Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
mains, but the setting is evocative and your imagination can run riot with thoughts of how
amazing it must have looked back in its day. It's thought to have been an earthen stupa
built 2300 years ago, though various alterations over the years - including an ongoing
renovation that began in the 1970s - have obscured its history.
The small building in front houses 300-year-old carved-wood Buddhas and some ex-
quisite faded paintings; it probably dates to the 7th century.
Just before reaching the main site you'll pass the charming, moss-encrusted ruins of the
much smaller 12th-century Chulangani Vihara , with a lovely, compact dagoba and frag-
ments of a 7th-century Buddha.
Buses from Monaragala to Buttala (Rs 30, 25 minutes) run every 30 minutes, and a
three-wheeler from Buttala costs Rs 300 return. A three-wheeler from Monaragala costs
Rs 1200 return, or around Rs 2800 for both the Yudaganawa sites and Maligawila.
WORTH A TRIP
SLEEPING IN THE TREES
Tree Tops LODGE
( 077 703 6554; www.treetopsjunglelodge.com ;per person all-inclusive US$145)
The antidote to concrete resort hotels and national parks overrun with hundreds of jeeps,
Tree Tops offers a true back-to-nature experience. Beautifully isolated at the base of the
Weliara Ridge, 10km from Buttala, this wilderness lodge offers the chance to marvel at
the dawn chorus, listen for wild elephants and be dazzled by the stars of the night sky.
Accommodation is in three spacious, canvas 'chalets' (tented huts on a raised, sand-
filled platform with bathrooms). Unfortunately all this comes at a considerable cost, but
food (mostly vegetarian), drinks and guided hikes with expert local trackers around the
area, including to Arhat Kanda, the scenic 'Hills of Enlightenment', are included. Reserva-
tions are essential.
The owners also plan to open a second wilderness lodge in the Habessa area, 6km
south of Tree Tops close to Yala National Park (block 4).
Maligawila & Dematal Vihara
Tucked away in a shady forest glade in Maligawila (mali- ga -wila) are the extensive 7th-
century remnants of Pathma Vihara ( dawn-dusk) and its two stunning Buddha statues.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search