Yapahuwa

A quiet rural area in the north of the district built around a dramatic granite rock that was briefly a medieval royal capital and Tooth Relic sanctuary.

Overview

Yapahuwa is a small, little-visited settlement in the north of Kurunegala District, gathered around a sheer granite rock that rises almost a hundred metres from the surrounding paddy plains. For a few years in the 13th century it was the capital of Sri Lanka and the home of the sacred Tooth Relic, and its famous ornamental stone staircase remains one of the finest pieces of medieval Sinhalese architecture on the island. Well off the main tourist trail, it offers a peaceful, atmospheric ruin usually explored in an hour or two, best combined with the surrounding ancient sites of the north-west.

History

Yapahuwa was raised into a fortress-capital by King Bhuvanekabahu I around 1273, who moved the seat of the kingdom and the Tooth Relic here for protection against South Indian invasions. After his death the citadel was overrun by a Pandyan army in 1284 and the Tooth Relic was carried off to South India, after which the capital was abandoned and the site later became a Buddhist monastery.