Sri Lanka is a hub for prehistoric findings in the Asian region. Belilena is one of them with a rich history behind its existence even today. The amazing features of history where prehistoric man lived is evident in Belihena with its rich archeological discovering made over the years. There is still an untouched area of archeological discovery, which lies beneath the precincts of this beautiful place called the Belihena Cave.
The pre-historic Belilena Cave lies on a steep path upon a hill which has a beautiful view of rubber plantations in the Kithulgala a town. Kitulgala, a town in the Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka, was used for the historic setting for the film The Bridge on the River Kwai, which was filmed on the Kelani River in Kithulgala. Belilena is an extremely huge cave, where archeological excavations have revealed 13,000 skeletal remains of the prehistoric “Balangoda man.” The trek to the cave is through jungles, which is in close proximity to the Inoya Estate. The atmosphere surrounding the Belilena Cave is scenic and is located 2000 ft above sea level. Archeological excavations have revealed fossils said to be more than 32,000 years of age.
The Cave is a vast area and there still lies untouched sections beyond part of the cave. Prehistoric tools which are of the 30,000 BP era have been found in this cave. The Batadomalena has produced tools that date back to 31,000BP. These tools are significant to the entire Asian region due to the fact that they are said to have been coined in Europe during 12,000 BP.
A significant part of the discovering of prehistoric remains also included skeletal remains of pigs, sambhur, barking deer, porcupines, monkeys, reptiles and fish, which is evidence that apart from the beauty that surrounded the area, there also lived animals who even today are part of Sri Lanka’s jungles and ocean that surrounds this beautiful island.