Ramayana Trail (6 Days): Colombo

The excursion

Itinerary

• Day 1 — Airport → Pinnawala → Kandy
• On arrival at Colombo airport you are met by a chauffeur guide and driven to Kandy, with time to settle in before an evening cultural show.
• Millennium Elephant Foundation
• A family-run organisation near Pinnawala dedicated to the welfare of domestic elephants, offering an ethical, up-close Elephant Walk Experience as an alternative to elephant riding.
• Kandy Cultural Show
• An hour-long evening performance of traditional Sri Lankan dance, including fire dancers, sword dancers and Kandyan dancers performing to drumming.
• Day 2 — Kandy → Nuwara Eliya
• After checking out of Kandy, the day covers the city's most sacred Buddhist site before heading into the hill country to places linked with the Ramayana, continuing on to Ella in the evening.
• Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic
• A UNESCO World Heritage Site built in the 16th century to house and protect the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha, with elaborately painted halls and carved pillars.
• Sita Amman Temple
• A temple near the Hakgala Botanical Gardens with statues and paintings depicting the story of Rama and Sita, built on the spot where Sita is believed to have been held.
• Divurumpola Temple
• The site where Sita is said to have undergone her Agni Pariksha to prove her fidelity to Rama, where local people still come to swear oaths today.
• Day 3 — Ella → Yala
• After checking out, the day visits a waterfall linked to the Ramayana legend before continuing to Yala.
• Ravana Falls
• A waterfall in the hill country named after King Ravana, who according to legend hid the kidnapped princess Sita in a cave behind the falls, with Rama's queen said to have bathed in the pool below.
• Day 4 — Yala → Kataragama → Yala
• The day starts with an early morning safari in Yala National Park, followed by an evening visit to a major regional temple before returning to the hotel.
• Yala National Park
• A three-hour jeep safari through Sri Lanka's second-largest national park, with the chance to see leopards, wild water buffalo, sloth bears and elephants among its varied wildlife.
• Kataragama Temple
• A temple dedicated to Lord Karthikeya Subramaniam, linked in legend to his protection of Rama from Ravana's weapon during the Ramayana war, with daily pooja offerings of fruit and incense.
• Day 5 — Yala → Ussangoda → Rumassala → Galle
• The day travels from Yala to the south coast, taking in a barren coastal site linked to Hanuman before reaching Galle for a rock linked to the same legend and a walk through the old fort.
• Ussangoda
• A treeless coastal plateau with toxic serpentine soil, said in Ramayana legend to have been scorched by Hanuman's burning tail and also linked to the landing site of Ravana's flying chariot.
• Rumassala
• A hill near Unuwatuna topped by a white Buddhist dagoba, believed to be a fragment of the Himalayan mountain Dronagiri dropped by Hanuman, and said to have once sheltered Sita.
• Galle Fort
• A well-preserved fortification built under Portuguese and Dutch rule, with museums, a lighthouse and cobblestoned streets to explore on a walking tour.
• Day 6 — Galle → Chilaw → BIA
• The final day travels from Galle to Chilaw to visit a Hindu temple before heading on to the airport.
• Munneswaram Temple
• An ancient regional Hindu temple complex dedicated to Shiva, associated in legend with the Ramayana and its hero-king Rama.