Ritigala

The historical monument, mountain and nature reserve Ritigala located in northern central province of Sri Lanka, 40 km to the south-east of Anuradhapura, close to the town of Habarana. Covered with dense jungle mountain Ritigala, reaches a height of 765 meters above sea level and is a habitat for many species of wildlife, including bears, leopards and elephants.

At the top of the mountain you can see a large variety of very rare plants, including orchids amazing forest. When the island came to Buddhism, Ritigala was selected as a suitable location for the construction of temples. The first temple – Lanka Vihara, was founded here back in the 2nd century BC Another temple – Arittha Vihara, from which it is possible mountain got its name, was founded a century later.

Later in the 9th century AD King Sena, made significant additions built on a slope above the large monastery complex, a group of priests – and called it Pansukulikas. On the hillside, there are many large and small caves, which were donated meditation. Before you make the gift of the caves have been removed all stinging and biting critters assigned dripping from the ceiling, water, and at the entrances to the caves were the doors. The path leading to the monastic complex, definitely displays an extraordinary mastery of the ancient builders.
Ritigala retained its purpose as long as the monastic complex was not destroyed during the occupation of the island invaders from southern India. Between the 10th and 12th century Ritiagla was abandoned by the monks and gradually began to the jungle and go into oblivion. Again, it drew attention to only the 19th century, when the natural beauty of these places were seen by British officials. Now Ritigala is declared a nature reserve.