Sri Lanka needs no introduction when it comes to History and Heritage. Of course, being Sri Lankan, we boast about our 2500 years of history, the modern-day Game of Thrones style of shifting power from Kingdoms, Kings, and Rulers, invasions and wars—all those king-time dramatic scenes. Adding glamour to this, did you know that Sri Lanka has 08 UNESCO World Heritage sites? This blog post is all about that. There are 06 Ancient palaces and building areas and 02 relating to Forests and Nature reserves. So altogether, Sri Lanka has 08 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka, and let’s explore details about each of them one by one.

Sri Lanka’s UNESCO WOrld heritage Sites

List of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka

Let’s have a quick glance at each and every one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka.

Ancient City of Anuradhapura

The First Capital of Ancient Sri Lanka was Anuradhapura, which is also one of the earliest connections to the establishment of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Anuradhapura is home to the Sri Maha Bodhi Tree, the oldest living tree with a documented history in the world and a descendant of the original Bodhi tree from which Lord Buddha attained enlightenment.

The Ancient City is actually scattered and you will have to make a few stops along the way to visit them. Some of the famous locations are show in the gallery and for your reference they are:

• Sri Maha Bodhi Tree
• Ruwanweliseya Stupa
• Abhayagiriya Stupa and Monastery
• Jethawanaramaya Stupa
• Isurumuniya Temple
• Samadhi Statue
• Kuttam Pokuna (Twin ponds)

You can read some more interesting details about Anuradhapura from here: https://www.meshaunjourneys.com/destinations/sri-lanka/anuradhapura/

Ancient City of Sigiriya

Okay, out of the 08 from this list, Sigiriya could be the most famous. Among the locals, we consider Sigiriya the 8th Wonder of the World, but that’s mainly because of its uniqueness and the ancient architectural marvel. The story goes that King Kashyapa in the 5th Century A.D., built his fortress on top of a 200m tall rock. The word Sigiriya comes from two Sinhala words, “Sinha” (meaning Lion) and Giriya (meaning Rock or Mouth). The translation means Lion’s Rock or Lion’s Mouth. The reason why it’s got the Lion word is because of the Lion Paws entrance mid-journey to the peak.

When you visit Sigiriya Rock Fortress, there are some main places to visit and explore.

• The Symmetrical Water Gardens
• The Boulder Gardens
• The Mirror Wall (Kurutu Gee)
• The Sigiriya Frescoes
• The Lion Paws (found mid-way to the peak)
• The Palace remains on the Peak

More information about Sigiriya can be found here at: https://www.meshaunjourneys.com/destinations/sri-lanka/sigiriya/

Ancient City of Polonnaruwa

The Second Kingdom of Sri Lanka, after Anuradhapura, is Polonnaruwa. Like it’s said, this was a Game of Thrones – just a Sri Lankan version of it. After the fall of the Anuradhapura Kingdom after 1400 years, the kingdom shifted to Polonnaruwa and was re-started by the Great King Parakrama. Under his reign, Sri Lanka again became a prosperous and rich country mainly based on agriculture and irrigation.

Some places to visit during the exploration of the Polonnaruwa Ancient City:

• Lankathilaka Image House
• Nissanka Latha Mandapaya
• Vatadage
• Gal Viharaya
• Palace of King Parakramabahu
• Nissanka Latha Mandapaya

More about Polonnaruwa in this link: https://www.meshaunjourneys.com/destinations/sri-lanka/polonnaruwa/

Rangiri Dambulla Cave Temple

Next on the list is the Rangiri Dambulla Cave Temple – another beautiful and artistic cave temple in Sri Lanka.

Even though this is not a Kingdom, this place also has a lot of history relating to the Kingdoms of Sri Lanka. The Five main caves, each housing stunning statues and murals, not forgetting the ceiling wall art are amazingly beautiful. These caves show how advanced the craftsmen of Sri Lanka were some 2000 years ago. It is said that King Valagamba from the Kingdom of Anuradhapura sought refuge here at Dambulla caves and later built this temple as a Thank You to the monks that helped him. Later, many kings too added statues, wall art, paintings to this cave temple complex making this one of the most important Cave Temples in the World.

