If you ever travel to Sri Lanka, places to visit are plenty and range from leisure and adventure attractions to wildlife parks, nightlife venues, historic sites and religious highlights.
Of the latter, there are many that are recommended. However, there is one that is so unique that it appears in almost every travel guide such as Well Known Places. It is the magnificent temple of Kataragama.
Situated all the way on the south coast of Sri Lanka in the Uva province, the Kataragama Temple is within a 6 hour’s drive from the country’s international airport. So, it’s better to spend a few days here and you won’t get bored because once you’ve been to the temple you can visit nearby Yala Wildlife Park.
Kataragama Temple is said to be built between 1100 – 15th century. For a majority of the past millennia, it was an almost-hidden jungle shrine was very difficult to access.
But after extensive renovations, it is now a glorious site of worship. What is most interesting about the Kataragama Temple is that it is one of the very few religious sites in the country to be venerated by Sinhalese Buddhists, Sri Lankan Moors, Hindus and the aboriginal Vedda people.
There are quite a few shrines in the temple but the chief belongs to the Kataragama Deviyo or God to whom the entire temple is dedicated to.
There are poojas held every day to worship God Kataragama and devotees bring baskets and baskets of fruits as an offering. As a result, the temple is infested with Grey Langur Monkeys, who devour the leftover fruit offerings.
Some of these are so daring that there are reports of monkeys snatching food from visitors. So its better to be vary of them when you’re visiting.
Adjoining the Hindu temple is the Kirivehara Buddhist stupa and temple. The stupa is an astounding 280 feet in height. It is said to be built during the 6th Century BC by the great King Mahasen.
Fritzjames Stephen is a travel writer, who writes content based on the myriad of experiences and indulgences that the world has to offer travellers across all walks of life. Google+
