Uththara Jayamaha Viharaya

Uththara Jayamaha Viharaya (Sinhala: උත්තර ජයමහා විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple in Ampara District Sri Lanka. It is situated in Hingurana town approximately 500 meters away from the Hingurana Sugar Factory.

History

The history of Uththara Jayamaha Viharaya runs back to the early Anuradhapura Period. Several ancient structures and monuments belonging to that period have been discovered at the site.

Inscriptions
An early-Brahmi inscription belonging to the 2nd century B.C. has been recorded from the site (Medhananda, 1984). It was copied by the Archaeological Department on 6 March 1971 (Dias, 1991).

The cave inscription of Uttara Jayama Viharaya

Period: 2nd century B.C.
Script: Early Brahmi
Language: Old Sinhalese
Transcript: Mahamata-Utara-jhita-Racitaya lene

Translation: The cave of Racita, the daughter of the great minister Uttara

Notes: If the stroke after the word jhita is considered a punctuation mark, the name of the cave donor should be Cita (Citra).

Citation: Dias, 1991

 

A protected site

The caves with drip ledges and inscriptions belonging to the premises of Uththara Jayamaha Vihara situated in Hingurana village in Grama Niladhari Division No. W/27/F, Karalewa in the Divisional Secretary’s Division, Damana are archaeological protected monuments, declared by a government gazette notification, published on 26 December 2014.

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References

1) Dias, M., 1991. Epigraphical notes (Nos 1 -18). Colombo: Department of Archaeology. p.4.
2) Medhananda, E. 1984. Aprakata Brahmi Sellipi Ha Puravastu (In Sinhala). Sri Lanka Society of Archaeology. p.22.

3) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, No: 1895, 26 December 2014, p.1148.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 14 January 2023