Two inscrutable ancient statues (admission free; dawn-dusk) stand in an appealingly shady forest glade at Maligawila (mali-ga-wila). The site is delightful and the surrounding village so diffuse that it’s virtually invisible. Ferreted away among the trees lie the extensive 7th-century remnants of Pathma Vihara and its two lovely Buddha statues. Sitting atop five crumbling, moss-covered flights of stairs is the 10m-high Maitreya Bodhisattva (Avalokitesvara). It was reconstituted between 1989 and 1991 from over 100 fragments unearthed in the 1950s. Sadly, it’s shaded by a banal corrugated canopy.
A few minutes’ walk in the opposite direction, and playing peek-a-boo with the clouds, is a magnificent 11m-tall Buddha statue, considered by some to be among the tallest freestanding ancient Buddha in existence. Carpeted in thick green moss and with its feet often adorned in flowers left by pilgrims, this is a very beautiful statue despite the recent addition of a scaffolding harness.
To get to Maligawila from Monaragala, take any bus heading toward Buttala and get out at the village of Kumbukkana; from there hop on one of the handful of daily buses to Maligawila (Rs 32). The journey to Maligawila from Monaragala, past jungles and paddy fields, is as much a highlight as the ruins themselves and offers a great chance to glimpse rural Sri Lankan life.
