Discover the ancient Tapassara Cave Monastery near Seruwila, featuring a drip-ledged cave, ruined stupas, stone pillars, and early Anuradhapura-period structures. Once part of a thriving settlement, the site today bears marks of treasure hunting yet remains a significant archaeological landmark.
Hidden on a hill overlooking the Kokkilai Lagoon, Sankamale’s ancient Buddhist monastery bears silent witness to centuries of devotion—and decades of neglect. Once part of a vast Polonnaruwa-era sacred complex, its ruins now struggle for survival amid encroaching settlements and the quiet erasure of Sri Lanka’s forgotten heritage.
Hidden in the serene plains west of Seruwawila lies Mandalagiri Rajamaha Viharaya, an ancient temple believed to date back to King Kavantissa’s reign in the 2nd century BCE. Recently restored from a forest-covered mound, its rediscovered stupa revives the sacred legacy of Seru Nuwara’s forgotten heritage.
Hidden amid the paddy fields of Gomarankadawala lies the forgotten Mayilawewa Archaeological Site, where a 2,000-year-old stupa once safeguarded a golden relic casket and inscribed Sannasa. Today, its crumbling walls and scattered ruins whisper stories of devotion, craftsmanship, and ancient Buddhist life in Trincomalee.
Hidden amid paddy fields near Verugal Aru, the ancient Vattavana rock shelters reveal 3rd-century BCE cave inscriptions carved into a 700-metre granite ridge. Recently uncovered by archaeologists, this fragile site faces modern threats—its secrets of Sri Lanka’s earliest monastic life at risk of vanishing forever.
Traveling on the road from Kantale to Trincomalee, past the Mollipotana area, you’ll see a range of hills on the left. This small mountainous area has about three peaks, each over 200 meters high.
One of these peaks is located near the Kurulupanna Wewa Reservoir (Pareippanna Kulama), a large, solitary rock hill. The top of this hill is covered by a single rock slab spanning an area of about 25–30 acres.
The Sirimangalapura gedige in Somawathie is strong evidence that settlements and construction in the Seruwila area continued until the Polonnaruwa period. While the main building was constructed in the gedige style, evidence of some constructions from the earlier Anuradhapura period has also been found at the site.
This complex of ruins is located on a hilltop at the end of the Neelapanichchankulama Wewa Reservoir bund, situated on the border between the Kuchchaveli and Gomarankadawala Divisional Secretariats. It is believed to date back to the Early Anuradhapura Period.
Treasure hunters have dug up about six spots, including the stupa, on the land of the Muthugama ruins in search of buried treasure. Additionally, around 10 acres of jungle surrounding the ruins have been cleared for land grabbing, and makeshift huts have been set up.
You can find the ruins of a stupa mound a short distance from the Kappalthurai Ayurveda Hospital in the 229B Sumedhankarapura Grama Niladhari division, within the Town and Gravets Divisional Secretariat of the Trincomalee District.
This ancient dagoba (stupa) is located within a teak plantation in the Kappalthurai Grama Niladhari Division, which falls under the Trincomalee Kadawath Sathara Divisional Secretariat. It is located opposite the Kappalthurai Timber Corporation and is accessible from the Trincomalee–Kandy road while heading toward Thambalagamuwa.
To reach the Maha Alankulama Archaeological Site, travel past Mailawewa village in Gomarankadawala toward Thiriyaya. On the left, turn onto the track leading to the tank and follow it for about one kilometer. From there, trek roughly 500 meters north into the forest to find the scattered remains.
The ruins extend across roughly two acres. This forest hermitage, known as “Nai Pena Wana Senasuna” (Cobra-Hooded Forest Hermitage), gets its name from a pair of caves shaped like cobra hoods. Believed to have been built around the same time as Girihandu Seya in Thiriyaya, the site features three large boulders atop a hill that resemble a traditional three-stone hearth.
The ruins in Lingapura village are spread across an area of approximately five acres. Due to activities such as earth excavation, many of the remains have been either destroyed or buried beneath the soil. At the site, a small rock outcrop rises above the terrain, atop which stands a brick stupa approximately 20 feet in diameter.
This stupa, believed to be of Anuradhapura origin, was constructed entirely of brick. The looters had first tunneled horizontally into the stupa, about 15 feet deep, reaching the relic chamber. They later dug vertically into the center of the stupa, creating a shaft approximately 30 feet deep and removing a substantial number of bricks. Archaeologists estimate the original diameter of the stupa to be about 40 feet.
The site is located on the Kumburupiddi Red Rocks point, along Nilaveli Road in Trincomalee. The stupa mound lies on one side of a wide, rocky summit that stretches towards the sea. Sadly, the stupa has been destroyed by treasure hunters who have dug a large pit at its center—about four and a half feet in diameter and roughly 15 feet deep
Surrounding the main Vihara, the ruins of a small stupa and several ancient structures have been discovered. The stupa mound, which rises several feet above the ground, has been excavated and destroyed by treasure hunters at its center. At the bottom lies the garbha (relic chamber), constructed from large stone slabs.
Further inland from Kuchchaveli lies a vast forested area dotted with ancient monastery ruins. One such site is Sembumale, a site located on a gently elevated rocky plateau covering nearly 50 acres. This entire plateau is strewn with remnants of monastic life, indicating the presence of a once-flourishing monastery.
Opposite the Nelson Cinema Hall in Trincomalee, on an irregular quadrilateral plot of land near the St. Stephen’s War Cemetery, stand four ancient Bo trees, now largely forgotten and left to deteriorate. These sacred trees—267 years old—are a living symbol of the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka during the Kandyan era
The site contains the ruins of a large stupa, now visible as a slightly elevated mound that has been partially destroyed due to illicit excavations by treasure hunters. While the stupa’s exact dimensions are difficult to determine, a deep pit approximately 2.5 meters in depth has been dug into its center, exposing the original brick layers used in construction.
