Sri Lanka's Cultural triangle is situated in the centre of the island and covers an area which includes the World Heritage cultural sites of the Sacred City of Anuradhapura, the Ancient City of Polonnaruwa, the Ancient City of Sigiriya, the Ancient City of Dambulla and the Sacred City of Kandy. Due to the constructions and associated historical events, some of which are millennia old, these sites are of high universal value; they are visited by many pilgrims, both laymen and the clergy (prominently Buddhist), as well as by local and foreign tourists.

Anuradhapura is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District.

This ancient city is revered as the capital of Buddhism and, therefore, a very sacred site. Anuradhapura became the centre of administration of the North Central Province and with the building of the Northern Railway line, Anuradhapura became an important railway town with the opening of the Anuradhapura railway station in 1904.

Even though, historical chronicle Mahāvaṃsa (5th century) place founding of the city in the 5th century, the archaeological data from the excavation of the citadel area of the old city puts the date of the human settlement as far back as the 10th century. According to these excavations, protohistoric Iron Age of the city spans from 900 - 600 BCE, with the appearance of iron technology, pottery, the horse, domestic cattle and paddy cultivation.

Poḷonnaruwa, also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa District in North Central Province.

The second oldest of all Sri Lanka’s kingdoms, Polonnaruwa was first established as a military post by the Sinhalese kingdom. It was renamed Jananathamangalam by the Chola dynasty after their successful invasion of the country’s then capital, Anuradhapura, in the 10th century. The Ancient City of Polonnaruwa has been declared a World Heritage Site.

Another draw for tourists is the city’s population of toque macaques. The monkeys have been living in the ruins since the human occupation and continued to thrive there long after the humans left.

According to the ancient Sri Lankan chronicle the Cūḷavaṃsa, this area was a large forest, then after storms and landslides it became a hill and was selected by King Kashyapa (AD 477–495) for his new capital. He built his palace on top of this rock and decorated its sides with colourful frescoes. On a small plateau about halfway up the side of this rock he built a gateway in the form of an enormous lion. The name of this place is derived from this structure; Sīnhāgiri, the Lion Rock.

According to English Alternative stories have the primary builder of Sigiriya as King Dhatusena, with Kashyapa finishing the work in honour of his father. Still other stories describe Kashyapa as a playboy king, with Sigiriya his pleasure palace. Even Kashyapa's eventual fate is uncertain. In some versions he is assassinated by poison administered by a concubine; in others he cuts his own throat when deserted in his final battle.

The capital and the royal palace were abandoned after the king's death. It was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century. Sigiriya today is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site. It is one of the best preserved examples of ancient urban planning.

Dambulla is a town situated in the north of Matale District, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is the second largest populated and urbanised centre after Matale in the Matale District.

Major attractions of the area include the largest and best preserved cave temple complex of Sri Lanka, sigiriya rock fortress located in the division and the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, famous for being built in just 167 days. The area also boasts the largest rose quartz mountain range in South Asia, and the Iron wood forest, or Na Uyana Aranya.

Ibbankatuwa prehistoric burial site near Dambulla cave temple complexes is the latest archaeological site of significant historical importance found in Dambulla, which is located within 3 km (1.9 mi) of the cave temples providing evidence of the presence of indigenous civilisations long before the arrival of Indian influence on the Island nation.

A sacred network with 80 documented caves forming a temple complex dating back to 1st century BCE. Now there are five open to the public, where you can see their collection of Hindu and Buddhist statues as well as royal treasures.

The area is thought to be inhabited from as early as the 7th to 3rd century BC. Statues and paintings in these caves date back to the 1st century BC. But the paintings and statues were repaired and repainted in the 11th, 12th, and 18th century AD.

Kandy is the second-largest city of the island and the capital of the Central Province of modern Sri Lanka. Its geographic location has made it a major transportation hub in the island: while Kandy being the gateway to the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka, the city can be reached by major motorways in every direction of the island. The railway line from Colombo, the seaport on the western coast runs via Kandy to the farthest point of Badulla in the Central Highlands. The main roads Colombo-Kandy and Kandy-Nuwara Eliya[6] are two of the most scenic roads of Sri Lanka; Colombo-Kandy road passes through the rubber, tea plantations and rice paddies, Kandy-Nuwara Eliya road cuts through paddy fields and seamless tea plantations. Both roads claw their way up winding, rounding over the rings of hills. Currently, feasibility studies are afoot for another highway between Colombo and Kandy via Kadawata and the scenic city of Katugastota

Historical records suggest that Kandy was first established by the Vikramabahu III (1357–1374 AD), who was the monarch of the Kingdom of Gampola, north of the present city, and named Senkadagalapura at the time.

In 1592 Kandy became the capital city of the last remaining independent kingdom in the island after the coastal regions had been conquered by the Portuguese. Several invasions by the Portuguese were repelled, most notably in the campaign of Danture. After the Sinhalese–Portuguese War and the establishment of Dutch Ceylon, attempts by the Dutch to conquer the kingdom were repelled.

As the capital, Kandy had become home to the relic of the tooth of the Buddha which symbolizes a 4th-century tradition that used to be linked to the Sinhalese monarchy, since the protector of the relic was the ruler of the land. Thus the Royal Palace and the Temple of the Tooth were placed in close proximity to each other.

The last ruling dynasty of Kandy was the Nayaks. Kandy stayed independent until the early 19th century.