Situlpawwa rock temple with a history of over 2200 years is one of the significant Buddhist sites built in the 2nd Century BC. We visited this temple on 30 January 2010 located deep within the Yala National Park within the Hambantota district in the deep south of Sri Lanka,
Sithulpawwa rock temple has a stunning setting. There are two temples perched high atop hard volcanic rock outcrops. Maha Sithulpauwa rock is 400 feet in height. . The dagoba is situated on top of the rock and is reached by a difficult steep climb, aided by steps cut into the rock. The dagoba is believed to have been built by king Kawantissa. It houses an intricate cave complex
The name Sithulpauwa is derived from the word ‘Chittalapabbata’ which means the hill of the quiet mind. The rock temple was a place of worship for devotees as well as a centre of Buddhist scholarship. It is believed that in ancient times this rock temple once housed a total of 12,000 Arhats or monks who achieved the highest mind level in Buddhism. The life that the Arhats lived in Sithulpawwa was a hard one, with silence and solitude. The rock temple is famous for its early Brahmi script, ruins of the preaching house and the fragments of paintings that can be viewed at the image house.
Inside Situlpawwa are a number of gal len (rock caves), dagoba (pagodas), Poya geval (chapter houses), bodhigara, pilimageval and pokunu (ponds).
Sithulpawwa rock temple houses an intrincate temple complex. The caves inside have been built to make it suitable for the monks to live. In addition to the main dagoba, a number of small dagobas are found inside Situlpawwa rock temple. The main cave temple walls consists of paintings belonging to Anuradhapura period and this is a significant feature as not many paintings belonging to this period have been found.
The climb up the further Sithulpawwa rock temple is not an easy one but the sense of achievement on reaching the top is stupendous. See Picture Gallery below. Also see Kirinda Rock Temple which is also build on a rocky outcrop and which offers magnificent panoramic sea views along the entire coastal stretch.
