An ancient temple town near the southern tip of the island, once a great medieval pilgrimage port, host to a famous Esala festival.

Overview

Devinuwara, the 'City of Gods', is a historic temple town just southeast of Matara near the southernmost point of Sri Lanka. Its multi-religious complex centres on the Upulvan (Vishnu) Devalaya and an adjoining Buddhist temple, and it comes to life each year during the Devinuwara Esala festival with a grand perahera procession and fair. Fragments of ancient stonework recall a far larger medieval sacred city that once stood here.

History

The sacred complex was founded as early as the 7th century AD under King Dappula and reached its height between the 13th and 15th centuries as one of the island's most celebrated pilgrimage ports, its gilded temple roof a landmark for sailors and its shrines visited by travellers such as Ibn Battuta and the Chinese admiral Zheng He. The city was sacked and burned by a Portuguese raid in 1587, and the present Vishnu devale was rebuilt in the 17th century under King Rajasinghe II of Kandy.