Caverns & Caves

Sri Lanka boasts of an impressive range of caves located throughout the country. The interesting activity of caving is although new to Sri Lanka, but the trend is catching up among the masses. With some of the caves here dating back to approximately 500 million years, exploring caves is an adventure activity to try from. Below are some of the popular caves of Sri Lanka.

Andirilena Caves, Udagama
The entrance to the Andirilena Caves is only 4ft high. Situated about 4km from Udagama, the main cave of Andirilena is further divided into two, giving rise to several smaller caves on the way and joining together after about 500 metres.

Batatotalena Cave, Sudagala
Situated at Sudagala, the Batatotalena Cave is another popular cave in Sri Lanka. In order to reach it, one has to walk about 400m from Sudagala to the base and then climb a further 50m to enter. According to the Buddhist Literature, the cave is the sacred ‘Diva Guhawa’ where the Lord Buddha rested on his way back from Sri Pada.

Bogoda Cave, Jangulla
The Bogoda Cave is believed to have been used by the Sri Lankan King Walagamba as one of his various hide outs. It is considered to be part of a complex ‘tunnel network’ of other hide-outs such as the Narangala mountain cave, Dowa rock temple at Bandarawela and Rawana Ella cave in Ella.

Rawana Ella Cave, Ella
Located about 2km from the beautiful town of Ella, the Rawana Ella Cave is however a small cave, but once inside one can find several other smaller caves. Like the Sthripura Cave in Welimada, legend has it that it was used by King Rawana to hide the Princess Sita.

Batadombalena Cave, Kuruwita
Batadombalena Cave is also of great historic importance due to some fascinating archaeological findings, such as the skeletal remains of the prehistoric ‘Balangoda Man’ and various land and freshwater shells that have been excavated.