Sri Lanka · Architecture

Kalutara Temple, Lunuganga Tour From Bentota

7 Hours Round trip from Pickup service provided in Bentota. Easy pace

The journey

Trip highlights

01 Visit the sacred Kalutara Temple
02 See the distinctive hollow dagoba at Kalutara Vihara
03 Explore Geoffrey Bawa’s Lunuganga Estate
04 Discover gardens that inspired one of Sri Lanka’s most influential architects
05 Enjoy a full-day tour from Bentota with transport included
06 Entrance fees and lunch included
07 Travel with an English-speaking guide

Discover two of southern Sri Lanka’s most memorable cultural landmarks on this day tour from Bentota. Visit the sacred Kalutara Temple, one of the country’s most important places of worship, and admire its distinctive hollow dagoba, painted interiors, and spiritual atmosphere.

Continue to Lunuganga Estate, the former country home of renowned Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. Explore the gardens that inspired his architectural vision and evolved throughout his life into a remarkable landscape of spaces, structures, and ideas. With transport, entrance fees, lunch, and an English-speaking guide included, this tour offers an easy and enriching day out.

Inside the Dagoba is a magnificent array of paintings describing the stories of Buddha.

From the itinerary

At a glance

What this trip includes

Duration 7 Hours

Tour type Private

Activity level Easy

Accommodation Not included

Transport Included

Wheelchair access No

Cities Bentota, Kalutara

Languages English

Day by day

The itinerary

Day 01

The Kalutara Vihara is a Buddhist temple built in the 1960s which holds the distinction of being the only shrine in the world that is hollow. It is three stories high. Kalutara temple is one of the country’s most holy places of worship and attracts the South west Buddhist community as well as tourists. Inside the Dagoba is a magnificent array of paintings describing the stories of Buddha.Lunuganga Estate was the country home of the renowned Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. In 1947 the garden led Bawa to decide to become an architect. As he went on to become Sri Lanka’s and one of Asia’s most prolific and influential architects, the garden at the Lunuganga estate remained his first muse and experimental laboratory for new ideas. Bawa continued to change and experiment with the garden’s spaces and structures throughout his life until his final illness in 1998. The gardens are now open to the public and the buildings on the estate are run as a country house hotel.

The route