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Pahiyangala Cave ( Pahiyan Lena) is one of the offbeat and significant prehistoric places in Sri Lanka. Archeologists have discovered by excavations that these caves had been inhabited by prehistoric cavemen who called this cave home 37,000 years ago. Making this cave the most ancient pre-historic settlement in Asia and the largest naturally formed rock in the entire Asian continent.
Situated just 2 hours away, the cave is one of the best places to visit near Colombo and you can comfortably arrange a day trip to it. If you feel adventurous you can hike to the top of the rock without much hassle.
Piqued your interest? Read more about it here.
Location |
The caves are located in Yatagampitiya, Bulathsinhala. Close to the Eastern border of Kalutara District.
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Distance |
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Directions |
From Colombo If you use a vehicle, the fastest way is to get there from Colombo is to take the Highlevel road to Kottawa interchange and enter the southern expressway. Make an exit from Bandaragama and drive straight to Horana. From there take the Mathugama road and reach Bulathsinhala. After that turn left to Molkawa road which will take you to the caves at about half an hour. The turning point from Bulathsinhala is at the center of town and pretty is easy to find. There are signboards to the effect in the town.  Drive straight on this road until you reach Galketiya junction, whence you should take the narrow road to the left. Going straight through this road about 05 minutes will get you to the turning point to the caves. Public Transport  After reaching Horana take the bus to Matugama (route No 285) to Bulathsinhala. This journey will take about 01 hour. (Make sure to check the route number is exactly 285 because there is another bus to Matugama which won’t go past Bulathisinhala). From there should better off taking a tuk-tuk to the caves which would take about ½ hrs. The cost will be around 200-250 LKR. Important: Arrange a tuk-tuk for a return trip upfront as well because there are no tuk-tuks at the cave premises. ( Nearest three-wheeler park is at Galketiya junction). It’s best to ask the tuk-tuk guy to stay until you return. You can also ask help from a monk in the temple, they might have phone numbers of taxis handy. From Kalutara From there take the left (Katukurunda – Neboda Road) which will take you straight to Bulathsinhala. Thence you could follow Molkawa road to the temple. Alternatively, you could go straight down the Galle road from Kalutara and turn left at Katukurunda junction into Katukurunda – Neboda road.It is recommended hiring a vehicle because Buses on this road are not very reliable. |
Once you get there, You need to climb well-paved stone steps for about 20 minutes to reach the cave base.
For those who want to climb atop the rock, there is a small footpath at the corner of the cave mouth. You can ask a novice monk for directions. The path to the top is through the jungle and can be tricky at some points so make sure it’s not raining or about to rain for the rock can get slippery and leeches will surface.
We’re going to write about getting to the top of the rock soon and will update this post then.
We shall update this post with latest travel tips to Pahiyangala. So make sure to follow our social media pages for latest updates. Your comments and queries are most welcome. Wish you happy Travels in Sri Lanka.
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