Ulpotha · Sri Lanka
The village is
the medicine
Ulpotha is a traditional farming community hidden in the Sri Lankan jungle and a living embodiment of authentic Ayurveda. A village, not a clinic, where the healing arts are practised as they always have been: unhurried, personal and whole.
Where to begin
First, one question
Are you coming for the full Panchakarma detox, to address a specific ailment, or for a taste of Ayurveda within your yoga retreat?
A full Panchakarma detox
A four-week stay with the 21-day Panchakarma. Subject to your preferences, we can do more or less.
Choose your start date →
A specific ailment
Arthritis, digestion, sleep, skin, emotional temperament: treatment shaped around a condition, guided by our resident doctor.
Talk it through first ↓
A taste of Ayurveda
To fit into your yoga retreat: a course of three to fourteen days of Ayurveda treatments alongside the yoga, chosen as you book your yoga retreat.
Book your yoga retreat →
So you can have a chat with Pri and the doctor first, before anything is booked.
The first two paths are explained below. Whichever you choose, your Ayurveda treatment begins the same way: with Dr Srilal's consultation.
The first path
Coming to treat an ailment
Some of you come to Ulpotha for one reason: a condition you want addressed properly. Our resident Ayurveda doctor, Dr Srilal Mudunkothge, is registered as a general and specialist doctor with the Ayurvedic Medical Council of Sri Lanka, with specialisations in arthritis and psychiatric ailments.
Ayurveda treatment begins with a consultation and diagnosis of your Ayurveda dosha, and the length of your stay follows from this. Arthritis typically requires at least four weeks; other ailments (from digestion and sleep to emotional temperament and skin disorders) have their own rhythms. Tell Pri, who takes our bookings, what you are hoping to address, and she will discuss it with you and pass your details to Dr Srilal, who will suggest the ideal length of stay and treatment. So, for an ailment, talk it through with us first: a chat with Pri and the doctor before anything is booked.
Ayurveda Treatments use herbs grown on site and are charged in addition to the cost of your stay.
Got it. Pri will be in touch.
She passes your note to Dr Srilal and comes back to you, usually within a day. If it is urgent, message us on WhatsApp.
The second path
Coming for the full Panchakarma treatment
Panchakarma is the classical Ayurvedic cleanse, and it cannot be hurried: the full course runs 21 days, inside a four-week stay. Every course contains preparatory therapies (the ones most Ayurveda is known for: gentle massages, oil applications, steam baths, saunas and herbal baths) and elimination therapies.
In traditional village-based Ayurveda, as practised here, elimination focuses on inhalation and purgation. The other three classical therapies (emesis, enemas, and bloodletting) are not prescribed or performed at Ulpotha, nor are they necessary given Ulpotha’s holistic approach.
A four-week stay, with the 21-day Panchakarma
Three weeks of Panchakarma treatment with days to settle in and rest, Sunday to Sunday. The course is $1,500 per person, plus your stay. Depending on your preferences, we can do more or less; Dr Srilal and Pri will tailor it to you.
(Ayurveda Treatment costs are in addition to the cost of your retreat stay. The full course list, the doshas and what an Ayurveda day looks like are on the Ayurveda pages.)
Why here
A village suited to healing
If you are looking for authentic traditional Ayurveda, you have come to the right place. Surrounded by nature’s beauty and a sense of peace, you have the perfect environment for truly holistic treatment.
A resident doctor
Ayurveda at Ulpotha is guided by Dr Srilal Mudunkothge, a practising Ayurvedic doctor with over two decades of experience. Every Ayurvedic treatment course begins with his consultation.
Herbs grown on site
Ayurveda treatments at Ulpotha are authentic and unhurried, tailored by trained practitioners using traditional methods and herbs grown in our gardens.
No electricity, by design
Ulpotha is electricity-free by design, and life is lived by the rhythm of the day: daylight, lamplight, firelight, moonlight. Wi-Fi is minimal, just enough to be in touch with loved ones, so a yoga or Ayurveda retreat at Ulpotha is a natural digital detox.
Food as medicine
Meals are vegetarian and naturally gluten-free, with organic ingredients grown on the land: freshly picked, un-refrigerated, and cooked in terracotta pots on open fires each meal.
Free village clinic
Your Ayurveda treatment treats the village too
August 2005
Clinic established
65,750+
Visits, as of mid-2025
21,500+
Patients
An Ayurveda clinic was established in August 2005 to provide free Ayurvedic treatments to local villagers. The clinic is funded entirely by the revenue generated from Ayurvedic treatments at Ulpotha.
This initiative, which includes free Ayurveda medicines, harks back to the traditional way Ayurveda was dispensed, where patients rarely paid in cash for the care they received. Instead, they would make a symbolic offering of betel leaves to the Ayurveda doctor at the time of consultation and pay for the services in kind.
Planning your stay
Arrive on a Sunday
Yoga or Ayurveda retreats at Ulpotha begin and end on Sundays. For Ayurveda, the question is not which dates to circle, but which Sunday to arrive. The length follows from the path you choose.
The full Panchakarma treatment
A four-week stay: the 21-day course with days to settle in and rest. Subject to your preferences, we can do more or less.
A specific ailment
As long as Dr Srilal advises after your Ayurvedic consultation. Arthritis typically takes at least four weeks; other conditions have their own rhythms.
A taste of Ayurveda
From three days, inside a one- or two-week yoga stay, chosen as you book your retreat.
If you are arriving from overseas, plan to be at Ulpotha at least 48 hours before your Ayurveda treatment begins: another reason the Sunday arrival serves the treatment well.
The retreat itself, per week
- Summerarrivals June to August per week $1,470
- Winterarrivals November to March per week $1,750
- Christmas & New Yearthe festive fortnight, 20 December to 3 January per week $2,100
Indicative rates per person, per week, for Ayurveda stays, confirmed personally when you book. Your Ayurveda treatment is charged in addition: $1,500 per person for the 21-day Panchakarma.
Between treatments
The rest of the day is yours
For Ayurveda courses of ten days or fewer, there is treatment every day, each roughly one to two hours; longer courses include rest days. The remaining hours belong to you.
There is daily yoga (usually two classes) on offer at no extra cost should you want it, led by world-class yoga teachers, along with excursions, bike rides and the cool, silk-like water of the lake.
There is always the choice to join in or to simply be still, with no pressure and no distractions.
“From arising at dawn to the sounds of the jungle birds waking, to the lantern lit evening gathering for a delicious vegan dinner, the relaxing pace of the day is in perfect harmony.”
Booking
Begin with a Sunday
Choose the Sunday you will arrive; the four-week Panchakarma stay is filled in from there, and the treatment is shaped around you once you are here. Coming for a specific ailment, or would you rather talk it through first? Pri, who takes our bookings, can be reached on WhatsApp or at bookings@ulpotha.com.