An ancient Buddhist shrine, the temple of Lankatilika was erected in 1344 by King Bhuwaneka-Bahu IV. When Constance Gordon-Cumming visited it she wrote 'it is most beautifully situated on the crown of a great mass of red rock, which rises...from the deep circular valley, all devoted to rice-fields, which at the time of my visit were flooded, like innumerable blue curving lakes...the exterior is so picturesque that I gladly devoted all my time to secure a large sketch of the whole scene from across the valley.' (C.F.Gordon-Cumming, Two Happy Years in Ceylon, London, 1892, II, p.274)