Location

Ulpotha, a Yoga-focused eco-retreat and one of Sri Lanka's greatest secrets, is hidden away in the near Embogama close to Anuradhapura. Ulpotha is one hour’s drive North from Kurunegalla and about two hours North West from Kandy. It is situated on sacred land with a deep-rooted history dating back thousands of years. According to ancient spiritual lore, traveling mendicants from the foothills of the Himalayas, while searching for a sacred site associated with Lord Kataragama (son of Shiva), identified this location and built a shrine where now the entrance to the village is located. This is also ancestral land belonging to regional chieftains who's sacred duty was to maintain this village shrine to Lord Kataragama as well as maintaining the rituals, traditions, and lifestyle of this indigenous culture. Thus, Ulpotha's foundations are laid on timeless grounds of nature, history, tradition and myth. The surrounding hills still continue to harbour cave-dwelling ascetics.

Why you should book with us

Ulpotha meaning 'water spring', named after the numerous underground springs throughout the land on which it is located, is not a hotel: it is an experience of Sri Lanka's traditional lifestyle of a `balanced existence' - a balance which is attained through one's relationship to family, community, nature, and the spiritual world, as well as one's outlook towards work. This is a lifestyle that is practiced with pleasure rather than as labour with an appreciation for the need for adequate rest inbetween - all of which ensures healthy living. Thus, Ulpotha is about experiencing a relaxed and contented lifestyle that is still practiced in many of Sri Lanka's rural villages - areas where so called `economic progress' hasn't completely overtaken this lifestyle of a balanced existence. Surrounded by low mountains, a lotus-ringed lake, and green paddy fields, Ulpotha is a place of total peace and tranquility where one lives among trees, sunflowers, marigolds and vegetable patches, in simply furnished wattle and daub houses with roofs thatched with woven coconut palm leaves. The surrounding land is rich with potent therapeutic medicinal herbs, which are used for specific Ayurveda treatments. Ulpotha is only open for 13 fortnightly periods between June and August and also from November to March. Between these periods Ulpotha is closed to allow the village time to revert to its natural state. There is a maximum of only 19 places for guests when Ulpotha is open. Minimum stay at Ulpotha is one week and guests are encouraged to arrive and depart on a Sunday rather than arriving during the week.

Ulpotha has no large concrete buildings, electricity, phones, television or radio. Instead, visitors stay in wattle and daub huts within this village and eat traditional Sri Lankan food cooked in clay pots over a hearth. Rooms have oil lamps, spring water in a pot to drink, and mosquito nets covering the beds. There are also bedrooms, a modern kitchen and an office in the main `Walauwa', a restored manor house with its courtyard, verandah and bedroom walls drenched in vibrant hues.

A central 'Ambalama' (an open-sided pavilion for relaxing and eating) provides the sprawling property with a central focus for both relaxation during the day and eating in the evenings. Vegetarian meals are served prepared with fresh village vegetables.  Yoga classes are conducted in an open sided building with a leaf-thatched roof or in the cool shade of a Banyan tree. There are 13 fortnightly courses planned each year (see schedule below).  In addition, Ulpotha is a particularly suitable place in which to undergo Ayurvedic treatment as the food and the environment will complement the therapies and serve to underscore the holistic approach of Ayurveda itself. Ulpotha's resident Ayurvedic doctor, Dr. Sri Lal, can draw up a personalized detoxification and rejuvenation treatment programme for you. Allow at least two days to acclimatise after arrival in Sri Lanka before start of Ayurvedic treatments.

Yoga schedule for 2012/13

Winter 2011/12: Nov 6th 2012 – March 25th 2012

Spring 2012: Closed

Summer 2012: 10th June – 19th August

Autumn 2012: Closed

Winter 2012/13: Nov 11th 2012 – April 7th 2013

Ulpotha’s detailed Yoga schedule for 2012/13 Click Here

Ulpotha is a traditional working village that focuses on the restoration of an ageless agricultural way of life; it is a community where travelers can experience the warm and generous hospitality that Sri Lankans are known for. You can swim in a lake strewn with water lilies, go on nature walks in the woods and the hills, cycle, boat, and dance to the rhythm of the village music - all special experiences of this lifestyle.

Rate Note: Ulpotha prefers to sell two-week holidays to fit their Yoga and Ayurveda programmes. One-week holidays can only sometimes be accommodated, depending on availability. These would run Sunday to Sunday. There is usually no availability for one-week holidays over Christmas and New Year. Rate includes room on full board on twin-sharing basis; yoga classes (2/per day); one massage/ per week; herbal steam bath; one free consultation with Ulpotha’s resident Ayurvedic doctor; guided walks within Ulpotha & to the neighboring Temple; and excursion transport during the two weeks (normally 1 half-day excursion the first week of a group and one full-day excursion during the second week). Not included: Ayurveda treatments and additional massages. The Ayurveda Treatment Programmes are charged for separately and available for a minimum of one week.

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Why you should book with us