Ritigala
Legend : The Ritigala forest reserve is a mountain range rising 766m above sea-level, the highest mountain in the north-central dry plains of Sri Lanka. The forest reserve is home to 70 natural rock caves said to have been inhabited since the first century BC
as a sanctuary of Sri Lankan kings at war against Dravidian invaders to the island and as shelters for hermit monks. Rock inscriptions at Ritigala indicate that gradually, the sanctuary became a monastic retreat.
Legend speaks of Lord Hanuman travelling over Ritigala carrying a part of the Hiamalaya mountain range with medicinal herbs in his quest to save Prince Lakshmana and by accident dropping a fragment of the mountain in Ritigala which is thought to be the origin of the vegetation of unique plants found on the Ritigala range which are distinct from dry zone flora of Sri Lanka.
It is also believed that when Lord Hanuman was sent to Sri Lanka by Lord Rama to search for Queen Seetha and upon his discovery of her location in Seetha Eliya, Lord Hanuman used Ritigala Kanda (or Ritigala mountain) as a launching pad to leap across to South India, Ritigala being the highest point between central dry plains of Sri Lanka and South India.
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