Diyaluma Falls: The Legend, the History and the Pools on Top

By Jarnal Kalsi · 15 September 2026 · 6 min read

Diyaluma Falls drops about 220 metres off the southern edge of Sri Lanka's hill country, near the small town of Koslanda in Badulla District. It is usually listed as the second-highest waterfall in the country, and it is roughly an hour to an hour and a half by road from Ella. Most people see it from the road at the bottom. The real reward is at the top, where the stream spreads into a chain of natural rock pools just before it goes over the edge.

Diyaluma Falls at a glance

• Height: about 220 metres, the figure used by Wikipedia and Uva's provincial tourism office; a few other figures are quoted
• Where: near Koslanda, Badulla District, Uva Province, about 6 km from the town
• From Ella: around 35 to 40 km, an hour to an hour and a half by road
• River: the Punagala Oya, which flows on into the Kuda Oya and the Kirindi Oya
• Best for: the natural pools at the top, which you reach on foot

What the name means

Diyaluma comes from Sinhala, sometimes written Diya Haluma. It is usually translated as "rapid flow of water". Some writers prefer a lovelier reading, "liquid light", which is the phrase that turns up in the falls' best-known legend.

The legend of Diyaluma

The version most often repeated is traced to the Sri Lankan historian R. L. Brohier. A young chieftain was banished to the highlands. The girl he was to marry tried to follow him, but the passes were guarded, so he let down a rope of twisted creepers over the cliff to pull her up. As she was hauled up the rock face, she was dashed against the rocks and killed. The gods, moved to pity, made water gush from the mountain to veil the place where she fell in liquid light.

There are other tellings. In some he is a prince or a king and she is a girl he was not allowed to marry; in others the creeper catches on the rocks and she falls as they climb together. One version says the falls are his tears. They are all folk tales, and nobody can say which came first, but every one of them ends at the same cliff.

What history records

Beyond the legend, little is written down about Diyaluma. It is a natural fall where the Punagala Oya runs off the edge of the escarpment that separates the hill country from the plains to the south, and the road between Koslanda and Wellawaya passes right beneath it, which is why so many people first see Diyaluma through a car or bus window.

Its height has been measured and quoted in several different ways over the years, which is why you will see figures from about 170 to 220 metres. What has not changed is the shape: one long white drop down a bare rock face, with the pools hidden above it.

The pools at the top

Above the main drop, the Punagala Oya runs over a series of wide rock shelves and collects in natural pools, some shallow, some deep and clear. On a calm day you can swim in them and look straight out over the plains.

There are two ways up. From the village of Poonagala above the falls, a path runs mostly downhill through long grass to the pools in about half an hour; it is not signposted. From the road at the bottom, the climb is steeper and harder to follow, and takes longer. On our Diyaluma Falls Adventure we stop at the base for photos, then your guide takes you up to the pools, picks the ones that are safe to swim in on the day, and brings you back down for a rice and curry lunch.

Staying safe

• There are no railings at the top. Stay well back from the edge of the falls.
• Do not dive or jump from the rocks; the pools are deep in places and the bottom is uneven.
• Only swim in the pools your guide points out, and not at all when the water is high after heavy rain.
• Wear shoes with grip for the hike; the rocks around the pools are fine barefoot.
• Take your rubbish home. The villages around the falls keep it clean.

When to go

Diyaluma is at its most dramatic after the rains, when the fall is full and loud. The pools are easier and safer to swim in when the water has dropped, so for swimming, a few dry days in a row are what you want. Your guide checks the conditions before you set off.

Staying in Ella for a few days? Pair Diyaluma with the Ella Rock hike or a morning at Little Adam's Peak, or read our Ella travel guide.