Devinuwara Upulvan Devalaya and Viharaya Devinuwara Upulvan Devalaya also known as Devinuwara Vishnu Devalaya or Tenavaram Temple by Tamils (Sinhala: දෙවිනුවර උපුල්වන් දේවාලය) is a Devalaya Shrine located adjoining the Devinuwara Raja Maha Viharaya in Devundara (Dondra) in Matara District, Sri Lanka. The deity venerated at the shrine upto the 15th century was God Upulvan (Pali: Uppala-vanna) to whom, according to the Mahavamsa, Sakka delegated the task of protecting the island of Lanka; a task for which Sakka himself assumed responsibility at the behest of the Buddha (Paranavitana, 1953). Devinuwara; Etymology Devinuwara means the "City of Gods" (Paranavitana, 1953). The literary form "Devinuwara", the Anglicized "Dondra", another Sinhalese form "Te-Nuwara", the Tamilized "Tanavarai" or "Tenavarai" and the Portuguese spellings of the last form contain in them evidence of the divinity (Paranavitana, 1953). The first and oldest record of the name Devinuwara is found in …
