Ritigala is located 43 km away from Anuradhapura[1], the ancient monastic city and cradle of ancient hydraulic civilization of Sri Lanka. Today Anuradhapura, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in addition to being home to multitude of ancient cultural monuments and numerous ancient rainwater reservoirs, is one of the most vibrant agricultural districts of Sri Lanka.
Ritigala Mountain
Although at 766 m above sea level, and 600 m above the surrounding plains, the altitude of Ritigala mountain is comparatively low, it easily surpasses the elevations at Lion Rock Citadel Sigiriya[2], Mihintale Hill monastery[3] sanctuary and Dambulla Rock that is home to Golden Dambulla Rock Temple[4], the most famous rock hills of cultural value of Wev Bandi rata (Sinhala: the kingdom of rainwater reservoirs) of ancient island of Sri Lanka.
Its appearance in the landscape of northern dry plains is significant in terms of view as well as topography: it's unexpected; it's isolated; it's sheer; it's green.
Climate of Ritigala
The climate at the summit is in sharp contrast to the climate at the foot; it is cooler in comparison to hot and dry climate of the region. Its rainfall records the highest in the whole of dry zone surrounding it by a good margin during the northeast monsoon of dry zone of the tropical island of Sri Lanka. Then again the mist and cloud cover which encapsulate the summit during the south-west monsoon of Wet Zone of the island, results in high vapor condensation, in turn, turning the earth moist when the plains all around are gripped in drought.
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