A scattering of huge granite boulders just south of Isurumuniya, riddled with rock-cut shelters and small caves that housed monks of the Mahavihara from the 3rd century BC. Inscriptions in early Brahmi script chiselled above the drip-ledges record gifts of caves to the sangha by lay donors — among the oldest written records on the island.
Vessagiriya is less visited than the main monuments, but its quiet woodland setting and the sense of intimacy with the lives of early Buddhist hermits make it one of the more atmospheric stops in the sacred city. A small temple at the foot of the rocks is still in active use.