The North Western Province plains are not what most people picture when they think of Sri Lanka’s ancient history. That picture usually involves Sigiriya, or the dagobas of Anuradhapura, or the carved figures of Polonnaruwa. All of those places are extraordinary. But rising from the flat agricultural land of the Kurunegala basin, with considerably less fanfare and considerably fewer visitors, are granite outcrops that conceal cave temples, ancient inscriptions, and hermitage sites that predate some of the most celebrated monuments in the cultural triangle.
This is a journey for the traveller who finds ancient history more interesting when it is not surrounded by a car park. Six days through the rock kingdoms of the north-west, moving between the medieval fortress of Yapahuwa, the forest caves of the upper hermitage circuit, and the agricultural villages of the Kurunegala basin whose farming traditions have remained essentially unchanged for two millennia.
Day 1 — Kurunegala and the Evening Rock
Kurunegala is the practical base for this journey and a town worth arriving in slowly. The covered market near the bus stand operates through the late afternoon with a produce section that reflects the agricultural economy of the surrounding district honestly. The Kurunegala Municipal Market on Colombo Road is at its most lively between three and six in the evening when the day’s farming families are clearing their remaining stock before the drive home.
For dinner, Hotel Rohansha on the main street serves a reliable rice and curry from six in the evening, the kitchen changing its accompaniments daily. The jackfruit curry here, when it appears, is worth ordering without hesitation. For accommodation, Kurunegala Rest House on the tank road is the most atmospheric option, a government property with a veranda overlooking the old Kurunegala Wewa tank. For mid-range reliability, Diya Dahara Hotel on Colombo Road offers comfortable rooms and a breakfast that includes both Sri Lankan and Western options.
Climb the Ethagala Rock above the town before dinner if the timing allows. The path takes twenty minutes and arrives at a view across the surrounding plain that makes the scale of the ancient irrigation system visible for the first time, the tanks catching the last light in the middle distance and the granite outcrops of the surrounding district rising from the flat land in every direction.
Day 2 — Yapahuwa and the Medieval Fortress
Yapahuwa sits about fifty kilometres north of Kurunegala, a medieval rock fortress built on a granite outcrop that rises almost ninety metres from the surrounding plain. It served as the capital of Sri Lanka briefly in the late 13th century and housed the Sacred Tooth Relic during a period of considerable political instability. The South Indian army that took the relic from Yapahuwa in 1284 effectively ended its period of significance, and the site has been largely undisturbed since.
The ornamental stairway that leads to the upper palace platform is the architectural centrepiece of the site, its carved figures and decorative panels executed with a refinement that the remoteness of the location makes surprising. The lion figures flanking the upper entrance are among the finest examples of medieval Sri Lankan sculpture, and the detail in the surrounding decorative carving rewards close inspection.
Arrive at opening time at six in the morning. The rock in the early light, with the mist still in the surrounding plain and the birds active in the scrub forest at the base, has a quality that the same scene at midday entirely lacks. The entrance fee is around five hundred rupees for foreign visitors and the site is rarely crowded before nine.
For breakfast before the visit, the small tea shop in Maho town, about ten kilometres from Yapahuwa, opens at five thirty and serves plain tea and fresh bread from the local bakery. It is a straightforward establishment that does not require a name to find, being the only place open at that hour on the main road.
For lunch after Yapahuwa, Hotel Rasa in Maho town serves a good rice and curry from eleven in the morning and the fish preparation changes daily depending on what has come from the surrounding tanks. The tank fish curry here has a distinctly different flavour from the coastal preparations further south, lighter and less heavily spiced.
Day 3 — The Ridi Vihara Caves
The Ridi Vihara complex, about thirty kilometres south-west of Kurunegala, is known primarily for its lower cave temple with its extraordinary Dutch Delft tiles and its well-preserved Kandyan paintings. But the upper cave section, reached by a steep path above the main complex, is visited by almost nobody and contains a different and older layer of the site’s history.
The upper caves were used by forest-dwelling monks before the lower complex was developed into its current form, and the atmosphere up here has a raw, unconstructed quality that the more finished lower temple lacks. The rock faces retain traces of very early painting, faded almost to nothing in places but still legible in the better-sheltered sections. The views from the upper level across the surrounding agricultural landscape, low hills covered in coconut and rubber with the occasional tank reflecting the sky, have a quality that the lower temple, enclosed by its own walls, cannot offer.
