Driving through Kalthota and Hambegamuwa

Map 1 – click to enlarge

Map 2 – click to enlarge

Map 3 – click to enlarge

It was the period of heavy monsoons and we managed to find few days which was perfect to travel. On day one Kasun & I got together and headed towards Balangoda to try and do a complete copycat of Niroshans trip. After having breakfast from Balangoda we took the road towards Kalthota and at Tenjentenna took the carpet road to the right to reach Kuragala.

Pre historic Kuragala

Kuragala is a pre historic site where fossils of humans were found which dated back to 6500BC. This monastery complex provides a staggering view towards the southern plains of Sri Lanka. We did walk about for about 1 ½ hours before we left this peaceful place.

dawn at kalthota

morning rays

මල් තුහින

vandalized caves by religious groups

main cave at kuragala

vandalized

inscription

where a 16000 old skeleton was found

Kalthota plains

plenty of fields

Dambetenna tea factory was seen

Haputhale town seen

Hambegamuwa side

lovely

looking back towards kuragala

family

narrow passage to Hituwangala

southern boarder of central hills

Budugala seen from kuragala

good for a painting

beautiful man made creations

close up

pano towards Welipothayaya

another pano

the drop

reconstructed pagoda

udawalawa

Mauw ara

බෙලි කටු ලෙන

view point

framed

Galtemyaya complex

After Returning back to the road we went towards Kalthota. We found an archeology board towards Galtemyaya archeology site on the right side of the road and few hundred meters from it was Galtemyaya. This was a Panchawasa temple and one could easily view the ruins of the pagoda and an ancient bo tree.

pagoda at galtem yaya

steps at galtemyaya

partly excavated

galtemyaya ruins

Kalthota Dhuvili falls

After passing Galtemyaya one would come across the turnoff towards Duvili falls since both of us had been there we skipped it but on my second day I did visit it because my better half has not been there. Will be adding it here for the sake of the order attractions.

majestic cascade of walawe river

Duvili falls

Budugala archeology site and temple

Next we reached Kalthota and from here we took the right turn and reached Budugala Archaeology office where one could view an ancient Buddha statue which was found in a privet land. Next to the office is Budugala monastery complex with few “Padanagara’s” at different levels. Opposite to the archaeology site is the temple which has a drip ledge cave and a view point with a pagoda.

statue found on a privet property could be seen at the budugala arche office

luna moth

Budugala monastery

padanagara

steps

drainage system

padanagara

budugala sthupa

view of kuragala from budugala

wow

plenty of paddy

the cave image house

what a passage

the cave towards kuragala

Dewagiri R.M.V & Diyawinna falls

Crossing many causeways we reached Diyawinna and took a right turn towards Dewagiri temple. And on the way we didn’t forget to snap Diyawinna falls which was in full flow. Halting our vehicle we proceeded towards Dewagiri RMV. This is an ancient drip ledge cave temple.

Diyawinna ella

zoomed

wow	Priyangiri ella seen from the paddyfields

Dewagiri temple

the inscription

another cave

more drip ledge caves

Piyangiri cave and falls

At the entrance to the temple there is a huge jack tree with a name board directing towards a foot path. If one takes this foot path and travel 100m you will come to a “T” junction. If you take the left turn you could reach the base of Diyawinna. We took the right uphill path and after traveling 1Km we reached a newly built suspension bridge. After crossing this bridge we reached a huge drip ledge cave which was been bordered by two waterfalls. Unfortunately the monk who was here wasn’t to be seen. On the right hand side one could see the top of Piyangiri falls which cascades down along the rock surface.

on the way to priyangiri falls

the new suspension bridge to Piyangiri cave

Priyangiri cave

enormous

top of piyangiri falls

priyangiri falls

lower reaches

deadly

Handagiriya

After a tiring adventure we reached back towards our vehicle and headed towards Kapugala where we took Weligepola road for about 4Km’s. While you are on the move keep an eye on the left hand side of the road and you will come across Handagiriya Archeology board. The archeology site of Weheragodella could be reached after a 200m hike. The pagoda, bo tree and other ruins could be seen in the middle of a paddy field.

next attraction

Ruins of hadagiriya arche site

the pagoda

the bo tree

කැදැල්ල

Lendara temple

Passing Handagana nuwara one would come across a cave temple on the left hand side of the road this is Lendara cave temple.

Lendara cave temple

a new statue

old one

roof paintings

bo tree at lendara

Kottimbulla punchi Dambulla temple

Next inline was Kottimbulla cave temple and to reach it one needs to get to Weligepola. From the mini town one needs to travel 7Km’s along Hatangala road to reach Kottimbulla ancient temple which is also known as Punchi Dambulla. Kottimbulla cave was a massive one with many paintings belonging to Kandyan era. Please refer the images and enjoy the beauty of this cave. Highly recommended place to anyone who is interested in paintings. Both of us somehow managed to cover all of those places found on Niroshans report and been satisfied we decided to head back towards Colombo.

Kottimubulwala cave temple

zoomed part

what a painting

entrance

outer wall

outer wall paintings

wood work

Kottimubulwala cave temple roof paintings

pagoda

made out of wood

inner image house

been reconstructed

Kottimubulwala cave temple paintings

rock paintings

udawalawa seen from rajawaka road

end of a day

Welipothayaya cave temple

Day two my companion was my better half. Both of us left early morning and reached Balangoda and took the road via Diyawinna. At Welipothayaya (puhula yaya) we came across a drip ledge cave temple called Sudarshanaramaya. To reach it one needs to take a left turn from the road and travel 200m’s

the cave temple of welipothayaya sudarshanaramaya (puhul yaya)

ancient guard stones

bo tree between rocks

Hambegamuwa ancient temple and archaeology site

Next we visited Kalthota duvili falls and afterwards we took the left hand road from Kalthota which led us towards Hambegamuwa. There was a nice causeway across Walawe river at one point and it seemed that they were building a bridge across this stretch. The Hambegamuwa road which joins Udawalawe – Thanamaliwila road was under construction at some places but was not a big issue. At Hambegamuwa junction one could find the ancient Hambegamuwa temple which was under excavation. There is another archaeology reserve in Hambegamuwa and to reach it one need to take the road on the opposite side of the temple and proceed 500m. This site has an ancient pagoda, ruins of an image house and etc.

Hambegamuwa RMV sthupa

no idea about this

pillars

buried steps

Archeology site close to hambegamuwa

ruins of an image house found at the arche site

pagoda

finding a partner

more ruins

halted

hambegamuwa tank

tank was spilling

Arambekema archeology site

After passing Hambegamuwa and proceeding few Km’s towards Thanamalwila side you would come across a fleet of steps on the left which will take you to the top of a rock. This place is known as Arambekema. There was one of the largest Rock ponds I have ever seen. There were rock caves in this archeology reserve but we refrained from further exploring because of the bad weather conditions. After hanging around a bit we took off towards Monaragala to end our expedition. Hope this comprehensive guide will be useful to future travelers.

arambe kema arche site

steps

arambe kema

parts from the past

ruins

more to climb

the site with caves

summit

endless view

debara ara tank at balaharuwa

its spill