A Sacred Holy site for devotees of ‘any’ religion in Sri Lanka.  With shrines for devotional worship to connect with the timeless Buddha or any of the ancient deities such as Murugan / Skanda, it is an ancient, holy, slow moving destination.      The towering ‘Kiri Vehera’ temple painted in white limestone is difficult to miss, this is where the Buddhist devotees worship the Buddha surrendering prostrated on the ground by offering flowers.   The Holy Kataragama Procession – ‘Perahera’ held around July every year is a special event in the country, as devotees, musicians, astrologers, medicine men & dancers of every religion take part, particularly the adherents of the ‘great dancer’ – Lord Shiva.

During this Holy Procession, devotees walk on the fire, on long stretches of burning firewood & coal, however they emerge from the fire unhurt without any burns.  The same devotees take showers of boiling milk & boiling water and come out unhurt again without any burns.  Then these devotees pierce their body with needles, piercing through their cheeks, arms & stomachs, but no bleeding or even a drop of blood is anywhere to be seen.      This is an anomalous mystery of this little paradise isle.