The quiet town of Weligama doesn’t offer much for the visitor to do aside from surfing and using the location as a home base for further exploring places such as Mirissa, Galle, and Yala National Park. However, there are still plenty of smaller, more personable sites to view and explore. One of these such places that we decided to check out was the Rock of the Leper King.

Rock of the Leper King

At first, we knew pretty much nothing about the Rock of the Leper King other than the fact that it existed and was carved in stone. When we looked up it’s location, google maps gave us a general location, but as we had come to learn, google maps isn’t always the most accurate in foreign countries – particularly those that are a little less developed.

Getting To The Coast

Nonetheless, with our destination set, we set out for a walk to get to the statue. We began with our customary walk out of the residential road and across the bridge (which was under construction) over the river to the main road.

Coastal Walk

Once on the road we proceeded out towards the waterfront road, where we proceeded to walk the entirety of Weligama Bay. During this time, we passed numerous fish mongers, boats, shrines, surfers, and cricket players.

The sky was on the verge of storming nearly the entire duration of our walk, but this had become customary to us. We had arrived in Sri Lanka during the monsoon, and as such it rained most days. But coming from Florida, this really wasn’t a big deal – we’ve heard people complain about monsoon weather, but personally, I think it is actually nice (less tourists, and cooling rains – why complain?).

Just as we rounded the cape of the bay, we turned inwards back towards the main drag of Weligama. Along this road, at this point, though, things were far more relaxed and residential.

Turning In To The Jungle

We stopped by a small Buddhist shrine, but didn’t feel right entering because we weren’t properly dressed. A few locals outside the shrine urged us to go in and look around, but we still felt a little uncomfortable.

Proceeding to enter at their behest, we were shot dirty looks by other locals inside the temple. We opted to simply wander the grounds for a few minutes but not intrude on the temple operations themselves. Shortly after, we left.

Continuing along the road, we came upon numerous homes and buildings of seemingly no consequence. However, they all bore a authenticity that made our wandering all the more enjoyable.

Arriving At The Rock Of The Leper King

A long while later, we finally came to a fork in the road that I was expecting – near the train tracks and knew that we were close to the statue. A quick turn to the left, and proceeding across the tracks brought us to the entrance to the tiny park that held the statue.

The statue was carved into a large boulder and stood a few feet above head height. The park was small, but offered a quiet respite from the going-ons about us.

Known locally as Kusta Raja Gala or Rock of the Leper King, it depicts an ancient king stricken with Leprosy. The king was instructed to drink coconut pulp for three months to cure his disease. The “cure” worked and the statue was built to commemorate him.

We stayed for a few minutes, before proceeding back towards our AirBNB. Of course, we were still a far from home at this point, with good walk ahead of us. We took a break watching some cricket players across the road.

Returning Home

This time though, we proceeded to make our way through the heart of Weligama and the main city center. It was very busy, and aside from the cell phones, evoked the feeling of being in the 60s or 70s.

The walk took us several hours, and we were quite tired upon arriving back to our AirBNB. As we’ve found elsewhere, a simple walk in “mundane” neighborhoods can offer more noteworthy experiences than typical tourist fare.