Embekke Devalaya

Embekke Devalaya (Sinhala: ඇම්බැක්කේ දේවාලය; Tamil: எம்பக்க முருகன் கோயில்) is a Devalaya Shrine in the village of Embekka in Kandy District, Sri Lanka. The site is located on the Embekka - Pilimatalawa road, about 7 km from Pilimatalawa town. Embekka Devalaya is considered the place which has the greatest collection of wood carvings found in Sri Lanka (Rajapakse et al., 2010).

History

According to the traditional asserts, Embekke was the audience hall of the Gampola Kings which have been later converted and dedicated to the Sinhalese god Kataragama Deviyo. A local deity called Devata Bandara is also worshipped here (Godakumbura, 2011). However, it is believed that this Devalaya was established by King Vikramabahu III [(1357-1374 A.D.) Godakumbura, 2011; Rajapakse et al., 2010]. The Kirala Sandeshaya, poetry written during the Kandyan Period, mentions this shrine as "Mahasen Devalaya" (Rajapakse, 2016).  

The temple complex

Mainly eight old buildings are identified at the site. They include Vahalkada (the entrance), Maha Devalaya (the main shrine), Palle Devalaya, Muruthengeya (the kitchen), Vee Atuwa (rice container), the Buddha shrine, Rittageya (Embekke Ambalama),  and Sinhasana Geya (the throne house). Except for the Rittageya and Sinhasana Geya, the other six buildings are found inside the temple premises. 

Vahalkada

The porch at the entrance of the temple is called Vahalkada and it is said to be the oldest construction found on the site (Godakumbura, 2011). It has been built on a quadrangle base of about 2.5 feet in height and the roof of the building is supported by 10 wooden pillars fixed on the base. The pillars contain fine wood carvings similar to the carvings found on the pillars in the Hewisi Mandapaya. The structure is 22 feet 11 inches in length and 18 feet 8 inches in width.

Maha Devalaya
The main shrine (Maha Devalaya) consists of five parts; the Garbha (the sanctum), Pirith Kiyana Ge (Dhamma enchanting house), Antharalaya or Meda Digge, Sandun Kudama and Digge (dancing hall) or Hewisi Mandapaya (drummers' hall). The temple has earned great attention from visitors because of the splendid low relief wood carvings found on the pillars and the high-pitched roof of the Hewisi Mandapaya (Godakumbura, 2011). It has been built on a quadrangle stone base of 34 inches high and contains 32 wooden pillars bearing the roof. The medial panels of the wooden pillars contain the finest Sinhalese wood carvings including the swan figures, double-headed eagle, the women growing out of the vine, bacchanalian figures, a wrestling pair, dancers, soldiers, etc. (Godakumbura, 2011). The upper part of the pillars is decorated with dropping lotuses. The Madol Kurupawa (or Keni Madala), a giant catch pin (wood) that holds 26 rafters at the northern part of the roof contains no single metal pin used and is considered a special piece of work. Totally, 514 wood carvings (including 128 medial panel carvings, 256 Liyapath Wardana carvings, 64 Pekada Nelum carvings, 30 Balka, and 36 Thalada carvings) are found in the Hewisi Mandapaya. 

Sandun Kudama
The small hall which is entered through the Hewisi Mandapaya is called Sandun Kudama. The entrance door is decorated with a small Makara Thorana (the dragon arch) accompanied by two lion figures. The hall is opened to three directions. The left door directs the visitors to the Palle Devalaya, the right to the Buddha shrine, and the straight door to the Antharalaya, Pirith Kiyana Ge, and Gharbha chambers.

Buddha shrine & Palle Devalaya

A seated Buddha image decorated with a Makara Thorana, standing Buddha figures, and wall paintings are found in the Buddha shrine. It can be entered through three doorways, of them the middle door frame has been highly decorated with nice carvings. To the left side of the Maha Devalaya is the Palle Devalaya. Devatha Bandara who is considered the Adhikaram of Kataragama Deviyo is worshipped here.

Vee Atuwa

Vee Atuwa (the rice container) and the Muruthengeya (the kitchen) can be seen at the left of the entrance. The kitchen consists of a small hall and two rooms. Near the Vee-atuwa is a decorated stone door frame which is said to be placed here by Kiribathkumbure Basnayaka Rala in 1878 (Rajapakse, 2016).

A protected site

The Embekke Dewale together with the building complex of the same era Gale Ambalama situated in the Grama Niladhari Division of Embekke in the Divisional Secretary’s Division of Udunuwara is an archaeological protected monument, declared by a government gazette notification published on 23 January 2009.


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Attribution

1) Embekka Devalaya 25 by Cherubino is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
2) Embekka Devalaya 24 by Cherubino is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
3) Embekka Devalaya 17 by Cherubino is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
4) Embekka Devalaya 19 by Cherubino is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
5) Embekka Devalaya Pillar Tops by Dhammika98 is licensed under CC BY 3.0

6) Madol Kurupawa by Dhammika98 is licensed under CC BY 3.0

References

1) Godakumbura, C. E., 2011. Embekke (Chapter seven). International Scientific Committee: Wood. ICOMOS International Committee on Wood. pp. 52-53.

2) Rajapakse, R., Tokuyama, Y., Marasinghe, A., Miyata, K., and Somadeva, R., 2010. Visualization and haptic rendering of ancient wood carvings in Sri Lanka. Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Geometry and Graphics (ICGG’10).

