The oldest and largest national park in Sri Lanka, Wilpattu National Park is authentic wild country. Legends and discovery of human remains in ancient urns put the national park and its surroundings before recorded Sri Lankan history. According to the Sri lankan folklore, the vicinity of Wilpattu is said to be where Kuveni the princess of the Yaksha tribe lived when she met the exiled Indian Prince Vijaya for the first time. Vijaya’s boats were hand-driven aground at Thambapanni, the copper-coloured western coast of Wilpattu and he stumbled into the wilderness looking for water when Kuveni found him and took pity on him. They went on to establish the first Sinhalese dynasty. The remnants of Queen kuweni’s palace can still be seen to this day.
A unique feature of Wilpattu – also meaning ‘the land of the lakes’ is the natural, sandy basins depressed into the land and filled with rainwater. Reffered to as Willu’s, there are over a 105 natural lakes and tanks spread across the park and they are what gives the park its name.
Wilpattu has a large density of the Sri Lankan leopard, sloth bears, elephants, almost all the types of deer found in Sri Lanka, jackals, wild boar, water buffalo and mugger crocodiles. There is also a large variety of butterflies making it the very dream of lepidoptery enthusiasts. The national park is the perfect playground for nature enthusiasts who want to explore the wild in its most primal element, untouched by human hands.