An ancient Buddhist forest monastery built by ascetic monks in the 1st century BCE on a granite hillside deep in the dry zone interior – its stone meditation pathways, bathing ponds, and library platforms now gradually reclaimed by one of Sri Lanka’s richest medicinal forest reserves. Ritigala takes real commitment to reach and rewards that commitment with a sense of genuine discovery and a quality of atmospheric antiquity that fully excavated and managed heritage sites cannot replicate. Island Pulse Travels includes Ritigala specifically for guests who want to encounter Sri Lanka’s heritage at its most unmediated.