3) Rajapakse, S., 2016. Pauranika Sthana Ha Smaraka: Mahanuwara Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka. ISBN:955-9159-34-8. pp. 55-56.

4) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1586. 23 January 2009. p. 109.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 9 June 2022
For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map

A short note for local school students

ඇම්බැක්කේ දේවාලය

ඇම්බැක්කේ දේවාලය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මහනුවර දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ ඇම්බැක්ක ග්‍රාමයේ පිහිටි පුරාණ දේවාලයකි. එය ඇම්බැක්ක-පිළිමතලාව මාර්ගයෙහි, පිළිමතලාවේ සිට කි.මී. 7ක් පමණ දුරින් පිහිටයි. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවෙහි විශිෂ්ඨතම දැව කැටයම් හමුවන ස්ථානය ලෙස ඇම්බැක්කයේ පිහිටි මෙම දේවාලය සැළකේ.

ඉතිහාසය

සාම්ප්‍රදායික විශ්වාසයන්ට අනූව, ඇම්බැක්කේ යනු ගම්පොල රජවරුන්ගේ මන්ත්‍රණ ශාලාව වන අතර පසුකාලීනව එය සිංහලයන්ගේ දේවතාවෙකු වූ කතරගම දෙවියන් වෙනුවෙන් කැපකර තිබේ. කතරගම දෙවියන් හැරුණු විට ප්‍රාදේශීය දෙවියෙකු වූ දේවතා බණ්ඩාරද මෙම දේවාලයේදී වන්දනාමානයට පාත්‍ර වේ. කෙසේනමුදු මෙම දේවාලය 3වන වික්‍රමබාහු රජු විසින් ස්ථාපනය කරන්නට ඇතැයි විශ්වාස කෙරේ. මහනුවර යුගයේ රචිත කිරල සංදේශයෙහි මෙම පුදබිම හඳුන්වා ඇත්තේ මහසෙන් දේවාලය ලෙසයි.

සිද්ධස්ථාන සංකීර්ණය

ප්‍රධාන වශයෙන් පැරණි ගොඩනැගිලි 8ක් මෙම ස්ථානයේදී හඳුනාගත හැකිවේ. ඊට වාහල්කඩ, මහ දේවාලය, පල්ලෙ දේවාලය, මුළුතැන්ගෙය, වී අටුව, බුද්ධ මන්දිරය, රිට්ටාගෙය (අම්බලම) හා සිංහාසන ගෙය ඇතුලත්ය. මින් රිට්ටාගෙය හා සිංහාසන ගෙය හැරුණු විට අනෙක් ගොඩනැගිලි 6 දේවාල පරිශ්‍රය තුල පිහිටයි.

වාහල්කඩ

අඩි 2.5ක් පමණ උස්වූ චතුරස්‍රාකාර වේදිකාවක් මත ඉදිකොට තිබෙන ගොඩනැගිල්ලෙහි වහල වේදිකාවට සවිකොට ඇති දැව කුළුණු 10ක් මගින් රඳවා ගනී. මෙම කුළුණු වලද දේවාලයේ හේවිසි මණ්ඩප ගෘහයේ වූ දැව කුළුණු මතවූ කැටයම් වලට සමාන වූ සියුම් දැව කැටයම් දැකගත හැකිවේ. සමස්ථ ගොඩනැගිල්ල අඩි 22යි අඟල් 11ක් දිගුවන අතර අඩි 18යි අඟල් 8ක පළලින් යුක්ත වේ.

මහ දේවාලය

ගර්භය, පිරිත් කියන ගේ, අන්තරාලය, සඳුන් කුඩම, හා දිග් ගේ (හෝ හේවිසි මණ්ඩපය) යන කොටස් 5න් මහ දේවාලය සමන්විත වේ. දේවාලය ඉදිරිපසින් වූ හේවිසි මණ්ඩපයෙහි වූ දැව කණු හා වහලයේ දැව මත දැකගත හැකි විශිෂ්ඨ දැව කැටයම් හේතුවෙන් මෙම පුදබිම සංචාරකයින්ගේ දැඩි අවධානය දිනාගෙන තිබේ. අඟල් 34ක් පමණ උස්වූ ශිලා වේදිකාවක් මත ඉදිකර ඇති එය වහලය දරා සිටින දැව කණු 32කින් සමන්විත වේ. දැව කණු වල වූ මධ්‍ය පනේල වල හංස පූට්ටුව, සුරාධූර්ථක, නාරිලතා, අංගම්පොරකරුවන්, හේවායන් වැනි විශිෂ්ඨ සිංහල දැව කැටයම් දැකගත හැකි වේ. කුළුණු වල ඉහල කොටස රූරා වැටෙන නෙළුම් මල් කැටයමින් යුක්තය. පරාල 26ක් රඳවා ගන්නා, වහලයේ උතුරු කොටසෙහි වූ මඩොල් කුරුපාව විශේෂ නිර්මාණයක් සේ සැළකෙන අතර ඊට කිසිදු ලෝහ ඇණයක් භාවිතා කොට නැත. හේවිසි මණ්ඩපය කොටස තුල සමස්ථයක් ලෙස දැව කැටයම් 514ක් (මධ්‍ය පනේල කැටයම් 128ක්, ලියපත් වර්ධන කැටයම් 256ක්, පේකඩ නෙළුම් කැටයම් 64ක්, බාල්ක කැටයම් 30ක් හා තලාද කැටයම් 36ක්) දැකගත හැකිය.

