Yudaganawa town is in the Buttala Divisional Secretariat Division of the Moneragala District. The Dagoba could be reached by trversing 1½ km along the left turnoff at the Yudaganawa Junction 16km from Wellawaya  on the Wellawaya - Moneragala road.

Yudaganawa derived its name fron the two words Yuda  meaning war and Anganaya meaning arena being the place where the armies of prince Dutugemunu and prince Saddhatissa faught each other in 2nd c B.C. Another school of thought has it to be the spot where Prarakramabhahu the Great built a dagoba enshrining the ashes of his mother, Queen Ratnavali.

This Dagoba is by far the biggest ancient monument found in the Uva Province. Although the period to which the architecture of the Dagoba belonged is not clearly disernible, an  image house of the Kandyan era is found near the Dagoba. However the Sutighara Dagoba of Dedigama, Demalamahaseya of Polonnaruwa and the Yudaganawa Dagoba had been built in the same design of Kotavehera type. As all these dagobas had been built up to half their height in brick it could be surmised that all three dagobas belong to the same era.