Kataragama

Attested from around the first century BCE in the immediate area on inscriptional and archaeological grounds, with the Hindu identification substantially later. No episode of destruction is recorded here, unlike the coastal temples, which is itself notable: the inland south was not reached by the Portuguese campaigns that levelled Koneswaram, Ketheeswaram, Naguleswaram, Munneswaram and Tenavaram.

Kataragama is the clearest case in South Asia of a sacred place held in common rather than in dispute. Archaeology attests Buddhist activity in the immediate area from at least the first century BCE, including the nearby Kiri Vehera stupa and a votive inscription. In the sixteenth or seventeenth century the North Indian ascetic Kalyanagiri Swamy identified the shrine locations with Skanda Purana mythology, which re-established the site within the Hindu devotional map.

Current status: Active year round, reached by all-weather road, with the different shrines under distinct management by community. Shared with other communities. Genuinely and formally shared among four communities. Any description of Kataragama as simply a Hindu temple would be wrong, and the page does not make that claim. Check festival dates and local conditions close to the date of travel.