Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Yapahuwa is 9km east of the Anuradhapura-Kurunegala highway, which buzzes with
buses. Three-wheelers charge about Rs 1000 return (including waiting time) from the junc-
tion of Daladagama on this road.
The site is also 6km from Maho railway junction, where the Trincomalee line splits
from the Colombo-Anuradhapura line.
WORTH A TRIP
PADENIYA
Padeniya Raja Mahavihara
BUDDHIST TEMPLE
(donations appreciated)
About 85km south of Anuradhapura and 25km northwest of Kurunegala, where the Put-
talam and Anuradhapura roads branch off, is the Kandyan-style Padeniya Raja Mahavi-
hara, which is worth popping into if you're passing by. It's a pretty, medieval temple with
28 carved pillars and a stunning elaborate door (said to be the largest in Sri Lanka) to the
main shrine. There is also a clay-image house and a library, as well as a preaching hall
with an unusual carved wooden pulpit.
Panduwasnuwara
Panduwasnuwara
RUIN
Almost abandoned, the 12th-century ruins of the temporary capital of Parakramabahu I are
spread over a wide area.
Near the entrance is a moat, the massive citadel wall and remains of a palace. Further on
are image houses, dagobas and monks' living quarters. Follow the road past the school and
veer left; you'll shortly come to a restored tooth temple with a bodhi tree and, beyond that,
the remains of a round palace (apparently once multistoreyed) enclosed in a circular moat.
There are many stories about who lived in this palace and why it was built. Legend has
it that it kept the king's daughter away from men who would desire her; it had been proph-
esised that if she bore a son, he'd eventually claim the throne. Another story is that it was
built to house the king's wives and, intriguingly, that there was once a secret tunnel that
