රාවණා ගුහාව

Ravana Cave - Rawana Ella Cave

Useful Information

Location:	90090 Ella Rd, Kumbalwela. (6.864479, 81.048642)
Open:	All year daily 8-17. [2023]
Fee:	Adults LKR 200, Locals LKR 50. [2023]
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:	A=1,370 m asl.
Guided tours:	self guided, St=650.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Ravana Cave, 90090 Ella Rd, Kumbalwela, Tel: +94-552-229-675.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

රාවණා ගුහාව (Rawana Guhawa, Ravana Cave), also Ravana's Cave, is named after King Rawana. The site has a ticket office at the foot of the hill from where a well-marked trail leads 650 steps up a stone staircase to the cave, about 45 minutes walk. There are trails to the cave, but inside the floor was excavated by archaeologists and is rather uneven. The original level of the floor before the excavation is marked on the wall, it seems they removed several meters of sediments at some places. Excavations showed human occupation for 22,000 years.

The cave is a single huge chamber with a triangular slanted portal opening high up on the hillside, the main chamber is 15 m wide, 45 m long, and 18 m high. There are also three much smaller side branches, which are a little tricky to find. While the main cavern is illuminated by daylight you should bring a lamp for exploring the side branches.

There are numerous legends and stories about the cave, which are obviously nosense. Most are of the type that there was once a connection to and far away location which is now lost. Candidates for those connections are the Dowa Rock Temple cave near Badulla, which is 3 km away. They also tell about a man made network of caverns and tunnels connecting all major cities and serving as quickly hidden passageways through the mountains. Sita Cave is a small cave nearby, which according to legend was the dwelling of princess Sita from the Ramayana. This is an important Indian epic which was rewritten numerous times and exists in uncountable variations. And of course there are numerous locations all over India, where it actually happened.