සඳුන් කුඩම

හේවිසි මණ්ඩපය හරහා ඇතුළු විය හැකි කුඩා ශාලාව සඳුන් කුඩම ලෙස හැඳින්වේ. එහි ද්වාරය සිංහ රූප දෙකකින් සමන්විත වූ කුඩා මකර තොරණකින් සරසා ඇත. ශාලාව දිශා තුනකට විවෘත වන අතර වම් පසින් වූ ද්වාරය පල්ලෙ දේවාලයටත්, දකුණු දිශාගත ද්වාරය බුද්ධ මන්දිරයටත්, කෙලින්ම ඉදිරිපසින් වූ ද්වාරය අන්තරාලයට, පිරිත් කියන ගෙට හා ගර්භයට විවෘත වේ.

බුද්ධ මන්දිරය හා පල්ලෙ දේවාලය

මකර තොරණකින් සමන්විත හිඳි බුද්ධ ප්‍රතිමාවක්, හිටි බුද්ධ ප්‍රතිමාවන් හා බිතු සිතුවම් රැසක් බුද්ධ මන්දිරය තුලදී දැකගත හැක. ඊට ඇතුළු වීම පිණිස ද්වාර ත්‍රිත්වයක් වන අතර ඉන් මධ්‍යයේ වූ දොරටුවේ උළුවස්ස අගනා කැටයමින් යුක්තය. පල්ලෙ දේවාලය, මහ දේවාලයට වම් පසින් පිහිටන අතර කතරගම දෙවියන්ගේ අධිකාරම් සේ සැළකෙන දේවතා බණ්ඩාර මෙහි වන්දනයට පාත්‍ර වෙයි.

වී අටුව හා මුළුතැන්ගෙය

දේවාල පරිශ්‍රයට ඇතුළු වන ස්ථානයට වම් පසින් වී අටුව හා මුළුතැන්ගෙය පිහිටා ඇත. මුළුතැන්ගෙය කුඩා ශාලාවකින් හා කාමර දෙකකින් යුක්තය. වී අටුවට නුදුරින් කැටයම් කරන ලද ශිලාමය උළුවස්සක් දැකගත හැකිවන අතර එය මෙහි ගෙනැවිත් ඇත්තේ කිරිබත් කුඹුරේ බස්නායක රාළ විසින් බව කියවේ.

පුරාවිද්‍යා ස්මාරක ස්ථානය

උඩුනුවර ප්‍රාදේශීය ලේකම් කොට්ඨාශයට අයත් ඇම්බැක්ක ග්‍රාම නිළදාරී වසමේ පිහිටි ඇම්බැක්කේ දේවාල සංකීර්ණය හා ගලේ අම්බලම 2009 ජනවාරි 23 යන දින ප්‍රකාශයට පත් රජයේ ගැසට් නිවේදනය මගින් ආරක්ෂිත පුරාවිද්‍යා ස්මාරක ලෙස නම් කොට ඇත.

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Galmaduwa Raja Maha Viharaya, Hingurana

Galmaduwa Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: අම්පාර ගල්මඩුව විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Galmaduwa village in Ampara District, Sri Lanka. The site can be reached by traveling along the Galmadu-Muwangala-Hinguarana road about 6.5 km from Hingurana town.

History

It is believed that the history of the Galmaduwa temple is going back to the early part of the Anuradhapura period (Withanachchi, 2013). A large number of ruins including Sandakada Pahana (moonstones), Korawak Gal (balustrades), stone pillars of ruined structures, Chatra stones, flower altars, remnants of rampart walls have been found from the temple premises. Of them, there is a circular stone artifact containing a rock-cut figure similar to a cobra.

A protected site

All archeological evidence including stone pillars and places of ancient buildings at the premises of Galmaduwa Rajamaha Vihara situated in Grama No. 05, Galmaduwa in Grama Niladhari Division No. W/27/H, Galmaduwa 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) Withanachchi, C. R., 2013. Pauranika Sthana Saha Smaraka: Ampara Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). ISBN: 955-9159-44-5. p.31.
2) 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 27 April 2022
For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map

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Hindagala Raja Maha Viharaya

Hindagala Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: හිඳගල රජ මහා විහාරය) is an ancient Buddhist temple situated in the village of Hindagala in Kandy District, Sri Lanka. The site can be reached by travelling about 4 km along Galaha road from Peradeniya town.

History

The history of Hindagala Viharaya is dated back to the early Anuradhapura period as locals link the temple to King Valagamba [(103, 89-77 B.C.) Senanayaka, 2018]. Although no historical references are available (Wijesekara, 1945), two rock inscriptions belonging to the 6th and 7th centuries A.D. and a fragment of rock painting belonging to the same period indicate the early establishment of the temple (Abeywardana, 2004; De Silva & Chandrasekara, 2009). Among the two inscriptions, one gives details about a joint grant for the purpose of building a Bodhighara (a Bodhi tree shrine) by a minister who was the custodian of a lodge named Patasala-abala and by a resident of Kanamudu (Nicholas, 1961).

Cave temple

The cave temple of Hindagala is situated in the shadow of a large rock and it can be entered through a doorway decorated with a Makara Thorana [(Dragon arch) De Silva & Chandrasekara, 2009]. Above the door frame is a mural representing the lord of Totisabhavana heaven, being fanned by two heavenly females. Inside the cave, recumbent and seated Buddha images are visible. The seated Buddha image is believed to be built by Queen Henakanda Biso Bandara during the Gampola Period [(1341–1412 A.D.) De Silva & Chandrasekara, 2009].

