Top Attractions at Sri Lanka
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TRINCOMALEE Top Attractions
* Koneswaram Hindu Temple ( Swami Temple)
* Pigeon Island National Park Snorkeling & Diving
* Corral Island Snorkeling
* Swami Rock Diving
* Whale & Dolphin Watching
* Lagoon Boat Ride
* Cookery Class – Cook With Nimali At Nilaveli
* Girihaduseya Ancient Sthupa Tiriyaya
* Marble beach
* Maduwankulama Nature Trail
* Sandy beaches
Trincomalee, one of the finest natural deep-water harbours in the world is located 257 km north-east of Colombo, which is considered as the commercial hub of Sri Lanka. Trincomalee is home to the fine beaches of Nilaveli, Uppuveli and the off-shore Pigeon Island. Recently Trincomalee has become popular as a Whale Watching destination as well. The Dive centres at Nilaveli and Uppuveli offer touriststhe opportunity to enjoy their holidays in diving, snorkeling and swimming. The Trincomalee district, referred as Gokanna or Gokarna in the historical chronicles and inscriptions, is studded with a multitude of ruins of ancient Buddhist temples and is considered a major Buddhist cultural and archaeological site of Sri Lanka. The seven hot springs at Kanniya located a mere 8km fromTrincomalee attract regular crowds throughout the year in view of the therapeutic properties of the water as well as the varying temperatures from one well to the other.
Some of the other locations are as follows.
Vehera Buddhist Monastery: The Velgam Vehera ancient Buddhist Monastery is located 16 km north-west of Trincomalee off the Trincomalee – Horowupothana road. An inscription is found on a rock halfway up the hill on the summit on which are the remains of a stupa belonging during the reign of Batiya Maharaja or King Bhatika Tissa II (circa 149 A.D.). It records the gift of revenue from certain fields to the Abagara Vihare (Abhagiri or Amaragiri Vihare) at Velgama by a General named Abaya. Dr. Paranavithana Reviews that this record proved that the name by which the shrine is addressed was known in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It was Dr. Paranavithana’s view that the date of the original foundation of the vihare was no doubt considerably earlier than the reign of King Bhatika Tissa II.
Galmetiyawa in the Kinniya AGA’s Division: Below the Galmetiyawa reservoir some four miles off the 102nd mile along the Trincomalee road. A Buddha statue sculptured in marble was found here. Although the statue appeared to have been worn out by the action of flowing water it was beautifully sculptured in the Amaravati style. Around the statue were the remains of ancient buildings. Bricks and pieces of pottery were found lying around.
Ancient site at Kuchchaveli: The torso of a limestone Buddha statue was found at this site. The statue is a beautiful work in the Amaravati style. Pieces of flat tiles and bricks were found in large quantities. It is possible that there was a monastic establishment of the Anuradhapura period located at this site. On a boulder of rock at the foot of a hillock is a sculpture consisting of 16 dagaba presentations. The Buddha statue was transferred to the Archaeological Museum in Trincomale.
Plan Tour
SIGIRIYA DAMBULLA HABARANA Top Attractions
* Sigiriya ancient rock fortress
* Pidurangala Rock Temple
* Dambulla Rock Cave Temple ( Golden Temple Dambulla)
* Kandalama Tank
* Village Tour
* Elephant Rides
* Minneriya National Park
* Kaudulla National Park
* Hurulu Eco Park
* Kalawewa National Park
Sigiriya Rock Fortress and City
Built by an obsessed monarch in the 5th century, Sigiriya or Lion Rock is an astonishing feat of engineering and construction. The most striking portion of Sigiriya, a terracotta and grey core of rock set in the cultural heart of Sri Lanka, rises a sheer 200 meters above a forested plain, its flattened summit sloping gently. A series of moats, ramparts and water gardens — remnants of an ancient city — spread out on two sides of the rock, with the remains of a pair of giant stone lion’s paws still guarding the staircase that leads to the summit, once occupied by a royal palace.
Designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982, Sigiriya is Asia’s best preserved city of the first millennium, showing complex urban planning around the base of the rock, combined with sophisticated engineering and irrigation skills in the palace perched on the summit. It is considered it to be one of the oldest tourist attractions in the world with visitors recording their impressions in some of the earliest-known graffiti.
For just two decades in the 5th century AD, Sigiriya rose to prominence following a power struggle between two brothers, and an act of patricide that saw the then king walled-up alive by his son, Kasyapa. Fearful that his defeated brother would return from exile to extract vengeance, Kasyapa shifted the capital to Sigiriya and in 477 AD, he ordered the construction of the magnificent city around the base of the rock, and decreed that his palace should stand on top, a fortress that would keep him safe from retribution. Just seven years later, his astonishing palace in the sky was ready, complete with terraces and a complex system of irrigation.
Kasyapa clearly had an eye for beauty. The pleasure gardens include a series of symmetric pools, channels and fountains that still spurt water after 1,500 years. Partway up the rock are the famous Sigiriya frescoes, featuring 21 bare-breasted damsels that may represent celestial nymphs, but were surely modeled on Kasyapa’s own consorts. Halfway you’ll encounter a pair of giant lion’s paws, part of the original entrance, which required visitors to pass through the open mouth of a lion. The summit yields a dramatic vista of the surrounding jungle and contains the foundations of the palace complex, replete with bathing pools
Plan Tour
ANURADHAPURA Top Attractions
* Ancient Sacred City
* Aukana
* Mihinthale
* Wilpattu National Park
* Kalawewa National Park
Anuradhapura
Founded around 5th Century BC, Anuradhapura is the oldest city in the Cultural Triangle and Sri Lanka’s first capital. In its heyday, tens of thousands of people lived in a city of royal palaces, monasteries, temples topped by glittering jewels, houses of two or three storeys, shops, pleasure gardens, bathing pools and wooded parks.
Today, the restored remains of ancient Anuradhapura are dotted amidst peaceful parks to the north and west of the modern city. Among the many bell-shaped dagobas or temples are Thuparama (which enshrines a relic of Lord Buddha), and Ruwanweli, rebuilt to its original 2nd century BC bubble shape.
Other dagobas include the 1st century BC Abhayagiri and 3rd century BC Jetawana, both around 120 metres high and second in height only to Egypt’s mightiest pyramids at Giza. Excavations have unearthed jewellery, sculptures, coins and other rare artefacts including seven Buddhist scriptures etched into sheets of beaten gold. Soaring towards the sky, the magnificent dagobas reached monumental proportions during the period of the kingdom of Anuradhapura, which lasted for about 1,500 years, until the 10th century AD.
Stone pillars are all that remains of the 1,000-room monks’ residence or Brazen Palace, near Sri Maha Bodhi or the sacred bo tree, a slender fig or Ficus religiosa supported by iron crutches. The oldest historically documented tree on earth, this grew from a sapling taken over 2,200 years ago from the very same tree under which Lord Buddha gained enlightenment.
The finest of the carved stone figures protecting gateways (guard stones) at Anuradhapura is at the pavilion of Ratna Prasada. Nearby, at the Queen’s Pavilion, is a superbly crafted semi-circular stone moonstone set at the base of the stairs.
The Isurumuniya Rock Temple is renowned for its ancient bas-relief sculptures, including those known as The Lovers, The Horseman and a group of elephants playing in water.
No less than three vast irrigation lakes, which remain to this day, nourished the agriculture of ancient Anuradhapura, which offers numerous other fascinating sites.
Wilpattu National Park
Wilpattu is among the top national parks world-renowned for its leopard population. A sample of forty-nine individual leopards were photo-captured in the surveyed area and the core area density was between that of Yala National Park’s Block I and Horton Plains National Park. There are many types of vegetation to be found in Wilpattu, including littoral vegetation, such as salt grass and low scrub monsoon forest with tall emergents, such as palu (Manilkara hexandra), and satin (Chloroxylon swietenia), milla (Vitex altissima), weera (Drypetes sepiaria), ebony (Diospyros ebenum) and wewarna (Alseodaphne semecapriflolia).
