Devanagara

Devanagara, or Devinuwara, is an old sacred town near the southern tip of Sri Lanka. Its name means the city of the gods, and its shrine to Upulvan, later identified with Vishnu, attracted worshippers and royal patronage. Stone pillars recall a once extensive complex overlooking the sea. Sinhala messenger poems celebrated the deity and the town’s festival.

In 1587 a Portuguese force led by Thomé de Sousa attacked Devinuwara and destroyed its shrines during the wider war with the king of Sitawaka. The sacred site did not disappear: the Kandyan king Rajasinha II later supported a shrine to Vishnu there. Its annual Esala festival preserved a connection between the coastal sanctuary, its deity and the communities that continued to honour it.