Indigolla Ruins inside Lunugamvehera National Park (ලුනුගම්වෙහෙර තුල සැඟවුණු ඉඳිගොල්ල බොදු ණටබුන්)

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Yala Block 5 was opened to the public as a separate national park called Lunugamvehera National Park in 2005. Lunugamvehera NP separates from the main Yala NP by the Kataragama – Buttala road bisecting Yala park to 2 sections. Galge entrance which lie 13 km from Sella Kataragama on the Buttala road, provides entrance to Yala main park (block III, IV) as well as access to Lunugamvehera National Park (Yala Block V).

After the 13the century, the the dry zone the civilization in the northeastern part of Sri Lanka collapsed and the civilization in this region too fell in line. As a result of the loss of people’s livelihoods due to the war, decease and the devastation of irrigation systems, villages migrated to other areas and all the great Buddhist monasteries in these areas too collapsed. Traces of this great civilization was eventually swallowed by the jungles of Ruhuna and lie hidden to be discovered.

The unknown ruins of Indigolla lie close to the entrance of Lunugamvehera NP, about 1.5 km on the main track from the entrance. Just passing the small Gonagan Aru wewa, an insignificant jeep track at the edge of the bund will take you to the ruins hidden inside the jungles.

The ruins discovered are of a 2 buildings with large number of stone pillars surrounded by an square outer wall measuring about 35 meters on one side. Its not clear that if this was a outer wall or a retaining wall of a platform. Ruins of a possible entrance can be found in center of the eastern wall. The wall has used 2-3 layers of large cut rocks of 40-60 cm in length.

The structure shown as (B) has number of pillars still standing even after thousands of years of neglect. The building has been built on 36 pillars laid in a 6×6 matrix. Each pillar has been laid at a distance of about 1.3 meters from each other. Out of the 36, 15 pillars are still standing. These are 25cm x 25cm in cross section and rise up to about 180cm from the earth surface.

The other building on the south (marked as C) seems to have had 30 pillars laid in a 5×6 matix. Each pillar has been laid at a distance of about 1.5 meter distance from each other. Of the 12 remaining pillars, most have been broken from the middle and only stumps remain. The pillars have 25cmx28cm cross section and rises 190cm from the each surface. A large pit of about 2m in diameter has been dug by treasure hunters at the middle of the structure. Acording to archaeologists who visited the site, the complete roof tiles which was found at this site belongs to the Anuradhapura period (3rd century BC to 11th century). It is unknown whether this site is a Buddhist temple or part of the main Veheragala Temple site on the rocky hill on the southwest side from these ruins.

Indigolla Ruins inside Lunugamvehera National Park : ලුනුගම්වෙහෙර තුල සැඟවුණු ඉඳිගොල්ල බොදු ණටබුන්
Indigolla Ruins inside Lunugamvehera National Park : ලුනුගම්වෙහෙර තුල සැඟවුණු ඉඳිගොල්ල බොදු ණටබුන්

References

  • Okamura, T., 2021. Ruins in and Around Yala National Park in Sri Lanka. 1st ed. Tokyo: NPO-SARERS – South Asian Ruins Exploration and Research Society.

Also See

Map of Indigolla Ruins inside Lunugamvehera National Park

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Travel Directions to Indigolla Ruins inside Lunugamvehera National Park

Route from Colombo to Indigolla Ruins (upto Galge Entrance)
Though : Southern Expressway – Kataragama – Buttala Road
distance :275 km
Travel time : 4 hours.
Driving directions : see on google map

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