ABSTRACT
Sri Lanka Previously known as Ceylon, this island has an area of 65500 km2 and variations of climate across lush jungle, rolling hill country, tea plantations, semi-arid areas, and palmfringed beaches. There are 45 recorded caves on Sri Lanka, most of which seem to be formed in non-karstic granite and gneiss and consist of just one or two chambers, that were commonly used as dwellings in prehistoric times. The karst areas of Sri Lanka are on Miocene limestones in two separate regions. On the northern tip of the island, the barren Jaffna peninsula has a lowlevel doline karst containing many small shafts and a few short, well-decorated caves, while tidal shafts have been explored by Czech cave divers to a depth of 56 m without reaching a floor. Further south, narrow bands of limestone and marble extend from Trincomalee on the east coast, through the central highlands, to Matara on the southwest coast. It is in this area that the largest and most complex caves on the island are located. The two Istripura caves, reputed to be around 600 m and 150 m long and containing large underground galleries and lakes, are now believed to be drowned under the Victoria Reservoir. Vava Pena (Bat Cave, also known as Wavulpane), situated near to Pallabeda, is a 300 m long stream cave that is home to a large bat colony.
