The moss-encrusted ruins of the small 12th-century Chulangani Vihara have a pudding-shaped dagoba and fragments of a decapitated 7th-century Buddha. It is right before the main Yudaganawa dagoba.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
12.3 MILES
The beautiful, 1000-year-old, rock-cut Buddha figures of Buduruwagala are the region's biggest attraction. The gigantic standing Buddha (at 15m, it is the…
20.55 MILES
This beautiful Benedictine monastery once belonged to tea planter Sir Thomas Lester Villiers. To recreate his English lifestyle, he developed some English…
29.77 MILES
Horton Plains is a beautiful, stark world with excellent hikes in the shadows of Sri Lanka’s second- and third-highest mountains, Kirigalpotta (2395m) and…
16 MILES
This popular tea factory was built in 1890 by Sir Thomas Lipton, one of the most famous figures in tea history. The tour through the works is an education…
16.05 MILES
The Uva Halpewaththa Tea Factory, 5km north of Ella, runs some of the better tea plantation tours in Sri Lanka. After you've enriched yourself with…
0.2 MILES
Only the bottom third remains of this ruined dagoba, but the setting is evocative and your imagination can run riot with thoughts of how amazing it must…
25.16 MILES
This is Kataragama's most important shrine. It contains the lance of the six-faced, 12-armed Hindu war god, Murugan (Skanda), who is seen as identical to…
27.73 MILES
At 240m, the remote Bambarakanda Falls are the highest in Sri Lanka. March and April are the best months for viewing the falls, but any visit after heavy…
Nearby The East attractions
0.2 MILES
Only the bottom third remains of this ruined dagoba, but the setting is evocative and your imagination can run riot with thoughts of how amazing it must…
3.76 MILES
This gorgeous old temple is set amid a blanket of fertile green. It's roughly midway along the road between Buttala and Maligawila.
8.45 MILES
Among the trees of verdant Maligawila lie the extensive remains of Pathma Vihara, including two graceful Buddha statues, carved by devotees in the 7th…
4. Rakkhiththakanda Len Viharaya Cave Temple
8.76 MILES
The rock face around this remote and little-visited cave temple, which is signed off the road to Wellawaya, is covered in faded Kandyan-era paintings…
10.47 MILES
This museum, on the corner of the main road from Wellawaya and the road to the Buduruwagala Buddhas, has stone and terracotta artefacts from nearby…
10.73 MILES
This is a colourful little Hindu temple, where the priest will probably be as happy to see you as he would Lord Ganesh himself.
12.3 MILES
The beautiful, 1000-year-old, rock-cut Buddha figures of Buduruwagala are the region's biggest attraction. The gigantic standing Buddha (at 15m, it is the…
13.37 MILES
The 19m-high Rawana Ella Falls are about 6km down Ella Gap towards Wellawaya. During rainy months, the water comes leaping down the mountainside in what…