Rajagirilena

The Ancient Cities


Behind the Indikatu Seya is this hill that’s been dubbed Rajagirilena (Royal Cave Hill) after the caves found here with Brahmi inscriptions in them. One of the caves bears the name of Devanampiya Tissa. A flight of steps leads up to the caves.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby The Ancient Cities attractions

1. Indikatu Seya Complex

0.19 MILES

On the road leading to Old Rd, west of the site proper, are the remains of a monastery enclosed in the ruins of a stone wall. Visible here are two dagobas…

2. Kaludiya Pokuna

0.33 MILES

On the southwest outskirts of Mihintale is the lovely Kaludiya Pokuna, an artificial pool that features a rock-carved bathhouse and the ruins of a small…

3. Hospital

0.43 MILES

The remains of a 9th-century hospital sit a stone's throw from the site museum. The hospital consisted of a number of cells. A bat oruwa (large stone…

4. Et Vihara

0.44 MILES

At an even higher elevation (309m) than the Mahaseya Dagoba is the little-visited and modest Et Vihara (literally, ‘Elephant Monastery’) stupa, which…

5. Kantaka Chetiya

0.46 MILES

At the first landing, a side flight of 100 steps branches right to this partly ruined dagoba, one of the oldest at Mihintale. It’s 12m high (originally…

6. Sinha Pokuna

0.48 MILES

Just below the monks’ refectory on the second landing, and near the entrance if you are coming via Old Rd, is a small pool surmounted by a 2m-high rampant…

7. Quincunx

0.51 MILES

The remains of a quincunx of buildings, laid out like the five dots on a die, sits beside the path leading from the museum to the stairway.

8. Mihintale Museum

0.51 MILES

This small museum on the road leading to the stairway base is worth a short visit for its modest collection of artefacts collected from Mihintale.

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "sri-lanka/the-ancient-cities/mihintale/attractions/rajagirilena/a/poi-sig/1195269/357455",
      "destination": "The-Ancient-Cities",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "Sri-Lanka",
      "region": "The-Ancient-Cities",
      "position": "superzone"
    }