ALUVIHARA TEMPLE – is situated just north of Matale, about 18 miles from Kandy. Here, in the 2nd C. B.C., the Buddhist scriptures (Tripitaka) were first committed to writing in “Ola leaves”, a chore that required the devout attention of about 500 senior monks 2,000 years ago. The rock caves were formed long ago by boulders tumbling down from a nearby mountain. They contain various icons and frescoes. One cavern graphically depicts sinners’ hell.

Few years ago a new set of books were written down once again and this is one of the few places where visitors can see the method of preparing the Ola leaves as pages of books and the method of writing on them.