Maduru Oya National Park

Maduru Oya National Park is home to the two main aspects of Sri Lanka’s tourism—plenty of diverse wildlife and fascinating Buddhist ruins. The park was established in 1983 and also shelters some members of the indigenous Vedda tribe. With a population numbering more than a hundred, Asian elephants are the best feature of this national park. Maduru Oya National Park is a serene location in the most real sense of the word—often, you might be the only tourists around, making it seem like a private tour of the country’s spectacular landscape and wildlife.

The wildlife at the park includes leopards, pangolins, mugger crocodiles, and birds such as cormorants and storks. The endemic tree Vatica Obscura is a highlight of the park’s flora. The ruins of Buddhist structures—shrines, hermitages, statues, temples and dagobas—are also abundant here. Brahmi inscriptions from the 1st to 3rd century BC and a sluice gate whose origins lie in the 6th century BC are other ruins of historical significance. The Vedda folk reside in an area of the park, and visitors are often allowed to understand their culture and way of life. Explore all the facets of the park at your leisure by staying at a campsite or a bungalow run by the Department Of Wildlife Conservation.