The cave of the temple was restored during the time of Governor Barnes [(1824-1831 A.D.) Wijesekara, 1945]

Paintings

An old painting fragment
On the surface of the hood of the rock cave, just below the drip ledge, is an old mural depicting two episodes of the life story of the Lord Buddha (Prematilaka & Hewage, 2018). Of them, one mural shows the offering of alms to the Buddha, by two trading brothers named Tapassu and Balluka (Prematilaka & Hewage, 2018). The other mural depicts the worshipping of the Buddha by the god Indra and others during the Buddha's visit to Indasala cave (Prematilaka & Hewage, 2018). However, the painting was burnt by a forest fire in the 1960s (Prematilaka & Hewage, 2018).

The two paintings show artistic similarities to those of the paintings found in Sigiriya (Rajapakse, 2016; Wijesekara, 1945) and are said to be drawn in the style of Toluwila (Wikramagamage & Wijesekara, 1990). They belong to the 7th century A.D. or probably to a later period (Coomaraswamy, 1927). The present name of the temple, Hindagala, according to S. Paranavithana, has been derived from Indrasala Guha which is depicted in one of the paintings. However due to the environmental weathering, presently, about one-tenth of the original painted surface is remaining (Wijesekara, 1945). This fragment of painting, "Visit of Buddha to Indasala Guha", was copied in 1918 by W. M. Fernando for the Department of National Museums (Abeywardana, 2004; Rambukwella, 2014; Wijesekara, 1945). Another set of figures of Divinities belonging to the 12 century A.D. was copied by Stanley Abeysinghe in 1948 (Rambukwella, 2014).

Four periods

The paintings at the Hindagala temple belong to four major periods. The fragment of a mural found just below the drip ledge belongs to the Anuradhapura era and the paintings inside the cave belong to the both Gampola and Kandyan Periods (De Silva & Chandrasekara, 2009). The outer wall paintings facing the veranda are said to have been done in 1917.

The Tooth Relic

On 23 April 1815, when the Tooth Relic of the Buddha was conveying to Kandy from the Pusulpitiya Viharaya in Kotmale, it had been kept in this Hindagala Viharaya for one night.

A protected site

The drip-ledged cave temple, two drip-ledged caves, and rock inscriptions belonging to the Hindagala Raja Maha Viharaya cave temple in the No. 267, Hindagala Grama Niladhari Division in the Gangawata Korale Divisional Secretary’s Division are archaeological protected monuments, declared by a government gazette notification published on 24 July 2009.  

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References

1) Abeywardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Kandurata: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka.  pp.38-39.
2) Coomaraswamy, A.K., 1927. History of Indian and Indonesian art. London. p.163.
3) De Silva, N.; Chandrasekara, D.P., 2009. Heritage buildings of Sri Lanka. Colombo: The National Trust Sri Lanka, ISBN: 978-955-0093-01-4.  p.72.
4) Nicholas, C. W., 1961. Additions and amendments to the Historical topography of ancient and medieval Ceylon. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series (Vol VII. Part 2). Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch). p.227.
5) Prematilaka, L., Hewage, R., 2018. A guide to the National Museum, Colombo: Department of National Museum. ISBN: 978-955-578-035-3. pp.43, 45.
6) Rambukwella, M.W.C.N.K., 2014. Heritage representation in culturally diverse societies: a case study of the Colombo National Museum in Sri Lanka (Doctoral dissertation, School of Museum Studies). pp.362-363.
7) Senanayaka, P., 2018. Senkadagala Mahanuwara pradeshaye peranima Bauddha Vihara Arama (In Sinhala). Samodhana, The Journal of Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. Vol.7 (1). pp.55-83.
8) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1612. 24 July 2009. p.1022.
9) Wijesekara, N., 1945. Early Sinhalese Paintings. A thesis submitted for the Ph. D. of the Culcutta University. pp.13-14, 114, 189.
10) Wikramagamage, C.; Wijesekara., N. (editor in chief), 1990. 500-1000 A.D. Archaeological Department Centenary (1890-1990): Commemorative Series: Volume Four: Sculpture. p.61.

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This page was last updated on 2 July 2022

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Uruwala Valagamba Raja Maha Viharaya

Uruwala Valagamba Raja Maha Viharaya is a Buddhist temple located in the village of Buthpitiya (North) in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka. The temple is situated on the wayside of the Wathurugama road about 6 km distance from the Yakkala Junction.

History

Locals link the history of this temple to King Valagamba (103 B.C. and c. 89–77 B.C.). The rock cave that houses the image house today is a drip-ledged one and therefore, it can be assumed that the cave was an abode of Buddhist monks in ancient times. The cave temples at Koskandawala, Maligathenna, Varana, Miriswatta, and Pilikuththuwa which are situated in the vicinity of Uruwala temple are said to have formed one major cave site during the early part of the Anuradhapura Period (377 B.C. - 1017 A.D.).

The large drip-ledged cave which houses the temple image house is adorned with paintings and sculptures of the Buddhist tradition.

A protected site

The old Poya Geya (Chapter House), drip ledged caves, the ancient Bodhi tree, and its rampart in the Uruwala Walagamba Raja Maha Viharaya situated in the Divisional Secretary’s Division of Mahara are archaeological protected monuments, declared by a government gazette notification published on 8 July 2005. 

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See also

#) Historical and Memorial Trees in Sri Lanka

References

1) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1401. 8 July 2005.

