SEETHA AMMAN KOVIL

7 km on the Nuwara Eliya – Bandarawela Road , this bordering the Hakkgala District Nature Reserve, visit this is the area called Seetha Eliya, treatment where a quaint little devala is found by the side of the road at a slightly lower elevation by a stream.

The Devala “Seetha Amman Kovil” is the only one in Sri Lanka (or maybe in the whole world) dedicated to Seetha, Queen of Rama of the famous Indian Epic called Ramayanaya. According to the epic, Ravana, King of Sri Lanka, abducted Seetha and brought her here in his wooden flying machine “Dandu-Monara”. She was kept in hiding in the 13 palaces of Ravana; until her lover Rama came here with an army of monkeys (lead by Hanuman, the Monkey-God) and rescued her. In the Devala are the statues of Seetha, Rama, Hanuman, and Lakshmana, represented as gods. Seetha Eliya is the area where she used to go for bathing. A cave on the summit of Hakgala is believed to be one of the hiding places, and the Nature Reserve is believed to be the “Ashok Vanaya” of the Ramayanaya.