I visited there several months ago but I thought it is good to publish trip report at least now because I don’t see any trip report related to Sithulpawwa. Beacuse of the time past, I can’t remember much details about visited places at Sithulpawwa 🙁

Quote from deepsouth.lk

Sithulpawwa rock temple is historically significant and identified as one of the greatest 2nd century sites of Buddhist scholarship. With a history of over 2200 years, this is an ancient place of worship in the Hambantota district. The modern name Sithulpawwa is derived from the ancient ‘Cittalpabbata’, ‘The hill of the quiet mind’. It is said that in the 1st century AD as many as 12,000 Arahants lived here (monks that have achieved the highest mind level in Buddhism). Unlike the great monasteries in Anuradhapura and other towns, life at Sithulpawwa was hard and a monk or nun lived there only if they were interested in silence and solitude. Located opposite the Maha Sithulpawwa rock which is 400 feet (122M) in height is a cave temple. This cave temple, which is 67 feet high and 30 feet long, is part of the intricate cave-complex at Sithulpawwa.

The Dagoba of Sithulpawwa can be seen on the top of the rock. It is believed to have been built by King Kawantissa (100-140AD). A number of caves contain inscriptions in the early Brahmi script and from these inscriptions it was learned that a number of villages donated money to this temple for its upkeep. Ancient literary works give interesting information relating to this shrine. The image house at Sithulpawwa still contains some fragments of paintings. In the eastern precinct of Sithulpawwa the ruins of an ancient preaching house can be seen, where a cluster of 10 feet high pillars rises from the earth.

Sithulpawwa Stupa	Path to Maha Sithulpawwa Stupa
Sithulpawwa Stupa	View from Rock Temple
View from Rock Temple	View from Rock Temple
Path from Maha Sithulpawwa	Maha Sithulpawwa
Maha Sithulpawwa	Kuda Sithulpawwa
Archeological site with some ruins - Patimagaraya	.
Archeological site with some ruins	Archeological site with some ruins
The cave complex	The cave complex with some ancient paintings
Archeological site with some ruins	Archeological site with some ruins
Archeological site with some ruins	Details about Sithulpawwa Inscriptions (Click Image to Enlarge)
Sithulpawwa Inscriptions	Sithulpawwa Inscriptions (Click image to Enlarge)
Click image to Enlarge	Sithulpawwa Inscriptions
Kuttam Pokuna and Sithulpawwa Stupa	Kuttam Pokuna – Large pond
Sometime Elephants come close to Sithulpawwa Viharaya	Sometime Elephants come close to Sithulpawwa Viharaya
Dusty Road to Sithulpawwa