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This page was last updated on 14 March 2022
For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map

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Gallengolla Pothgul Raja Maha Viharaya

Gallengolla Pothgul Raja Maha Viharaya (ගල්ලෙන්ගොල්ල පොත්ගුල් රජමහා විහාරය) is an ancient Buddhist temple located in the village of Urulewatta in Kandy District, Sri Lanka. The site can be reached by travelling along the Manikkawa - Paranapattiya road about 4.5 km distance from Pilimathalawa town.

History

The recent history of Gallengolla Viharaya is going back to the 19th century. Veligamuwe Buddhadasa Atthadassi Thera, the founder of the Gallengolla temple, converted this site into a Buddhist religious place. He pioneered in construction of many buildings including the three-storied image house, the Dhamma Sala (preaching hall), and the Malasun Geya (Rajapakse, 2016). However, as is evidenced by the early-Brahmi inscriptions, the earliest history of this temple can be traced back to the period between the 3rd century B.C. and the 1st century A.D.

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This drip-leged cave with an early-Brahmi inscription is located in the backyard of the three-storied image house. A tunnel that is running to an unknown destination (above the right photograph) is found in the same cave. Several drip-ledged caves have also been identified within the temple premises and some of them contain the remnants of old paintings.

This cave (left photograph) is on a higher ground located south-eastern direction from the image house. The inner surface of the cave, below the drip-ledge, is painted with some figures which are difficult to identify.

Image house

The three-storied image house which bears colonial architectural features of the 19th century was built in 1874 (2418 B.E.) by Veligamuwe Buddhadasa Atthadassi Thera. He is said to be the head of the forest-living monks in the country's North-Central, North-West, and Central Provinces (Abeywardana, 2004). He also provided leadership for the Ramanna Nikaya and therefore, in 1867, a higher ordination of this sect was held in the Gallengolla Viharaya, making the temple one of the main centres for the Buddhist monks of Ramanna Nikaya in the Central Province (Abeywardana, 2004).

The first floor of the image house is adorned with a large number of paintings belonging to the Kandyan Period. At the entrance of the hall is a stone door frame decorated with various floral diagrams. A large wooden cabinet (Pettagama) used to store Ola manuscripts was also placed on the first floor. The second floor which is being used as the relic house can be reached through a flight of steps made of wood. The paintings and sculptures found on this floor have been done in 1915 and they show artistic features belonging to the later period of the Kandyan style (Rajapakse, 2016).

Chapter house & Stupa

The Pohoya Geya (Chapter House) of the Viharaya is located west of the image house and is considered one of the oldest constructions in the Central Province (Abeywardana, 2004). The temple Stupa is also an important piece of work as its Pesa Walalu and other parts have been constructed using stone slabs (Rajapakse, 2016).

A protected site

Drip-ledged caves, three-storied image house, Chaitya (the Stupa), Dhamma Sala (the preaching hall), and an ancient flight of steps in the Gallengolla Potgul Vihara premises situated in the Urulewatta Grama Niladhari Division in the Udunuwara Divisional Secretary’s Division are archaeological protected monuments, declared by a government gazette notification published on 27 July 2009.

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References

1) Abeywardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Kandurata: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka.  pp.82-83.
2) Rajapakse, S., 2016. Pauranika Sthana Ha Smaraka: Mahanuwara Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka. ISBN:955-9159-34-8. pp.62-63.
3) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1612. 27 July 2009. p.1022.

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This page was last updated on 14 March 2022

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Uda Aludeniya Raja Maha Viharaya

Uda Aludeniya Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: උඩ අළුදෙණිය විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Uda Aludeniya village in Kandy District, Sri Lanka. The site can be reached by traveling about 750 m distance along Uda Aludeniya - Thalawathura road from the Weligalla Junction. 

History

The history of Uda Aludeniya Viharaya runs back to the 14th century. It is believed that this temple was constructed or restored by Mayim Bandara during the reign of King Bhuvanekabahu IV [(1341-1351 A.D.) Codrington, 1933; Mudiyanse, 1960; Seneviratna & Polk, 1992; Withanachchi, 2018]. King Parakramabahu V (1351-1359 A.D.) has contributed to the development of this temple (Withanachchi, 2018).

 

Artefacts

Presently, the temple has been completely renovated and only a few original structures such as a wooden door-frame, a rock inscription, and a Sandakada Pahana (moonstone) can be identified in the temple premises. 

 

The door-frame

The wooden door frame which is found in the image house is called Rambawa (Seneviratna & Polk, 1992; Withanachchi, 2018). This antiquarian door frame is richly carved with floral and vegetable designs with the figures of dancers, musicians, and guardians (Seneviratna & Polk, 1992). The door frame carries a great significance as it is considered one of the examples of the earliest wooden carvings found in the country (Seneviratna & Polk, 1992).

The Stupa and the inscription

Beside the door frame, a small Stupa and a rock inscription belonging to the 18th century can be seen near the image house of the temple. The inscription is said to have been written in 1742 [reign of King Sri Vijaya Rajasinghe (1739–1747)] by a Buddhist monk named Chandrajothi Thera (Rajapakse, 2016; Senanayaka, 2018; Withanachchi, 2018).

