Ashoka Vatika

Ashoka Vatika (Sanskrit: अशोकवाटिका, romanized: Aśokavāṭikā) is a grove[1] in Lanka that is located in the kingdom of the rakshasa king Ravana.

[3] It was the location where Sita, the wife of Rama, was held captive by Ravana after her abduction, also because she refused to stay in Ravana's palace and preferred to stay under a simsapa tree in Ashoka Vatika.

It was here that Ravana's wife Mandodari came to meet her and also where Hanuman met her for the first time, and identified himself with the finger ring of Rama.

Much of the Ashoka Vatika was destroyed by Hanuman when he first visited Lanka searching for Sita.

[4] The site has attracted media interest in recent years owing to its connection with Hindu mythology.

Hanuman encounters Sita in the Ashoka Vatika, bazaar art, early 1900s
Ashoka tree ( Saraca asoca ), often known as Sita-Ashoka owing to its connection with the Ramayana
Hindu temple called "Seetha Kovil" (Hanuman Kovil) at Seeta Eliya village, close to Hakgala Botanical Garden