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.
.This drip-leged cave with an early Brahmi inscription is located in the backyard of the three-story 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 southeast of 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. 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 used as the relic house can be reached through a flight of steps made of wood. The paintings and sculptures found on this floor were 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.
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.
