Places to visit in Sri Lanka
116 places to visit in Sri Lanka, each with LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own: Dambulla Cave Temple, Galle Fort, Horton Plains National Park and more. Stand at any of them with the app open and the stamp is yours, confirmed on site, in a volume for its state or province, filed under Sri Lanka on your shelf.
116 travel stamps in 9 states and provinces
The best known in Sri Lanka
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Dambulla Cave Temple
A cave temple high on a rock above Dambulla, a World Heritage Site since 1991. Its five caves are filled with Buddha statues and their ceilings are painted edge to edge with murals, a shrine that has been in use for more than two thousand years.
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Galle Fort
A walled old town on a headland in the Bay of Galle, first built by the Portuguese in 1588 and heavily fortified by the Dutch from 1649. Inside its ramparts are streets of colonial houses, churches and a lighthouse, and the walls make a fine walk at sunset.
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Horton Plains National Park
A high plateau of grassland and cloud forest at 2,100 to 2,300 metres, made a national park in 1988 and rich in species found nowhere else. Walkers cross it to Baker's Falls and to World's End, where the plateau drops away in a sheer cliff.
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Jetavanaramaya
A brick stupa begun by King Mahasena in the 3rd century, which at 122 metres was the tallest in the world and the third tallest structure on earth when it was built. It rises from the ruins of the Jetavana monastery and is believed to enshrine part of the Buddha's girdle.
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Knuckles Mountain Range
A massif in central Sri Lanka, spread across the Matale and Kandy districts, that locals call Dumbara Kanduvetiya, the mist laden range. British surveyors named it for the folded peaks that, seen from Kandy, look like the knuckles of a clenched fist.
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Polonnaruwa Vatadage
A circular relic house in ancient Polonnaruwa, the best preserved of its kind in the country. It was built either by Parakramabahu I for the Tooth Relic or by Nissanka Malla for the Buddha's alms bowl, and four seated Buddhas face its four entrances.
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Sigiriya
A granite column about 180 metres high rising out of the plain near Dambulla, crowned with the ruins of a 5th century royal citadel. Climbers pass painted frescoes and the polished Mirror Wall, then a pair of giant lion's paws, before the last stairs to the summit.
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Sinharaja Forest Reserve
The last stretch of virgin rainforest left in Sri Lanka, protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Under its canopy live many rare plants and animals found nowhere else in the world.
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Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic
A Buddhist temple in the royal palace complex of the old Kandyan kingdom, home to the relic of the Buddha's tooth. The relic was long held by Sinhalese kings, and the temple is a World Heritage Site because of it; each year it is paraded through Kandy in the Esala Perahera.
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Bundala National Park
A coastal park of lagoons and scrub that is an important winter home for migratory water birds, with 197 species recorded and flocks of greater flamingos the highlight. In 1991 it became Sri Lanka's first Ramsar wetland, and in 2005 a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
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Kumana National Park
A park on the southeast coast that runs into Yala and was known as Yala East until 2006. It is famous for its birds, above all the great flocks of migratory waterfowl and wading birds that gather in its lagoons and swamps.
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Madu Ganga
A small river that widens into a lake at Balapitiya before running 4.4 km to the Indian Ocean. A Ramsar wetland, it is lined with mangroves and scattered with islands, and boat trips wind through its channels.
Sri Lanka by state and province
- North Central Province20 stamps
- Central Province18 stamps
- Southern Province17 stamps
- Western Province17 stamps
- Eastern Province13 stamps
- Uva11 stamps
- Northern Province8 stamps
- North Western Province6 stamps
- Sabaragamuwa6 stamps
Collecting in Sri Lanka
Does LOQAH have stamps in Sri Lanka?
Yes. 116 places in Sri Lanka have LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp, among them Dambulla Cave Temple, Galle Fort, Horton Plains National Park. More are added over time.
How do I collect a stamp in Sri Lanka?
The same way as anywhere: open LOQAH at the place and get its stamp. LOQAH checks where you are once, at that moment, and the stamp is confirmed on site, with a gold badge and the date.
How are my Sri Lanka stamps kept?
Each state or province you collect in gets a volume of its own, and the volumes sit together under Sri Lanka on your shelf.
I have been to Sri Lanka before. Can I add those trips?
Yes. In Earlier trips, choose Sri Lanka and swipe through its stamps, or import your Google Timeline: it is read on your phone and only the places it matches are added.
More countries
Collect your first stamp.
LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 20 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.