Ancient sites · Buttala
Maligawila: Colossal Statues in the Forest
By Days of Iru and Opa
Maligawila, deep in the south-east near Buttala, holds two enormous ancient standing statues set in quiet forest: a great limestone Buddha and a nearby Bodhisattva figure, both painstakingly re-erected in modern times.
The statues
The standing Buddha, over 10 metres tall, is one of the largest free-standing statues of its era in the country. A short walk through the trees leads to each figure.
The setting
The forest location is peaceful and rarely crowded, a contrast to the big Cultural Triangle monuments.
Nearby
It pairs with Buduruwagala and the Wellawaya area on the route between the hills and the deep south.
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