Allow the full morning for Ridi Vihara, beginning with the lower temple before the morning puja at eight brings the devotee crowd, then climbing to the upper section while the lower temple is busy. A small tea shop at the base of the lower temple entrance, run by a family from the village below, serves plain tea and coconut roti from early morning. It is the correct breakfast for a cave temple morning.
For accommodation on this day, returning to Kurunegala keeps the logistics simple. Kurunegala Rest House remains the best option and the drive back from Ridi Vihara takes about forty minutes on roads that are pleasant in the late afternoon.
Day 4 — Arankele and the Forest Hermitage
The Arankele forest hermitage, north of Kurunegala, is among the most important early Buddhist monastic sites in Sri Lanka and among the least visited. Established in the 6th century AD for monks following the forest-dwelling meditation tradition, its stone platforms and pathways sit in a jungle that has been allowed to continue its relationship with the ruins in the most honest possible way. Trees grow through the meditation walkways. Roots have lifted the stone pathways. The forest presses in on every side.
The drive to Arankele takes about forty minutes from Kurunegala on a road that narrows steadily as it approaches the site. There is no entrance gate, no ticket booth, and no visitor centre. There is a monk’s residence at the edge of the site where a small donation is appropriate, and beyond it the ruins extending through the forest in a silence that is the most immediate and affecting thing about the place.
Bring food and water from Kurunegala. There is nothing available near the site, which is appropriate to its character. A packed lunch eaten on one of the stone platforms, with the forest sounds as the only accompaniment, is one of those simple travel experiences that photographs cannot communicate and that stays with you regardless.
For dinner back in Kurunegala, Hotel Acme on Colombo Road serves a good devilled cuttlefish and a freshly made pol roti in the evenings that the local population considers a reliable standard. It opens at six and is busy by seven.
Day 5 — The Tank Circuit and the Village Temples
The agricultural landscape between Kurunegala and the coast is threaded with ancient irrigation tanks, each serving a farming community whose relationship with the water has not changed significantly in its essentials for two thousand years. The village temples that sit beside these tanks are working religious institutions rather than tourist sites, maintained by the communities they serve and used daily.
Spend the day driving the back roads between Kurunegala and Chilaw, stopping at village temples as you encounter them. The Munneswaram Temple complex east of Chilaw, one of the oldest Hindu sites on the west coast, is the most significant stop on this stretch, its five separate kovils serving different communities and its devotional atmosphere constant throughout the day. The temple predates the Portuguese period by several centuries and the principal Shiva shrine draws pilgrims from across the island year-round.
For lunch on this day, the Muslim Hotels along the Chilaw main road serve a rotating biriyani and short eats selection that changes daily. The fish cutlets at the establishment nearest the covered market, made fresh in the morning and sold out by early afternoon, are a local standard worth timing your arrival for.
The Chilaw Fish Market on the lagoon edge operates through the morning and is worth a brief stop on the way back toward Kurunegala. The dried fish section toward the rear sells varieties specific to this coast that are unavailable in Colombo’s supermarkets at any price.
Day 6 — The Return Through the Coconut Country
The drive back to Colombo from Kurunegala via the old coastal road rather than the expressway passes through the full length of the coconut triangle, the broad agricultural lowland where coconut cultivation has dominated the landscape for over a century. The estates here are old and productive, the trees tall and widely spaced, the ground beneath kept clear in the traditional manner.
Stop at Dambadeniya on the way south, the small town that served briefly as the royal capital of Sri Lanka in the 13th century. The ruins of the palace complex and the Vijayasundarama temple sit above the town on a rocky hill with views across the coconut estates that have replaced the medieval agricultural landscape in every direction. The site receives almost no visitors and the caretaker will usually offer a tour of considerable depth and enthusiasm for a small donation to the temple fund.
The final stretch into Colombo from the north passes through Negombo and the coastal plain, the city arriving gradually through the suburban sprawl. After six days among granite outcrops and forest hermitages and ancient tank villages, the return to the capital has the quality that good journeys always produce on their return leg. The city feels both familiar and slightly reduced, and that reduction is the best measure of how much the journey actually gave you.
Practical Notes
The best time for this route is between December and April when the dry season keeps the forest trails clear and the morning light on the tanks is at its finest. Yapahuwa is best visited at opening time to avoid the mid-morning coach groups. The Arankele forest trails can be muddy after rain and proper walking shoes are advisable year-round. Carry cash throughout as ATM availability outside Kurunegala town is limited.
