Monday walks,  Ruins,  Sri Lanka

Ritigala, the monastery in the forest

May 12, 2026 / 40 Comments

Legend has it that all vegetation on the mountain of Ritigala in central Sri Lanka is protected by guardian spirits known as Yakkhas. These are the guardian spirits of the mountain, said to have helped Prince (later King) Pandukhabaya fulfil a prophecy by defeating his eight uncles at the foot of the mountain. As king he went on to establish Anuradhapura as a thriving city and capital, and to unify the island.

He also founded a monastery, today in ruins but once a focus for Buddhist meditation. It was in use for centuries but abandoned in the 10th century and gradually overtaken by the forest. Today the forest forms part of a nature reserve. We visited with our guide Champi, taking a jeep through the reserve.

From the road to Ritigala

At first we were on a road, then a track through paddy fields and into the forest. We stopped briefly at a very functional-looking building. Champi explained that this was a meditation centre where eighteen monks now live. People had brought food for them, as is customary for Buddhists. We laughed at the antics of a macaque trying to drink from a water pipe.

At the meditation centre

Exploring the ruins

Further into the forest we parked and started what proved to be a long, hot and occasionally difficult climb. This led us first to a huge water tank or reservoir. This is an impressive feat of engineering, credited to King Pandukabhaya. It is thought to have been used for ritual bathing by pilgrims, and its size suggests that very many visited the monastery.

The reservoir

We walked around the rim of the reservoir and on the far side started to climb up through the forest, following a stone path with frequent flights of steps.

The path through the forest

The various ruins revealed themselves at intervals, with steep climbs between each. Without proper guiding I was at first at a loss to understand what I was seeing. Fortunately we ran into a Spanish couple with their guide, who was much more knowledgeable than Champi, and they kindly allowed us to listen in. I learned that the first area after the water tank was a library, and the later flat circular platforms were for meditation walking. The function of some of the other buildings seems to be unknown but they could have been accommodation for the monks or for pilgrims, as well as meditation centres.

Various ruins (the library is, I think, top left)

Another platform carries the remains of the hospital. You can still see the large stone for grinding the medicinal herbs found in the forest. One of these herbs, Sansevi, was believed to have the power of conferring long life and curing all human pain. That could explain the large number of pilgrims?

Hospital ruins and grinding stone

The monks who inhabited Ritigala were extreme ascetics known as Pansakulikas, meaning Rag-Robe Wearers. The name reflects their commitment to one of the Buddha’s thirteen ascetic practices (dhutanga): wearing robes made from discarded rags, mostly shrouds picked up from cemeteries

There are no stupas, very few decorations on the ruins and only a handful of Buddha statues have been found. But there is one interesting exception to the general lack of decoration. To our surprise, on one of the platforms we came to an ornate urinal! It is thought that the decorated stones were intended to represent the architectural and ritualistic excesses of the orthodox monastic chapters to which the Pansakulikas were opposed. By urinating on them the monks asserted their rejection of these excesses.

The decorated urinal

On our way back down through the forest the jeep driver, who had accompanied us on the climb, pointed out a short detour. This led us to a small but pretty waterfall. But neither he nor Champi could tell me the reason for the row of clearly human-made holes in the rock beside it. My guess is that it was once intended to be used in a building here, with the holes created with the aim of splitting the rock, a common stone-cutting technique.

The waterfall

I’m sharing this visit as a Monday Walk for Jo.

I visited Ritigala in February 2026

40 Comments

  • Rose

    May 20, 2026 at 03:18 Reply

    Interesting history and images. The herb, Sansevi, with it’s possibility of curing all human pain, might have led me there as a pilgrim….

  • Teresa

    May 12, 2026 at 23:33 Reply

    You must have savoured the experience as it shows in your photos. Love these kinds of walks… simple, no crowds, just by yourself with nature.

    • Sarah Wilkie

      May 13, 2026 at 11:50 Reply

      Thank you Teresa 🙂 To be honest the walk was a bit too challenging for to savour it at the time, but looking back I was glad I’d visited.

      • Teresa

        May 14, 2026 at 00:13 Reply

        Yes, there are times like that for me too because of my knee and back. But when you look back, it is great to have done it even with aches and pains.

  • wetanddustyroads

    May 12, 2026 at 17:53 Reply

    Although it was a challenging path, it was probably worth it to see the ruins. I find the library interesting (but I suppose it is not unusual for a monastery).

    • Sarah Wilkie

      May 12, 2026 at 18:46 Reply

      It was worth it on balance though I questioned it at the time! I think I’d have got more out of the walk if we’d had more informative guiding.

  • margaret21

    May 12, 2026 at 17:38 Reply

    This walk really had something of everything. What a truly peaceful and renewing spot – apart from the antics of the macaque! It almost feels odd that the oroiginal monastery no longer survives. But a smaller community may well suit the 18 present inhabitants. A day well spend, I’d say.

  • Image Earth Travel

    May 12, 2026 at 10:42 Reply

    These monks sounded so different to the ones in Thailand or Myanmar, where they have mobile phones, pristine robes, and don’t seem to go without. The urinal is a classic! Maybe the holes in the stone were for some sort of bridge or walkway, but rock splitting sounds more feasible.

    Not sure if I mentioned this story before, but on arriving at Yangon airport, I needed to change money (not the best place, but I couldn’t buy any kyat in Thailand at the time). Anyway, I was behind a monk at the exchange booths who was on the same plane as us. He pulled out bundles of USD1,000 at a time to change to kyat. As I was knocked back at a couple of booths because my notes had a smudge or slightly bent corner, I had to try several booths until one changed my money. The monk went to all the airport’s booths, changing thousand-dollar bundles of US dollars; it was more cash than I’d ever seen on one person.

    Thanks for the walk, Sarah!

  • Alli Templeton

    May 12, 2026 at 10:31 Reply

    What a beautiful walk, Sarah! I love the origin story, and that the forest grew up around the monastery. It’s the sort of tour I’d love to go on, a mix of my favourite natural environment and ancient ruins! It’s a shame there isn’t a monastery still in the forest; I can’t imagine a better place for some quiet meditation and to find peace in an increasingly insane world. And we could all do with some Sansevi these days! Fascinating place, and as always, brought to life with your superb photos. 🙂

    • Sarah Wilkie

      May 12, 2026 at 11:03 Reply

      Thanks so much Alli for this thoughtful response 😊 While the monastery has been in ruins for centuries there is the rather functional meditation centre building that I mentioned where apparently 18 monks are currently living. It’s not nearly so deep into the forest but it is in very peaceful surroundings.

      • Alli Templeton

        May 12, 2026 at 14:07 Reply

        Yes indeed, I envy those lucky few monks who still benefit from the peace and the beautiful forest close by. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they had a retreat for the world-weary to escape to when it all gets too much? 🌳

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