Kudimbigala Forest Hermitage

In the center off in the distance you see two large rocks; atop the right one a small pimple is the main stupa of Kudimbigala Forest Hermitage.

The Hermitage is mostly a collection of caves spread out through the hills and forest with a central area where some ruins are said to date from a pre-B.C. century.  Since many ruins in Sri Lanka date from the 3rd - 1st century B.C., it seems fairly reasonable.

There were previously around 300 monks living in the forest, but during the war many people moved out of this area as the LTTE was killing civilians and monks.  With the lack of local support - conventional monasteries depend on a local lay population donating basic needs like food, robes and medicine - all the monks left except for this one monk.  He is 87 years old and although he is barefoot and I'm wearing sandals, when he starts guiding me through the forest, I need to step lively or get left behind. He does have one lay person with him who helps tend some of his needs, like cooking the food and arranging things with lay people. They say with the war over, people may now return to the area and with lay people in the area to support the hermitage, perhaps monks will return.

The view from the stupa at the top of the hill is particularly nice, showing the surrounding landscape and the eastern shore of Sri Lanka in the distance. The view from the hermitage back to that hill shows the stupa and, to the right, a natural reclining Buddha with his head on the left. The lay person is particularly happy about this natural statue.