Yudaganawa Stupa
Uva Province
About Yudaganawa Stupa
Yudaganawa startles by sheer volume: outside Buttala, a stupa mound of extraordinary girth - its base circumference among the largest of any dagoba ever begun on the island - rises from the scrub like a grassed-over hill, its dome apparently never carried to completion. The name ('battlefield') and tradition tie the site to one of the chronicle age's pivotal dramas: the fratricidal war between the princes Dutugemunu and Saddhatissa, reconciled - the story goes - through their mother Viharamahadevi, with the great mound raised where the armies met. At its foot, a jewel-box Kandyan-era image house holds painted Buddhas and, unusually, wooden figures; a smaller ancient stupa (Chulangani Vehera) keeps the site's older layers close by. Yudaganawa sees a handful of pilgrims and almost no tourists - combine it with Maligawila's colossal Buddha for the deep-Uva heritage day nobody else is having.
Top Activities
- ✓The colossal mound and its scale
- ✓The Kandyan image house at the base
- ✓The warring-brothers legend
- ✓Combine with Maligawila
- ✓Deep-Uva countryside drives
Nearby Attractions
Travel Tips
Pair with Maligawila - the two make Uva's best quiet heritage loop.
The image house paintings deserve unhurried minutes.
Walk the full base to feel the circumference claim.
Quick Info
Best Time
Year-round; mornings
Weather
Hot and dry; the open mound is best early.
Estimated Daily Budget
6.7597°N, 81.2333°E
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