The Most Remarkable Temples of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has been a centre of Theravada Buddhism for over two thousand years, and its temples range from cave sanctuaries painted floor-to-ceiling with murals to colossal white dagobas that were among the tallest structures of the ancient world. The island's Hindu heritage adds towering, technicolour kovils in the north and east, while multi-faith shrines like Kataragama draw Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim pilgrims alike. From the Temple of the Sacred Tooth in Kandy to the clifftop Koneswaram in Trincomalee, these are living places of worship: dress modestly, remove shoes and hats, and visit during a puja if you can.
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01
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Kandy)
Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist shrine, enshrining a tooth relic of the Buddha inside the former royal palace complex.
Kandy · LKR 2000 · UNESCO
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02
Dambulla Cave Temple
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03
Ruwanwelisaya Stupa (Anuradhapura)
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04
Sri Maha Bodhi (Anuradhapura)
The sacred fig tree grown from a cutting of the Buddha's own Bodhi tree, said to be the oldest historically documented tree in the world.
Anuradhapura · LKR 200 · UNESCO
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05
Gal Vihara (Polonnaruwa)
Four colossal Buddha images carved from a single granite wall, among the greatest masterpieces of ancient Sri Lankan sculpture.
Polonnaruwa · Free entry · UNESCO
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06
Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara
An ancient and deeply sacred Buddhist temple believed to have been visited by the Buddha, famed for its vivid murals and the Duruthu Perahera.
Gampaha · LKR 200
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07
Gangaramaya Temple (Colombo)
Colombo's most eclectic Buddhist temple, an eccentric treasury of relics, statues and curiosities beside Beira Lake.
Colombo · LKR 300
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08
Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil (Jaffna)
Jaffna's most important Hindu temple, a golden, five-tiered Dravidian gopuram complex dedicated to the war god Murugan.
Jaffna · Free entry
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09
Koneswaram Temple (Trincomalee)
A dramatic clifftop Hindu temple to Shiva on Swami Rock, high above the ocean at the tip of the Trincomalee headland.
Trincomalee · Free entry
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10
Kataragama Temple Complex
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