Jathika Namal Uyana
Getting There

Coming from Colombo, take the Kandy road to Ambepussa (about 60km), then turn left onto the Kurunegala road. Pass through the teeming town of Kurunegala and continue on the Dambulla road for about 60km.

From Dambulla you have a choice of 2 routes to take to get you to the Jathika Namal Uyana.

The First Route

This route will need to be taken just before you reach the Dambulla town proper. Just before the 88km mile post, you will come across a sight to behold and which is familiar to many a cricket lover. This will be the Rangiri Dambulla Cricket Stadium.

There will be a small turn off to the left almost as soon as you pass the monolithic entrance to the Cricket Stadium, this will be near the 88km mile post.

Follow this road and enjoy a somewhat bumpy ride until you come to the turnoff for the bund to the lake. Follow this road, all the while enjoying the magnificent scenery of the lake with a backdrop of solitary mountains along the way.

Keep going along this road as it takes you naturally away from the lake. About 7km after you turn off from the bund, you will come to a cross roads. Take a left here.

About 2km from here the road merges with, and enters a jungled area, easily recognizable as such from the decided lack of humans and dwellings.

After about another 1km you will come to the entry point of the Jathika Namal Uyana. This will be easily recognizable by the signs of human habitation. There will be buildings on the right side of the road along with an area to park your vehicle.

This is the first route to the Jathika Namal Uyana.

The Second Route

This route dictates that you follow the road from Ambepussa until you reach the Dambulla Town. You will need to go past the town and take the left turn onto the Anuradhapura road.

Go about 5km along this road until you come to a clearly defined turning at Madatugama, to the left. This is signposted as the Jathika Namal Uyana road.

Take this left and continue down it until you reach the Jathika Namal Uyana about 7km later. This road will take you through many a breathtaking scenery.

On the right-hand side you will find that there is a river which winds its way in a leisurely manner alongside and almost parallel with the road. On your left-hand side is the lush blue-green of the rice paddy fields which you will have seen earlier profusely dotting the Sri Lankan landscape.

You will then come to the point where the river moves across the road from right to left and you have to cross a bridge.

On your right-hand side, if the river isn’t too swollen with the raging waters of the monsoons, you will be able to see the ruins of the old bridge, in a style somewhat reminiscent of one of the many Hollywood movies.

And on the left-hand side of the bridge will be a breathtaking sight of the river winding its way towards the bridge.

Proceed a few kilometers along the shady tree lined avenue with countryside on either side of it until you come to a cross road junction.

This is the same cross road junction to which the first route falls onto, just before reaching the Jathika Namal Uyana.

You will need to cross straight through the junction and continue on your way until you come to a sign pointing out the oh-so-mundane parking lot for the Jathika Namal Uyana.

By this time you should have passed and should even now be surrounded by what amounts to dense forest coverage, as was mentioned in the directions in “The first route”.