Ranmasu Uyana

Sri Lanka’s amazing and mysterious ‘Stargate’, thought to be an ancient ‘map of the worlds’ depiction of the universe, is thought to be the oldest such petroglyph in the known world. It is hidden on the face of a boulder at the Ran Masu Uyana (The Royal Goldfish Park) between the Tissa Wewa and the Isurumuniya Rock Temple at Anuradhapura. Theories abound. One fanciful claim is that these stargates—there are others in the Middle East and South America—were used by extraterrestrials that were gold mining in Earth. A more reasonable—and somewhat more likely—explanation is that the ‘stargate’ was simply a descriptive chart of the universe according to Buddhism, and used as an aid to meditation. Whatever it is, it will stretch your imagination and help bring you closer to the more down-to-earth beauty of this beautiful example of Sri Lanka’s exquisite cultural heritage.