Kuveni Palace is a ruin site in Wilpattu popularly linked to Kuveni and Vijaya, but archaeological remains suggest it was likely a Buddhist monastery.
Kuveni Palace (Wilpattu National Park) K uveni Palace or Kuveni Maligawa (Sinhala: විල්පත්තු කුවේණි මාලිගය නටඹුන්) is a site with ancient ruins located within the woods of Wilpattu National Park near Kalavilluwa (or Kali vila) in Puttalam District, Sri Lanka. Although locals popularly identify this place as the palace of Kuveni, the queen of Vijaya (6th century B,C,), the remaining ruins indicate that it is a site of a monastery (IUCN, 2006; Thanh & Asanka, 2025; Wimalaratana, 2023). Legends According to historical texts such as Mahavamsa, Vijaya was an exiled prince from Sinhapura in Lata (probably present-day Gujarat, India). It is mentioned that Vijaya landed on Tambapanni (believed to be present-day Kudiramale , located about 10 km northwest of Kuveni Palace) in Sri Lanka with his seven hundred followers and became the ruler of the country with the help of a princess of the local Yakkha tribe named Kuvanna (Sinhala: Kuveni) whom Vijaya made his consort (Jayasuriya, 2016; Wimalaratana, 2023). The legends suggest that Pr…