31 species of mammals have been identified within Wilpattu national park. Mammals that are identified as threatened species living within the Wilpattu National Park are the elephant, sloth bear, leopard and water buffalo. Sambhur, spotted deer, mongoose, mouse and shrew are more of Wilpattu’s residents.
The painted stork, the open bill, little cormorant, Sri Lankan junglefowl (Gallus lafayetii) along with many species of owls, terns, gulls, eagles, kites buzzards are to be found at Wilpattu National Park. Wetland bird species that can be seen in Wilpattu are the garganey, pintail, whistling teal, spoonbill, white ibis, large white egret, cattle egret and purple heron.
The most common reptiles found in the park are the monitor lizard, mugger crocodile, common cobra, rat snake, Indian python, pond turtle and the soft-shelled turtle which are resident in the large permanent Villus.
The unique feature of Wilpattu National Park is the existence of “Willus” (Natural lakes) – Natural, sand-rimmed water basins or depressions that fill with rainwater. Nearly sixty lakes (Willu) and tanks are found spread throughout Wilpattu. Located in the Northwest coast lowland dry zone of Sri Lanka.
The park is located 30 km west Anuradhapura and located 26 km north of Puttalam. The park is 1,317 square kilometers (131, 693 hectares). The best time to visit Wilpattu is during the months of February and October. There are a few private eco-tourism groups that show tourists around the park in Safari like trips. In 1905 the area was designated a sanctuary and in 1938 it was upgraded to the National Park status.
Plan Tour
JAFFNA Top Attractions
* Jaffa International Airport
* Nallur Hindu Temple
* Nagadeepa Buddhist Temple
* Grapes Farm
* Delf Island
Nagadeepa Purana Raja Maha Viharaya
Graced by the presence of Lord Buddha on his second visit to Sri Lanka merely five years after attaining enlightment to make peace between two warring Naga Kings, Nagadeepa Purana Raja MahaViharaya is among the sixteen most venerated Buddhist pilgrim locations in the island.
The temple situated in the island of Nagadeepawhich is 30 km from Jaffna on road and another 15 minutes in a ferry attracts thousands of pilgrims throughout the year despite its extreme location. The road from Jaffna takes travelers as far as Pungudutivu and the ferry conveys them to Nagadeepa from Jetty Kurikadduvan in the far end of the Pungudutivu Island
The grand chronicle of Sri Lanka records pilgrims from the Buddhist world arriving in Nagadeepa in pilgrimage of the Rajayathana Stupa as far as first century BC. However the Stupa was constructed nearly 2700 years ago by the two Naga Kings Chulodara and Mahodara, whose dispute over the gem adorned golden throne, was settled peacefully by Lord Buddha on the day of dark moon in the month of April. In gratitude the throne was offered to the lord Buddha, was returned to the Naga Kings and was later enshrined in the Rajayathana stupa.
The stupa was repeatedly reconstructed and redecorated by Kings Devanampiyatissa, Dutugamunu, Saddatissa, Dhatusenaand many more and was a flourishing temple until it was repeatedly plundered by the provincial Tamil kings and Portuguese during the 17 th Century. The temple was forgotten with time until it was unearthed and reconstructed in 1941. The Stupa was reconstructed and the temple rebuilt when the 30 year old was stalled the flow of pilgrims again. The temple too received the brunt of the war and the temple’s main Buddha Statue a gift from Burma was dismantled and thrown to the sea.
However the end of the war had revived the pilgrimage to Nagadeepa and the temple and its surrounding is blooming under the sponsorship of visitors and the Sri Lankan Army.
Today there are two shrine rooms at the Viharaya premises. The main shrine room is situated behind the Rajayathana Stupa and is constructed in the traditional Jaffna architecture. The second shrine room is smaller than the main shrine room and the Bronze Buddha statue gifted by the Burmese Government is enshrined in it. On the opposite side of the temple and off the road is the ancient Bodhi Tree, one of the oldest in the island.
The newly dawned peace had revived this sacred ground on which a war was prevented and peace was made by the greatest human nearly three millennia back.
