Pothuvil, also spelt Pottuvil, is a coastal town in southeastern Sri Lanka. It is situated 4 km north of the popular tourist destination Arugam Bay and belongs to the tourist area of Arugam, which is popular with surfers. Two surfbreaks, Pothuvil Point and Whisky Point, are just north of the town. The only 5-star hotel of the Arugam region, Kottukal Beach House by Jetwing, is located close-by. Sri Lanka’s largest dune field stretches from Pothuvil Point to the Arugam Lagoon 5 km further south. It partly covers the ancient site known as Muhudu Maha Viharaya. An image house with 3 Buddhist statues in situ can still be seen close to the dunes.

Devon Falls, situated in Sri Lanka’s central highlands, can be seen from observation car parks when driving main road A7 from Hatton to Nuwara Eliya. The car parks are close to a Mlesna Tea Castle 6 km west of Talawakele. Devon Falls, named after the nearby tea plantation, is a 97 m tall horsetail waterfall in 3 casvades.

Lahugala is both a national park and an archaeological site. The Lahugala-Kitulana National Park is one of the smallest wildlife sanctuaries in Sri Lanka. In fact, it is mainly a protected habitat for Asian elephants and an important part of the southeastern elephant corridor if the island nation. During the annual dry season, wild elephants migrate from Yala National Park to the large reservoir known as Senanayake Samudra in Gal Oya National Park. They cross the area of Lahugala-Kitulana National Park, as it provides some smaller freshwater lakes and areas with their favourite grass (Sacciolepis interrupta).

The Magul Maha Viharaya in Lahugala is an important excavation site of an ancient Buddhist monastery. The structures are mainly from the late Anuradhapura period (7th to 10th century AD). However, there is evidence of an earlier monastic use of this area and local legend has it that it was built in the 2nd century BC, viz for the marriage of the local king Kavantissa of Rohana to the Princess Viharamahadevi from Kelaniya in western Sri Lanka.

The small village of Aluthapola not far from Colombo International Airport has a typical Sinhalese cave tempel which is recognized as an archaeological protected monument. The Buddhist temple is a destination for detours from Negombo in particular. The caves are decorated with somewhat gaudy modern Buddha sculptures. The setting of the temple is quite picturesque. You can easily combine the visit of the Aluthapola cave temple with a trip to the Buddha statue of Galkanda.

Kataragama, known as Katirkaman to Tamils, is a town in southeastern Sri Lanka. It’s a famous pilgrimage site. Remarkably, it’s sacred not only to Buddhists but also to Hindus and indigenous Weddha and even some Muslims. It’s believed to be the place where Lord Murugan from Southern India finally settled down on the island of Sri Lanka. The spectacular annual pilgrimage festival usually takes place in June. Buddhists also venerate Kataragama as a Buddha-visited place. The Kiri Vehera stupa close to the Hindu shrines marks the very spot of his stay. Muslims belief, that a locally venerated prophet is buried in Kataragama. As Kataragama adjoins Sri Lanka’s most popular wildlife sanctuary, The Ruhuna alias Yala National Park, it has become a starting point for safaris. A wide range of accommodation is available in Kataragama.

Seetha Amman Kovil near Hakgala Botanical Garden was originally a temple built by Tamil plantation workers to honour the popular Hindu semi-deity Hanuman. He was Lord Rama’s helper to liberate his wife Seetha (Sita), who was held in captivity by the Emperor of Lanka, the demon king Ravana. After ancient idols were excavated here, indicating this was a much older place of worship, the temple was also dedicated to Seetha. Although Seetha is much venerated by Hindus, temples dedicated to her are very rare. The Seetha Amma Kovil has developed into a major pilgrimage site for pilgrims from India, as it is believed to be the place of the Ashoka Vatika, the garden-like grove where Seetha spent her time during her captivity on the island and where she prayed daily for Rama to rescue her and was found by Hanuman and finally was reunited with her husband again. On the rock face across the stream below the temple are circular depressions of various diameters. They are said to be the footprints left by Hanuman, who according to the Ramayana epic was able to change his size.

Halavata is the name of a town in Sri Lanka’s Northwestern Province, which is located 45 km to the north of Negombo. Besides Negombo and Puttalam, Halavata is the most important traditional fishing harbour at Sri Lanka’s west coast. Halavata is the Sinhala name of Chilaw, which is the colonial English name derived from the traditional Tamil name Cilapam. The term Halavata has become more common recently. Chilaw is mainly Sinhalese. There is a large Roman-Catholic community in this area. Chilaw is a bishop’s see. The main attraction of Halavata however is Hindu, the Munneshvaram temple in the suburb of the same name is one of the four most-venerated Shiva temples on the island. It’s surrounded by smaller Tamil temples dedicated to other Hindu deities. The annual temple feast of Munneshvaram attracts devotees of other religious communities, too. The beaches of Halavata are not yet crowded with tourists. 

Jaffna is the name of both a city and a peninsula. The city of Jaffna is the capital of Sri Lanka‘s Northern Province and of its northernmost district, which is also callled Jaffna. Jaffna District covers most of the Peninsula and the nearby islands to the west, many of which are connected with Jaffna city by causeways. In a way, the entire Jaffna peninsula is an island, as there is no natural land connection to Sri Lanka mainland. The Elephant Pass causeway is man-made.

After the end of the civil war, Jaffna city has developed into a new travel destination. The main attractions of Jaffna are the amphibic landscape of the peninsula and islands and the Tamil culture, which differ from both, mainland Sri Lanka and mainland Tamil Nadu (South India. For travelers there are two places of interest in Jaffna city that deserve to be called must-sees, viz. the Dutch Fort in the town center and the Kandaswamy Kovil, the largest Hindu temple of Sri Lanka, which is situated in the northwestern suburb of Nallur. Actually, what is called Nallur is the historical town of Jaffna, which was the capital of an almost independent Tamil kingdom in the late Middle Ages and early modern period. Till today, Nallur is a kind of spiritual centre of the Hindu community.

On our website, you can find detailed descriptions of Jaffna city and the temple town Nallur and Jaffna Peninsula and their attractions.

Maradankadawala is a village halfway between Anuradhapura and Dambulla, it’s located at the mainroad A9, which crosses the centre of the island. At the northern end of a village, a dead-end road branches off and leads to the local cave temple, which is known as Gallenvihara. The name of this temple translates to „rock monastery“.  Gallenvihara belongs to the Asgiriya branch of the Syam Nikaya. Some of the caves are still used by the monks, others are typical Sinhalese painted caves for worshiping Buddha images. They are also decorated with sculptures of humans and demons.