More about Dambulla here: https://www.meshaunjourneys.com/destinations/sri-lanka/dambulla/

Sacred City of Kandy

The Holiest temple of Sri Lanka could be the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. This is because it’s the home for one of Lord Buddha’s (founder of Buddhism) Tooth and literally thousands flock to this temple daily to get blessings and chant prayers (gatha). This used to be the King’s Palace and later combined with the Temple premises and now is considered as a complex of Temples and Temple related arena.

The visit to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is not complete without visiting the Royal Palace area (the temple), the Museum, the Kandy Lake area, the lesser-known Church and Mosque that are also within the Temple premises.

Kandy is the home for the famous Esala Perahara which is either celebrated in July or August each year and hundreds of thousands gather to watch this amazing display of celebrations to the Tooth Relic.

Read more about Kandy here: https://www.meshaunjourneys.com/destinations/sri-lanka/kandy/

Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications

Even though Galle is not one of the Kingdoms of Sri Lanka, it is one of the oldest cities since ancient times.

Famous for its Harbour, and then the Fort built by the Portuguese and later developed by the Dutch, the Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications are a regular stop and visit for many tourists. If you check for the top 7 visits in Sri Lanka, Galle Fort is definitely included in this. This is one of the best examples for a fortified city built by the Europeans in South-East Asia, showing the fusion of European designs and South Asian designs and traditions.

Even still, the functional sewage systems, the waterways, the old-colonial buildings, the Rampart, the lighthouse, the tall walls, the brick-laid pathways, the churches, the Museum are some of the interesting places to visit inside the Galle Fort.

Read more about Galle: https://www.meshaunjourneys.com/destinations/sri-lanka/galle/

Central Highlands of Sri Lanka

The term, Central Highlands of Sri Lanka is a for 03 main forest areas in Sri Lanka.

1. Knuckles Conservation Forest
2. Horton Plains National Park
3. Peak Wilderness Protected Area (Sri Pada or Adam’s Peak mountains and nature areas)

The Central Highlands of Sri Lanka is a serial property comprising three component parts: Peak Wilderness Protected Area, Horton Plains National Park and Knuckles Conservation Forest. Its forests are globally important and provide habitat for an exceptional number of endemic species of flora and fauna. The property includes the largest and least disturbed remaining areas of the submontane and montane rain forests of Sri Lanka, which are a global conservation priority on many accounts. They include areas of Sri Lankan montane rain forests considered as a super-hotspot within the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot. More than half of Sri Lanka’s endemic vertebrates, half of the country’s endemic flowering plants and more than 34% of its endemic trees, shrubs, and herbs are restricted to these diverse montane rain forests and adjoining grassland areas. – UNESCO

If you are interested to include a visit to the Central Highlands, please remember that it’s not just one forest or nature area. This will definitely need more days and travelling and visiting different locations in Sri Lanka.

Sinharaja Forest Reserve

Sinharaja – a forest which actually got its name because of the legend of a Lion living in the forest is now the primary rainforest of Sri Lanka. To add more importance to Sinharaja, more than 60% of trees inside Sinharaja Forest Reserve are endemic (only found in that area) and are also rare. The forest reserve is also home to 50% of Sri Lanka’s endemic species of mammals and butterflies and also plants and birds too.

Sinharaja Forest Reserve is home to the beautiful birds such as the Sri Lankan Blue Magpie, which is one of the very rare birds of Sri Lanka.

A few rare and endemic birds to be spotted at Sinharaja Forest Reserve:

• Red-Faced Mal Koha
• Sri Lanka Blue Magpie
• Ash-Headed Babbler
• White-Headed Starling
• Green-Billed Coucal

---

So that wraps up the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka. Of course the list might change with more additions as there are 03 sites that are pending approval. We can notice that

• Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Viharaya near Trincomalee
• Seruwila to Sri Pada route via Mahaweli River
• Ariyakara Viharaya in the Rajagala Archaeological Reserve in the Eastern province

are also being discovered with lots of importance and interest to be included into the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Note & Image credits: https://whc.unesco.org/

---