Excavations & findings

From the excavations done in 2004, a relic casket adorned with a large number of miniature seated Buddha statues (about 125 images) was discovered from the chamber of the ruined brick Stupa at Uda Aludeniya temple (Withanachchi, 2018). These Buddha statues were placed around a silver Stupa covering a gold dome-shaped relic container which is said to be contained seven tiny bone fragments wrapped in gold foils (Stadtner, 2015). Another small reliquary with seated bronze Buddha statues was also found (Stadtner, 2015). After conservation of the Stupa, the discovered artifacts were gifted to the National Museum of Colombo by the chief incumbent of the temple, Ven. Gangoda Chandaloka Thera.

Reliquary - Uda Aludeniya (14th century)

This bronze reliquary (left photograph) was discovered from the relic chamber of the Stupa at Uda-Aludeniya Viharaya (Prematilaka & Hewage, 2018). The large casket contained two concentric tiers of seated Buddha images of miniature sizes. Middle of the casket was a small silver reliquary containing corporeal relics. Several other circles of Buddha images were also found placed around the large enveloping reliquary (above left photograph). These Buddha images are in Samadhi and Bhusparsha-mudra and are seated in Padmasana. It is believed that these images have been imported from South India.

A protected site

The ancient wooden door frame, inscription, and Sandakada Pahana situated in the premises of Uda Aludeniya Raja Maha Viharaya in the Divisional Secretary’s Division of Udunuwara are archaeological protected monuments, declared by a government gazette notification published on 23 February 1967.

References

1) Codrington, H.W., 1933. The Gampola Period of Ceylon History. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, (86), pp.260-309.
2) Mudiyanse, N., 1960. The art and architecture of the Gampola Period (1341-1415). M. D. Gunasena. p.19.
3) Prematilaka, L., Hewage, R., 2018. A guide to the National Museum, Colombo: Department of National Museum. ISBN: 978-955-578-035-3. pp.1-2.
4) Rajapakse, S., 2016. Pauranika Sthana Ha Smaraka: Mahanuwara Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka. ISBN:955-9159-34-8. p.72.
5) Senanayaka, P., 2018. Senkadagala Mahanuwara pradeshaye peranima Bauddha Vihara Arama (In Sinhala). Samodhana, The Journal of Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. Vol.7 (1). pp.55-83.
6) Seneviratna, A. and Polk, B., 1992. Buddhist monastic architecture in Sri Lanka: the woodland shrines. Abhinav Publications. pp.125-126.
7) Stadtner, D.M., 2015. Rajadhiraj’s Rangoon Relics and a Mon Funerary Stupa. Journal of the Siam Society, 103.
8) The Gazette notification. No: 14737. 23 February 1967.
9) Withanachchi, C.R., 2018. Madyama palate Rajamaha Viharasthana (In Sinhala). Report on the ancient Buddhist temples in the Central Province of Sri Lanka which were royally sponsored during the Kandy period. p.15.

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This page was last updated on 27 April 2022
For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map

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Embekke Ambalama

Embekke Ambalama is an old wayside rest in the village of Embekke in Kandy District, Sri Lanka. It is built on a flat rock plain located in a paddy field near the famous shrine, Embekke Devalaya. 

History

Ambalamas are traditional resting places built by locals to accommodate wayfarers who were travelling to distant places. They were also used as a place for people to gather, hold meetings and serve as a public place in society. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, Ambalamas were spread all over the country. 

 

The Embekke Ambalama is said to be established prior to the Embekke Devalaya (Godakumbura, 2011). It had been constructed during the reign of King Bhuvanekabahu IV (1341-1351 A.D.) to serve as a resting place for the people who involved in the construction of Gadaladeniya and Lankatilaka Vihara (Abeywardana, 2004). However, due to the closer similarities in the carvings of both Ambalama and the Embekke Devalaya, these two establishments are believed to belong to the same era (Rajapakse, 2016). Later, the Ambalama was used as a resting place for the pilgrims who came from Gampola to visit the Buddhist temple, Lankathilaka Viharaya (Rajapakse, 2016).

The structure

The building has been built on a platform of about 8.3 m long and 6.7 wide (Abeywardana, 2004). As of today, only the stone pillars of the building are remaining at the site. The pillars contain stone carvings such as twin swans, the face of lions, the trunk of elephants, etc. (Abeywardana, 2004). The carvings are similar to those on the wooden pillars in Embekke Devalaya (Godakumbura, 2011).

A protected monument

The Embekke Dewale together with the building complex of the same era Gale Ambalama situated in the Grama Niladhari Division of Embekke in the Divisional Secretary’s Division of Udunuwara are archaeological protected monuments, declared by a government gazette notification published on 23 January 2009.

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References

1) Abeywardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Kandurata: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka.  p.78.
2) Godakumbura, C. E., 2011. Embekke (Chapter seven). International Scientific Committee: Wood. ICOMOS International Committee on Wood. pp. 52-53.
3) Rajapakse, S., 2016. Pauranika Sthana Ha Smaraka: Mahanuwara Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka. ISBN:955-9159-34-8. pp. 57-58.
4) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1586. 23 January 2009. p. 109.

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This page was last updated on 9 June 2022
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Govinda Hela (Westminster Abbey)

Govinda Hela (also known as Govindamala, Govindu Hela, or Westminster Abbey) is a mountain with archaeological ruins located in Siyambalanduwa in Monaragala District, Sri Lanka. The site can be reached by traveling through the Ampara - Siyambalanduwa highway about 43 km distance from the Ampara town. The mountain is popular among the local tourists as a great place for hiking and camping. 

