Off the beaten path around YapahuwaThis page is about less-frequented places of interest in the
northwest of Sri Lanka. Find a list of links to dozens of off-the-beaten-path destinations all over Sri Lanka here... |
Yapahuwa
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Tourist attractions between Colombo and Anuradhapura
Most round tours leave the region of Colombo and Negombo, which are the towns closest to the airport, first towards a northern direction, either to Sigiriya or to Anuradhapura. Indeed, it really makes sense to visit the historical places clockwise, because this way you can study them roughly in chronological order. The shortest routes to both areas, Anuradhapura District with Anuradhapura and Mihintale, and Matale District with Dambulla and Sigiriya, cross Kurunegala District, allowing to visit Dambadeniya on the way. An alternative route to Anuradhapura, as said, is the coastal road via Puttalam.
Lonesome places in the Northwestern Province
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2**stars & not overcrowded
Taking the latter route (A3 and A12), the Peninsula of Kalpitiya is worth a relaxing detour. It’s Sri Lanka‘s best place for Dolphin watching and for kite surfing. The sandy beaches are long and lonesome. Those interested more in historical sites could consider an alternative detour to the very rarly visited cave temple and ruins of Wilandagoda , which is completely untouched by tourism.
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1*star & rarely visited
Taking a break in the provincial capital Kurunegala, travellers can drive almost to the top of the city's backyard hill, the so-called elephant rock, where a large Buddha statue is placed that dominates the entire city. The terrace of this statue is an excellent vantage point to see the city and surrounding hills and the lush green plains of Sri Lanka’s major coconut area. At the foot of the hill is a tomb of a local Muslim saint also venerated by Buddhists.
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1*star & almost secret
A new Buddhist hermitage still inhabited by a monk can be found near the village of Alahuwa between Colombo and Kurunegala. It’s almost never visited by foreigners, though it’s worth a hike a little bit uphill for the excellent vistas to the foothills of the central highlands. The monk living here as a hermit is welcoming all guests.
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3***stars & not overcrowded
For heritage travellers, definitely the number one destination along the Kurunegala-Anuradhapura road A28 is the medieval citadel and rock of Yapahuwa, sometimes called „Sri Lanka’s second Sigiriya“. The former city walls surrounding the rock are still intact and the large sculptural decoration of the imposing grand staircase to the former palace are a major attraction of Sri Lanka, the 360 degree panorama from the top is amazing. Yapahuwa can not claim to be completely off-the-beaten path. However, most visitors are surprised, how undisturbed this great heritage destination still is.
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1*star & almost secret
Halfway between Kurunegala and Yapahuwa is the village of Padeniya. It has one of the rare examples of a Kandyan style temple in the lowlands. Apart from Embekke near Kandy and Panavitiya near Dambadeniya, Padeniya has the most delicate lovely small pillar woodcarvings in the Kandyan style. Padeniya is not what could be called amazing. But it lies en route just besides the road anyway, so it might be a short break for those who are addicted to visiting temples characteristic for the country.
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1*star & almost secret
Nillakgama is a very small but special temple. It’s a detour of 20 km altogether up and down from the small town of Galgamuwa, which is a at the A28 main road. Nillakgama has the best preserved Bodhigara. This is a very early type of Buddhist temple, in which once a tree was venerated, predating the worship of statues in temples. Actually this type of temple was only known from written sources until the Nillakgama Bodhigara was unearthed. The tree does not exist any more, but the stone carvings are noteworthy indeed.
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2**stars & almost secret
For those heritage travellers who have time enough for an indirect route from Kurunegala to Yapahuwa, the detour to Arankale might be rewarding, as this is a quite lovely archaeological site from the Anuradhapura period. Next to Ritigala, it’s the second most important excavation of an ancient meditation monastery of the strange Pansukulika fraternity, with remnants of characteristic double platforms, meditation pathes, a bath and an Ayurvedic hospital. The most picturesque part is the cave hermitage of Maliyadeva, who was Sri Lanka’s last Buddhist saint.
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2**stars & rarely visted
In between the said two main roads (A28 via Kurunegala and A3 via Puttalam) to Anuradhapura, there are two more alternatives, both of them neither crossing Kurnegala nor Puttalam. One is leading from Chilaw to the Kurunegala-Anuradhapura road A28. This means driving 25 km more, because this is a zigzag route. It would allow to see Munneshvaram, Panduvasnuwara, Padeniya, Yapahuwa, and Hatthikucchi. But to see all of this places within only one day, you would have to leave from Negombo at 7.00 am (or 6.00 am from Colombo) and could not spend much time at each of those historical sites.
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1*star & almost secret
Panduvasnuwara is neither spectacular nor picturesque, but allowing to study palace and monastic architecture of the early Polonnaruwa period. A circular arena-type builing is unique to Kurunegala and is said to be the prison of a princes whose brothers feared she might give otherwise to a birth of an heir to the throne replacing and killing them.
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2**stars & almost secret
Another alternative is actually a shortcut. From Chilaw you could take the B45 and B19, reaching the Kurunegala-Anuradhapura road A28 at Galgamuwa. This shortcut allows to visit the Hindu temple near Chilaw (see above) first and also Hatthikucchi (see below). But Yapahuwa is not at this route. Instead, you could visit a much more remote and almost unknown rock temple, which also has perfect vistas, namely the Parakamanda rock of Anamaduwa.
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3***stars & almost secret
The backyard mountain of Arankale in Kurunegala District is Dolukanda. Though not far from the Colombo-Kurunegala-Dambulla main road, Dolukands is surprisingly untouched by tourism, though in weekends many locals come here, some for camping. The table mountain is one of the most scenic hiking destinations in Sri Lanka, for sure. The uphill hike is manageable within two hours. If you are considering an extraordinary detour when traveling to Sigiriya, consider a hike to Dolukanda
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1*star & rarely visited
Opened in 2015, the Rambodagalla Buddha statue in Kurunegala District is said to be the world's largest rock-cut statue depicting the Buddha Shakyamuni in Samadhi Mudra. The idea of sculpturing a new giant Buddha statue from a rock came up in 2001, as a result of the terrible news that the historical rock-cut Buddhas of Bamiyan in Afghanistan had been destroyed by religious fanatics. The temple of Rambodagalla is not far from Ridigama.
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