Article Tour of Mihintale
Buddhist place of pilgrimage
Mihintale, located just a few kilometers from the famous city of Anuradhapura, is considered the most important Buddhist monument on the island of Sri Lanka. It was here that King Devanampiya Tissa was to meet Buddhist monks and allow them to convert to this faith. Important monuments are concentrated in one place around the sacred mountain.
Kantaka Chethiya
Mihintale lies only 15km east of Anuradhapura, so it is very accessible. The archeological site itself is located in the woods southeast of the town center. Just a short walk from the parking lot is the first important monument – the ancient stupa of Kantaka Chethiya
Kantaka Chethiya - front view
At first glance, this stupa looks very old. The main front view of the so-called Vaahalkada is interesting. Numerous sculptures can be seen here.
Dagoba Ambasthale
In Mihintale you will literally enjoy the stairs – almost two thousand of them will be waiting for you before you reach the top plateau, where the small Dagoba Ambasthale is located in the center. In the background you can also see a lookout rock above the entire historic area.
View of Dagoba Mahaseja
If you go to Mihintale early in the morning, there will not be many tourists and the temple will have a very nice atmosphere. From the central plateau you can go on three more ascents: to the observation deck, to the dagoba Mahaseja or to the big Buddha statue.
Magnificent Buddha statue
As part of the tour of Mihintale, it is worth climbing to the huge white-white statue of Buddha.
View of Mahasya's dagoba from the rock
The best view is from the „rock castle“. Directly opposite you is the largest dagoba in Mihintale – Mahaseja
The view of the Buddha
From the viewpoint you can see how pleasant the whole archeological site is – full of trees.
View of the mountain massif
From the rock castle there is a nice view not only of the church buildings in Mihintale, but also of the massive massif less than 3 km away. It is almost enchanted to believe that the lonely mountain is only 370 meters above sea level.
Black-toed ratufa
In Mihintale, you have to watch out for monkeys, but in addition to them, you will also find one interesting animal here – the Black-toed Ratufa, which is a huge squirrel that likes to enjoy a banana, for example.
Grizzled giant squirrel
The gigantic squirrel as the English name Ratufy černoststé really does honor to its name – it is over half a meter big. It is also worth going to Mihintale because of it, because it is slowly becoming an endangered species