History

The history of Govinda Hela is going to the end of the Polonnaruwa Period. According to chronicles, the throne of the Sinhalese monarch of the country after King Nissankamalla (1187–1196 A.D.) was transitioned to the hands of several rulers who were weak in reigning or were engaged in internecine struggles (Dias et al., 2016). As a result of that, the country's political stability became poorer and the situation was comported for the invasions carried out by several Tamil invaders from South India. Magha (1215–1236 A.D.) of Kalinga (India) who came with a large army from Malabar (Kerala) invaded Sri Lanka during this period and became the ruler of the country. According to chronicles, he was a tyrant ruler who tried to destroy the doctrine of the Buddha (Dias et al., 2016). Magha and his soldiers tortured the people and looted their properties and destroyed a large number of Buddhist temples in the country.

While Magha was controlling the Rajarata area, some of the chieftains in the Ruhunu and Maya countries successfully prevented the invader and his hordes from entering into their territories (Ray, 1960). They had built strongholds in various places in the country. Bhuwanekabahu, the prince (Adipada) of Rohana had his stronghold at Govinda hela and a military leader called Samkha had his one at Minipe (Nicholas, 1963; Ray, 1960). Another military chief named Subha had his stronghold at Subhapabbata [present Yapahuwa (Ray, 1960)]. However, these chieftains had no cooperation among them to fight with Magha (Dias et al., 2016; Ray, 1960).

Archaeological ruins

Govinda Hela is about 500 m tall and covered with a dense forest. At the north part of the mountain is the Bingoda Aranya Senasanaya, an ancient forest hermitage used by Buddhist monks. Presently, the trail which runs to the mountain is fallen through the Buddhist temple, Sri Buwanekaba Viharaya.

A large number of ruins of the ancient fortress still can be seen at the summit of the Govindahela mountain. Rock-cut ponds, stone pillars, base stones, flights of steps, a Sandakada Pahana (moonstone), a stone slab (probably a flower altar), a fragment of guard stone (Muragala), rock-cut pillar holes, and inscriptions are some of the ruins scattered throughout the ridge of the mountain. The inscriptions found at Govinda Hela are seemed to be written in medieval Sinhalese scripts. In one place, a square-shaped flat rock plain with horizontal rock-cut lines is identified. The horizontal lines on the plain suggest that it may have been prepared for inscribing an inscription on it but due to some reason the author has not started his writings. Apart from these ruins, a wall made of thick rock-cut stone cubes is identified at the middle part of the mountain (Withanachchi, 2013).



Presently, this site has become a fine place for adventurous hiking and camping. The journey usually takes about 30-45 mins to reach the top of the mountain. At the very beginning of the trail is a tree adorned with twigs from elsewhere by visitors. Mostly the people who come to visit the site hang a twig on this tree as a habit to expect no troubles during their journey and indicate to others that this is the right way to the mountain. The upper part of the mountain is very steep and ladders have been fixed at such places.

There are a number of archaeological signs and evidence on the surface of the Govinda Hela mountain. However, certain ruins at the site have already been destroyed due to the careless activities of some visitors. The below photograph (left side) shows how the rock surface near an archaeological monument has been cracked due to the ignorant deeds done by some visitors who camped at the site.

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References

1) Dias, M.; Koralage, S.B.; Asanga, K., 2016. The archaeological heritage of Jaffna peninsula. Department of Archaeology. Colombo. pp.178-179.
2) Nicholas, C. W., 1963. Historical topography of ancient and medieval Ceylon. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series (Vol VI). Special Number: Colombo. Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch). p.58.

3) Ray, H.C. (Editor in chief), 1960. History of Ceylon: Vol. I: Part II. Ceylon University Press. Colombo. p.613.
4) Withanachchi, C. R., 2013. Pauranika Sthana Saha Smaraka: Ampara Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). ISBN: 955-9159-44-5. p. 51.

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This page was last updated on 7 June 2022
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A short note for local school students

ගෝවින්ද හෙළ

ගෝවින්ද හෙළ (ගොවිඳු හෙළ හෝ වෙස්ට්මිනිස්ටර් ඇබේ) ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මොණරාගල දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ සියඹලාණ්ඩුව පිහිටි පුරාණ නටඹුන් සහිත පර්වතයක් වේ.

ඉතිහාසය

පවත්නා පුරාවිද්‍යා සාධක අනූව ගෝවින්ද හෙළ ඉතිහාසය පොළොන්නරු යුගයේ අග භාගය හා සම්බන්ධ කල හැකිය. වංශකතාවන්හී දැක්වෙන ආකාරයට නිශ්ශංකමල්ල රජුගෙන් (ක්‍රි.ව. 1187-1196) පසු සිංහල රාජ්‍යත්වය දුර්වල පාලකයන් කිහිප දෙනෙකු අතට හිමිවිය. එහි ප්‍රතිපලයක් ලෙස රටෙහි දේශපාලන ස්ථාවරත්වය පිරිහී ගිය අතර ඉන් ඇතිවූ තත්වය දකුණු ඉන්දීය දමිළ ආක්‍රමණිකයන්ට වාසි සහගත විය. මේ කාලයේදී විශාල මලබාර් (කේරල) හමුදාවක් කැටුව පැමිණි කාලිංගයේ මාඝ (ක්‍රි.ව. 1215-1236) ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ආක්‍රමණය කොට රටෙහි පාලකයා බවට පත්විය. වංශකතා ප්‍රකාරව මාඝ යනු රටෙහි බුදු දර්ශනය විනාශ කිරීමට වෙරදැරූ කුරීරු පාලකයෙකි. මාඝ හා ඔහුගේ සහචරයින් මහජනයා කොල්ල කා හිංසාවට පත්කරමින් රටෙහි බෞද්ධ සිද්ධස්ථාන විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් විනාශයට පත්කල බව සඳහන් වේ.

