A Spacious Cave in a Massive Rock with Royal Secrets In and around the Kingdom of Sitawaka Rajasinghe are places of historical value closely connected, with the royalty from the early 5th century or beyond, when King Valagamba, with his enemies at his heels, was believed to have taken refuge, in places of safety after leaving his hiding place in the Pothgul-Kanda, Ratnapura? According to the oral-tradition, one such place was 'Aliwatte' in Yatiyantota with a spacious cave in a massive rock, covering several perches of land, where King Valagamba had found secret accommodation once, during his exile. The rock was also believed to be sanctified by the royalty, over centuries as a place where the kings, before they went to war, had secretly deposited their 'royal insignia', the crown and the sceptre till their return and placed 'guards' trusted servants with strict-instructions to protect them 'in life and death'. The tradition has it, that the practice was followed by a 'Bahirawa - induction', in which the guard entrusted with the protection of the 'royal-insignia' was overtaken by sudden death, inflicted by the kings, by sitting the throat of the victim (guard), and bathing the spot with the blood, taking the victim by surprise. The perished-guard, turned a 'Bahirawaya' over the royal-treasure, passed it down the ages. The rock at 'Aliwatte' had the imprint of an 'elephant-foot', carved upon it, which might well be an indication of an ancient 'treasure trove' belonging to the royalty lying within close proximity to the royal parks in Sitawaka. The 'guards' who were virtually murdered in cold-blood to fulfil a tradition, in the name of royalty at the foot of the treasure-deposit had become 'Bahirwayas', reappearing in the shape of enormous and vicious snakes, 'mostly Cobras', dreadful demons and vampires out for the blood of those who disturbed the 'sleeping-treasure'. The 'cult' of the 'Bahirawa' inspiring terror, death and destruction had prevented the looting of the ancient 'treasure troves', in ages past.