Anamaduwa combines a weekly market in town with temples, rock inscriptions and traditional pottery in the surrounding area. This offers different options when choosing where to stay: market life in Anamaduwa, Buddhist art and architecture, or historical inscriptions. When planning a stay, you can decide whether the weekly market, the rock sites or the area’s cultural history should be the main focus.
The Sathi Pola in Anamaduwa
The Sathi Pola is a weekly market in Anamaduwa. Its colourful stalls line Anamaduwa Road; goods on offer include fruit, vegetables, fish and meat, as well as other food, toys, clothing, accessories and plants. Ingredients for Bulath Vita, a betel chew, are also available. If the market is part of your travel plans, check the current market day in advance.
Temple art at Paramakanda
Near Anamaduwa is the Buddhist temple Paramakanda Viharaya, also known as the ancient Acchagiritissa-pabbata Viharaya. The complex is located on a rocky outcrop called Paramakanda. A cave in the temple contains sculptures and paintings in the Kandyan tradition; a shrine east of the terrace houses two statues carved from limestone in the 8th century AD. On the grounds of Paramakanda Vihara, an ancient image house with paintings, a dagoba, caves with drip ledges and a rock inscription are among the sites protected as archaeological monuments.
The climb at Paramakanda Temple follows a well-built staircase through the monastery grounds. The granite rock can be climbed without mountaineering experience. If you plan to make the climb, check in advance whether access is currently possible.
Thonigala: Inscriptions and history
Near the town, the two early Brahmi Thonigala rock inscriptions are found on a low rock. They are described as the largest in Sri Lanka; each is said to be about 30 metres long. According to the traditional interpretation, they record two gifts: Lord Tissa, son of Lord Abhaya, donated a nearby reservoir to a Thero; in the 1st century AD, King Gamini Abhaya donated the ancient cities of Achanagaraka and Tawirikiya.
Paramakanda and Thonigala offer different cultural highlights: the temple draws attention to cave art and statues, while the inscriptions add an approximate length and their traditional interpretation. This makes religious art and early written records distinct interests to consider when planning a trip.
Crafts and getting your bearings in the area
Kumaragama offers another point of interest: pottery has been practised as a trade for generations in this nearby village. Unlike temple architecture and rock inscriptions, the focus here is on craftsmanship as a cultural highlight in its own right.
Paramakanda Raja Maha Viharaya lies on the opposite, northern side of the rock formation and northwest of Anamaduwa, outside the town. This location helps place the temple in relation to the rock formation without confusing it with the weekly market in town.
Discover more destinations: Diyature, Kudawa, Boraluwewa, Puttalam, Pallama, Bandara Koswatta, Dankotuwa, Nochchiyagama
See the regional travel overview: North Western Province.
