana. The height of this stupa is 95ft. The famous Ruhunu Maha Kataragama Devalaya also located very closer to this stupa. Read more...

“Kuttam Pokuna” or “Twin Ponds” is a unique creation of ancient architecture and considered as one of the significant achievements in hydrological engineering in ancient Sri Lanka. The pond is located in the Sacred City of Anuradhapura in North Central Province, Sri Lanka.  As the name suggests, there are two ponds in this creation. It has been identified that these ponds were used to collect water for the Abhayagiri Vihara monks to bath. The two ponds are not identical and also one seems to be older than the other. The width of the ponds is the same and it is Read more...

Menik Vehera is an ancient monastery located in Polonnaruwa District of North Central Province, Sri Lanka.  The history of this place is not known. However, according to the architectural features, it is assumed to belong to the 8-9 centuries A.D.  This monastery consists of a Stupa, image houses, a Bodhi – tree shrine, refectory, monk’s dispensary and cells.  The stupa here is of a rare type, which is built on a high terrace surrounded by a high wall. There is a carved stone door-frame at the entrance to the Stupa. This monastery is unnoticed by many of the visitors who Read more...

From Lipton’s Seat, you can have a Spectacular view over five provinces, namely Central, Sabaragamuwa, Southern, Uva, Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. This marvelous viewpoint is located above 6000 ft MSL and it is in the Haputale area in Badulla District of Uva Province, Sri Lanka. Read more...

The Minneriya Tank was built by the king Mahasen (276-304), who ruled the country from Anuradhapura. The tank is located in the Polonnaruwa District of North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The tank has been built by constructing a dam across Minneriya River. The dam is about 2 km in length with the maximum height of 21.34m[1].  The tank covered an area of 4,670 acres and it receives Mahaweli water through Elahera Giant Canal. Because of this giant construction and its usefulness to the irrigation and agriculture, the countrymen regarded the king as a god and he was named as Minneri Read more...

The Kandalama reservoir is one of the most beautiful ancient reservoirs in Sri Lanka. It is located in Dambulla, in Matale District of Sri Lanka, about 8 km away from the famous Dambulla Cave Temple. The reservoir has been a famous tourist destination for both local and foreign tourist, even during the British colonial period. This is a popular bathing location among local travelers. You can arrange wonderful hot air balloon ride over this site and there few companies who provide the service. The Kandalama reservoir is also a testament to the ancient architectural knowledge of Sri Lanka. it plays a Read more...

Gregory Lake is one of the main tourist attractions in Nuwara Eliya city. The lake was built during the period of British Governor William Gregory in 1873. You can experience a boat ride or you can hire a Swan paddle boat. This is a nice place to have an evening walk. Read more...

Udawattakele is a natural forest located in the middle of the Kandy City, behind Sri Dalanda Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic). The forest is 257 acres in area and has a long history dating back to many centuries. There is a large verity of birds, animals, and butterflies belonging to various species in the forest. you can find a variety of trees including talipot trees, olive, cinnamon, rattan cane, bo-trees, kitul palms, jak, mara, betel nut, areca nut, Nuga, Pihimbiya, Niyaghala, Walla, Mee, Etamba, Sapu, Malaboda and Mahogany in this forest. The Udawattakele forest reserve which had been Read more...

Sandakada Pahana (or Moonstone) is a semi-circular stone slab usually seen at the bottom of staircases of ancient religious places as well as some ancient royal palaces in Sri Lanka. It is a unique creation of ancient Sinhalese architecture. The Moonstone located in Mahasena’s Palace is the finest and best-preserved Moonstone found in Sri Lanka. This palace is located in the Sacred City of Anuradhapura in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. Sandakada Pahana (the Moonstone) at Mahasena’s Palace interpretation According to historians, the symbols and their arrangement represents a great religious meaning. The widely accepted interpretation was introduced by Prof. Senarath Read more...

Rankoth Vehera is the largest stupa in the ancient city of Polonnaruwa and the 4th largest in Sri Lanka. It is about 33m in height and 170m in diameter. It was built by the King Nissanka Malla (1187-1196). This stupa has constructed with the same design as the Ruwanwelisaya in the Sacred City of Anuradhapura. According to a stone inscription found in the vicinity of the stupa, it was initially named as “Ruwanweli Stupa”. However, later it has come to be known as Rankoth Vehera. At each of the fours sides of the stupa, there are ruins of four gateways (“Vahalkada” in Sinhala) Read more...

Gal Potha (Stone Book) is a giant stone inscription located in the Dalada Maluwa premises of main archaeological site in Polonnaruwa District, Sri Lanka. It is a work of King Nissankamalla (1187-1196) and it is the largest stone inscription discovered so far. The inscription itself tells that this large stone was transported from Minintale, some hundred kilometers away from Polonnaruwa. It describes the genealogy, heroic and altruistic deed of King Nissankamalla. The letters of the inscription were embossed with molten iron. The figure of the woman on the side face of the stone on whom two elephants are sprinkling water has been identified as Goddess Gajalakshmi (Goddess Read more...

Deegawapi Stupa is one of the Solosmasthana (16 most sacred places to be worshiped by Buddhist in Sri Lanka), located in Ampara District of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Deegavapi has always been a place of reverence for Buddhists in Sri Lanka. According to the legends, the Lord Buddha in his third visit to Sri Lanka proceeded to Deegavapi after placing an imprint of his foot on a gemstone at the summit of Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak). It is said to be that the stupa we see today is located in the place where the Lord Buddha and 500 arhats spent Read more...

Vijithapura Rajamaha Viharaya is an ancient Buddhist temple worshiped by Buddhist all around the country. The temple is located closer to the Kala Wewa in Anuradhapura district of North Central Province, Sri Lanka. You can access this temple through Kekirawa – Galewela road and only about 10km away from the Kekirawa temple. According to the historical sources (like Mahavamsa, Deepavamsa, Tupavamsa, and Saddharmalankaraya), the history of the Vijithapura area goes back to the reign of King Vijaya (543–505 BCE). The beginning of the Vijithapura Rajamaha Viharaya is not clearly identified. However, according to the legends, the history of the temple Read more...

Aluvihara Rock Cave Temple (also called Matale Aluviharaya) is located in Matale district, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist temple which history dates back to 3rd Century B.C to the reign of King Devanampiyatissa. The temple is the place where Tripitakas, namely Vinaya Pitakaya (Basket of Discipline), Sutta Pitakaya (Basket of Discourse) and Abhidarma Pitakaya (Basket of Metaphysics) wrote in Ola leaves during the reign of King Walagamba.   The Museum   This slideshow requires JavaScript.   Balumge   This slideshow requires JavaScript.   Read more...