Arankele

Arankele is a meditation monastery. A new monastery to the front of the site has about 30 monks. This ancient cave shrine is still in use.

The walkway from the cave shrine runs about 300 meters to the main monastic complex. A great place for walking meditation.

The large tank which once supplied bathing and drinking water for the monastics is still full of water, but  is now full of water grass and purple lotus.

Something I haven't seen in other temple ruins, this building had a long narrow runway in the middle of it which made me think of walking meditation.

Yapahuwa

A sign at the bottom of these steps says something like "WARNING! You have hereby been warned that these stairs are dangerous." They are both very step and very shallow, making them quite difficult to descend. But, the view from the top is nice.

Hatthikucchi

I particularly like Hatthikucchi for its peaceful forest setting, the very few visitors and for this rock hill in the middle with nothing on top but a wonderful place to sit down and meditate.

This is the only structure I've seen that is oval shaped.

Tanthirimale

Tanthirimale monastery is spread out in an area of low rolling granite hills.

The reclining Buddha is unique in that the legs are not straight, but slightly bent at the knees.

Both sides of this narrow path are small lakes of murky water. As I approached the path, there was something large on it at the other end that sort of resembled a decaying cow carcass. As I stepped onto the path it moved - and a very large crocodile slithered into the water. Step, mamo buddhaya, step, namo dhammaya, step, namo sanghaya, ignore the water...

Temple of 500 Buddhas

I don't recall the name of this monastery we passed on the drive from Anaradhapura to Tanthirimale. They are constructing a unique pathway lined with about 500 statues of the Buddha. I guess it will be a reflection walkway instead of designed for meditation because it ultimately leads up to some kind of temple building too early in construction to be identified. Well, I guess the modern attempts at devotional expression deserve some honorable mention.