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Piyangala Chithralena – cave of frescoes in Ampara By Arundathie Abeysinghe   Situated in *Ampara, Piyangala Chitralena (cave of frescoes) is an enormous cave with ancient frescoes situated in close proximity to Piyangala Forest Hermitage, about 27 kilometers from Ampara in a vast area comprising scattered ruins of an ancient Buddhist monastic complex. There are over 50 caves with drip ledges in the location. These drip ledges indicate that the caves had been home to forest dwelling meditating Buddhist monks in the past. The main cave of the hermitage is the ‘Uttaraguptha Thera lena’ (meaning the cave of Uttaraguptha Thera in Sinhala) situated at the top of the mountain (along with 20 other caves) believed to have been utilized by a renowned *arhat known as Uttara Gupta Thera in the 1st century BC. A stone paved path leads to the entrance of the monastery which has a 100 feet long ...