Places to visit in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
13 places to visit in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, each with LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own: Kumana National Park, Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Vihara, Arugam Bay and more. Stand at any of them with the app open and the stamp is yours, confirmed on site, in your Eastern Province volume.
2 Heritage sites · 2 Famous places to visit · 9 Hidden gems
Heritage sites in Eastern Province (2)
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Kumana National Park
A park on the southeast coast that runs into Yala and was known as Yala East until 2006. It is famous for its birds, above all the great flocks of migratory waterfowl and wading birds that gather in its lagoons and swamps.
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Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Vihara
An ancient Buddhist temple in Trincomalee District, ninth of the Solosmasthana, the sixteen holiest Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Sri Lanka. It is identified with the historic Thissamaha Viharaya.
Famous places to visit in Eastern Province (2)
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Arugam Bay
A curving bay on the Indian Ocean in the dry zone of the southeast coast, a historic settlement of the old Batticaloa territory. Its point break is one of the best known surf spots in Asia and draws surfers from around the world.
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Koneswaram Temple
A temple to Shiva on Konesar Malai, the promontory above Trincomalee, with Gokarna bay and the Indian Ocean below. Known as the Temple of the Thousand Pillars, it is the most sacred of the Pancha Ishwarams of Sri Lanka.
Hidden gems in Eastern Province (9)
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Batticaloa Fort
A small fort built by the Portuguese in 1628 on an island in the lagoon at Batticaloa. The Dutch captured it on 18 May 1638, and from 1795 it was used by the British.
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Batticaloa Lagoon
A long, narrow estuarine lagoon of about 11,500 hectares on the east coast, the largest of three in its district. The city sits on the land between its waters and the Indian Ocean, and it is famous for the singing fish heard on still nights.
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Gal Oya National Park
A park founded in 1954 around Senanayake Samudraya, the largest reservoir in Sri Lanka, made by damming the Gal Oya at Inginiyagala in 1950. Its elephant herd can be seen all year, and boat safaris on the reservoir watch them cross between islands.
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Kanniya Hot Springs
Seven hot wells set in a square near Trincomalee, each only about a metre deep, with water clear enough to see the bottom. Each runs at a slightly different temperature, and a well empties after ten or fifteen buckets are drawn.
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Kudumbigala Monastery
An ancient Buddhist forest monastery in the jungle between Panama and Kumana, with stupas and cave dwellings among great outcrops of rock. A climb to the top of the main rock looks out over the forest towards the sea.
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Muhudu Maha Vihara
A Buddhist temple by a wide beach at Pottuvil, believed to have been built more than 2,000 years ago by King Kavan Tissa of Ruhuna. Among its ruins are ancient stupas, stone Buddhas and two statues of old kings or gods.
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Pasikudah
A resort town on the east coast, 35 km northwest of Batticaloa, known for a wide, shallow bay where calm water runs far out over the sand. Its neighbour is Kalkudah, and the town is home to a Mariamman temple.
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Pigeon Island National Park
One of the three marine national parks of Sri Lanka, 1 km off the coast at Nilaveli, protecting some of the best remaining coral reefs on the island. It takes its name from the rock pigeons that live there, and people come to snorkel over the reef.
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Thirukkovil Temple
The chief Hindu temple of this east coast town, dedicated to Chitravelayudhar, once guardian deity of Mattakkalappu Desam and honoured as the principal temple of the Batticaloa region. Chola, Kotte and Kandyan kings all kept close ties with it.
Collecting in Eastern Province
What are the best places to visit in Eastern Province?
LOQAH lists 13 places in Eastern Province. The best known include Kumana National Park, Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Vihara, Arugam Bay, Koneswaram Temple and Batticaloa Fort. Each has a stamp of its own to collect when you are there.
How many LOQAH stamps are there in Eastern Province?
13, and more are added over time. Each place has LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own.
How do I collect a stamp in Eastern Province?
Open LOQAH at the place and get its stamp. LOQAH checks where you are once, at that moment; at the place itself the stamp is confirmed on site, with a gold badge.
I have been to places in Eastern Province before. Can I add them?
Yes. In Earlier trips, choose Eastern Province and swipe through its stamps, or import your Google Timeline. Each one goes into your volume with the date, if you know it.
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