Navimana

This picture was taken at a place called Navimana, about two kilometers from Warakapola town towards Mirigama. Navimana is an ‘Aranya Senanasanaya’, a place where Buddhist monks and devotees could meditate in a place of seclusion. The closest word I could gather is ‘hermitage’.

The temple is situated on top of a small hill. The place is similar to Buddhangala and Arankele, but the vegetation is quite different as it is situated in the wet zone. The entire locale is covered with rich foliage mostly of mahogany trees and lots of undergrowth. It was very relaxing to walk along the path to the top of the hill.

The above picture was taken near the temple and it shows part of the panoramic view as well. I have added more pictures here.

Buddhangala

Sri Lanka is full of temples and monasteries. Some temples in places like Anuradhapura are older than 2000 years. In addition to the famous temples in main cultural towns like Anuradhapura, Kandy and Polonnaruwa, we find many important temples all around the country. These temples are full of devotees throughout the year. One interesting feature is that we find many outstation temples located in rocky outcrops. One good example is Dambulla. These locations give the temples, an elevated position compared to the rest of the buildings and they become visible from distant places.

Above picture and some more here were taken at this very interesting buddhist temple called Buddhangala Aranyaya (Hermitage) about 8 kilometers from Ampara. The temple is situated in a very peaceful location on top of a rocky outcrop which is about 450 feet high.

You can see a panoramic view of the region from the top. Ampara town, Galoya valley and Inginiyagala area can be seen very clearly. Please visit this web site to find more information about this monastery.

Arankele Monastery

There are hundreds of monasteries all over the country where buddhist monks live closer to the nature practising meditation.

Anyone can visit such places, but you have to observe extreme silence.

One such attractive place is situated about 20km from Kurunegala town in Arankele close to Hiripitiya. There are long and straight walking paths and terraces through the forest. This place has lots of ruins of ancient buddhist temples as well.

Can there be a better place for meditation than closer to the nature?