Lankatilaka Temple

Lankatilaka was built in the 1340s under the Gampola kingdom directly on a rock outcrop, its brick and stone walls rising out of the granite, and the design pulls together Sinhalese, Dravidian and Southeast Asian elements in a way that reflects how connected the island was at the time. Inside is a large seated Buddha under a painted ceiling, with subsidiary shrines to Hindu deities around the building, which was and remains normal practice here. The building was heavily restored in the 1970s after long neglect, and the roof it carries now is a reconstruction of what the fourteenth-century structure is thought to have had.

What you actually see

• The rock foundation - walls rising directly from the granite outcrop.
• The mixed architecture - Sinhalese, Dravidian and Southeast Asian forms combined.
• The painted ceiling - decoration above the main seated Buddha.
• The Hindu shrines - devale shrines built into the same structure.

When to go

January to April is the driest and most comfortable. Mornings are quietest. Poya days bring worshippers.

Honest expectations

The temple is active and shoes must be removed; the stone gets hot. Photography inside is restricted. Reaching it and the neighbouring temples needs a vehicle.

Nearby

Embekka is nearby, and Kandy is northeast.