මාඝ රජරට සිට සිය පාලනය ගෙනයන විට, රුහුුණු සහ මායා රටවල්හී සිටි ප්‍රාදේශීය පාලකයන් කිහිපදෙනෙකු ආක්‍රමණිකයා හා ඔහුගේ සහචරයින් සිය ප්‍රදේශ තුලට ඇතුළු වීම සාර්ථකව වළක්වා ගන්නා ලදී. ඔවුන්ගේ බලකොටු රටෙහි විවිධ ස්ථානවල ඉදිකර තිබුණු අතර රෝහණයේ ආදිපාදයෙකු (කුමාරයෙකු) වූ බුවනෙකබාහු සිය බලකොටුව ගෝවින්ද හෙළ පිහිටුවා ගන්නා ලදී. මීට අමතරව සංඛ නම් සෙනෙවියා මිණිපේ ද, සුභ නම් සෙනෙවියා සුභපබ්බත ද (වත්මන් යාපහුව) සිය බලකොටු ඉදිකරන ලදී. කෙසේනමුදු, මාඝ සමග සටන් වැදීමට මෙම ප්‍රාදේශීය නායකයන් අතර කිසිදු සම්බන්ධයක් තිබෙන්නට ඇතැයි පැහැදිලි නැත.

පුරාවිද්‍යා සාධක

ගෝවින්ද හෙළ මීටර 500ක් පමණ උසැති ඝන කැලෑවකින් ආවරණය වූ පර්වතයකි. එහි උතුරුදිශා පාමුල පුරාණ ලෙන් විහාරයක් වූ බිංගොඩ ආරණ්‍ය සේනාසනය පිහිටයි. වර්තමානයේ මෙම පර්වතයට ගමන් ගන්නා මාර්ගය ශ්‍රී බුවනෙකබා විහාරය හරහා වැටී තිබෙයි.

ගෝවින්ද හෙළ පර්වතය මස්තකයෙහි පුරාණ බලකොටුවෙහි නටඹුන් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් දැකගත හැකිවේ. ගල් පොකුණු, ශෙෙලමය කණු, පාදම් ගල්, ගලෙහි කෙටූ පියගැට පෙළවල්, සඳකඩ පහණ, ශිලා පුවරු, මුරගල් කොටස්, කණු වලවල්, ස්තූප යැයි පැවසෙන ගොඩැලි, හා මධ්‍යකාලීන සිංහල අක්ෂර සහිත පර්වතයෙහි කෙටූ ශිලා ලිපි ඒ අතර වෙයි. මෙහි එක් ස්ථානයක පර්වතයෙහි පැතලි මුහුණතක කොටවන ලද චතුරස්‍රාකාර හරස් ඉරි සහිත සෙල්ලිපි මුහුණතකි. අර්ධ වශයෙන් කොටවන ලද හරස් ඉරි මගින් මෙය සෙල්ලිපියක් කෙටවීම පිණිස සකසන ලද්දක් යැයි උපකල්පනය කෙරෙන අතර කුමක් හෝ හේතුවක් නිසාවෙන් එහි නිර්මාපකයා විසින් අක්ෂර කෙටවීම ආරම්භ කර නැත. මීට අමතරව පර්වතයෙහි මධ්‍ය කොටසෙහි කපන ලද ඝන කළු ගල් කොටස් වලින් සාධන ලද බිත්තියක නටඹුන් වෙයි.

විනාශය

වර්තමානයේදී මෙම ස්ථානය කඳු නගින්නන් හා කඳවුරු බඳින්නන් අතර ජනප්‍රිය ස්ථානයකි. පර්වතය ඉහළට යාම පිණිස මිනිත්තු 30-45 අතර කාලයක් ගතවේ. පර්වතයෙහි ඉහළ කොටස දළ බෑවුමින් යුක්ත වන අතර එවැනි ස්ථානයන්හී යකඩින් කල ඉණිමග සවිකොට තිබේ. කෙසේනමුදු පර්වතය මස්තකයෙහි වූ විශාල නටඹුන් හා ස්මාරක ප්‍රමාණය මෙහි පැමිණි නිදන් සොරුන්ගේ හා සංචාරකයින්ගේ නොමනා ක්‍රියාවන් හේතුවෙන් විනාශයට පත්ව තිබෙන හා පත්වෙමින් පවතින ආකාරය දැකගත හැකිවේ.

මීට අමතරව මෙම ස්ථානය සම්බන්ධව මෙතෙක් හමුව තිබෙන ලේඛනගත හා පුරාවිද්‍යා ඉතිහාසය විකෘති හා සාවද්‍ය ලෙස අර්ථකථනය කරමින් යම් යම් පිරිස් විසින් මෙහි ඉතිහාසය හින්දූන්ගේ කාව්‍යයක් වන රාමායනයෙහි දැක්වෙන චරිතයක් වූ රාවණා සමග සම්බන්ධ කරනු ලබයි. කෙසේනමුදු රාමායනයෙහි සත්‍යතාවය මතබේදාත්මක වන බැවින් වර්තමානයේදී එය මිත්‍යාවක් ලෙස බැහැර කෙරේ.

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