Ramayana Tour

1. West coast
2. 01 2 m

   Day 1. Negombo

   Drive 12 km · 25 min

   Negombo 2 m

   Met at the airport by your chauffeur and driven to Negombo. A city tour if you want one, taking in the fish market and the Dutch canal.

3. Hill country
4. 02 500 m

   Day 2. Chilaw, then Kandy

   Drive 195 km · 5 h

   Kandy 500 m

   North to Munneswaram near Chilaw, where tradition says Rama prayed to Shiva after the war, and on to Manavari, the first lingam he is said to have installed. Then inland to Kandy, with the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage as an optional stop.

5. 03 1,868 m

   Day 3. Ramboda and Nuwara Eliya

   Drive 80 km · 3 h

   Nuwara Eliya 1,868 m

   The Sri Bhakta Hanuman temple at Ramboda, built by the Chinmaya Mission on the hills where Hanuman is said to have searched for Sita. In the evening, the Gayathri Peedam in Nuwara Eliya, linked by tradition to Ravana’s son Meghanada.

6. 04 1,230 m

   Day 4. Seetha Eliya and Bandarawela

   Drive 60 km · 2 h

   Bandarawela 1,230 m

   The Seetha Amman temple beside the stream at Seetha Eliya, where Sita is said to have bathed, then Divurumpola, the place of her trial by fire. Bandarawela for the night.

7. Deep south
8. 05 40 m

   Day 5. Ravana Falls to Kataragama

   Drive 110 km · 3 h

   Kataragama 40 m

   Ravana Falls and the Ravana cave near Ella, which tradition makes Ravana’s hiding place, then down off the hills to Kataragama.

9. West coast
10. 06 5 m

    Day 6. Kataragama to Colombo

    Drive 300 km · 7 h

    Colombo 5 m

    The Kataragama shrine in the morning, holy to Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims alike. Then west along the coast: Ussangoda, said to be where Hanuman set Lanka alight, Rumassala at Galle, said to be a fragment of the Himalaya he carried, and the Seenigama temple near Hikkaduwa, before Colombo. The longest day of the trip.

11. 07 9 m

    Day 7. Colombo and home

    Drive 35 km · 45 min

    Airport 9 m

    The Panchamuga Anjaneyar temple in Colombo in the morning, some shopping, then the airport.

Distances and drive times are typical for an unhurried private car, not a promise. Sri Lankan roads outside the expressways are single carriageway through villages, so a hundred and fifty kilometres is usually three hours. Every figure here is an estimate.