Mahiyanganaya

The other popular excursion is a trip to Mahiyanganaya which can be done the same day while going to Wasgamuwa or a different trip altogether. About one and a half hours or 68km direct journey from the resort takes you to the historic Mahiyanganaya town and also to see the Veddhas of Sri Lanka and to see their habitats, bow and arrow hunting equipment they still use and the Veddah dances and songs.

Mahiyanganaya is a town situated close to the Mahaweli River in Badulla District, Uva Province of Sri Lanka. It is said that Gautama Buddha visited Mahiyanganaya on the Duruthu full moon poya day in order to settle a dispute arose between Yakkas and Nagas (two tribes then inhabited this area) and this was his first ever visit to Sri Lanka. Then the Buddha preached Dhamma to Sumana Saman, a leader in this area, to whom the Buddha gave a handful of his hair relic so that people could worship. After that Sumana Saman (now the god Sumana Saman) built a golden chethiya in which the sacred hair relic was deposited. Later on about seven chethiyas were built over the original golden chethiya from time to time, the last one being built by the King Dutugemunu. As such, this historic town is a very sacred place for Buddhists. The majority of the people in this area are engaged in paddy cultivation being the main economic activity. A panoramic view of the Sorabora wewa (water tank built by the kings) can be seen.The name: Mahiyangana is a Pali word (in Sinhalese Bintenna) which means flat land. It is situated eastwards to the steep eastern falls of central hills.

Dambana, a village in Mahiyangana. It is known as the refuge of the indigenous Vedda people as well as their moribund Vedda language. It is the land of the veddahs "aborigines of Sri Lanka". The first habittents of the sinhala race dating to five hundred years BC where kuveni the chief of demons marries the prince of India (the son of the king sinhabahu, vijaya was the prince)and gives birth two children girl and a boy,and they have children and they are called the first veddhas