Wewurukannala Temple (Dickwella), Sri Lanka

Wewurukannala Vihara stands about 1.5 km inland from the town of Dickwella, on the south coast. It is home to the largest seated Buddha statue in Sri Lanka, about 50 metres high, and to one of the strangest and most memorable picture galleries on the island. It's an easy and worthwhile break from the beach at Hiriketiya or Tangalle.

The giant Buddha

The statue was built in the 1960s. It shows the Buddha seated in meditation, and it is as tall as a building of about eight storeys. A structure behind it lets you climb up inside, past hundreds of painted panels showing the life of the Buddha and his previous lives, until you can look out from the level of the statue's head across the palm trees.

The tunnel of hell

To reach the statue, you walk through a hall and tunnel lined with life-size models and paintings showing what awaits sinners in the Buddhist hells. Demons saw people in half, boil them in cauldrons and impale them on stakes, and each punishment is matched to a particular wrongdoing. It's vivid, gruesome and not at all subtle. Young children may find it frightening, so parents may want to walk through first.

The older temple

The oldest part of the temple dates back about 250 years, to the time of the Kandyan kings. Its image house holds large Buddha statues and painted walls in the traditional southern style. A second image house, from the late 19th century, has rows of figures, including scenes with European soldiers and local officials of the period. There is also an old clock tower in the grounds, made by a prisoner in the 1920s according to temple tradition.

Visiting

• Entry: foreign visitors pay a small entrance fee.
• Dress: cover your shoulders and knees, and remove your shoes and hat. Carry socks, as the ground gets hot.
• Manners: don't pose with your back to the Buddha. See our etiquette guide.
• Time: allow 45 minutes to an hour.

The temple is busiest on poya days, when local families come in white to make offerings. Mornings and late afternoons are cooler.

Getting there

From Dickwella, it's 5 minutes by tuk-tuk, on the road towards Beliatta. From Hiriketiya, allow 10 minutes, and from Tangalle or Matara, about 30 minutes. Coast buses stop in Dickwella town.

Combine the temple with the Hummanaya blowhole, 15 minutes away, or with Mulkirigala for a day of temples and coast. Our guide to the ancient sites of the deep south has more ideas.