Nillakgama Bodhigharaya

Nillakgama Bodhigharaya

Nillakgama Bodhigharaya (Sinhala: නිල්ලක්ගම බෝධිඝරය) is an ancient Bodhi Tree Shrine located in the village of Nillakgama in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka. Bodhighara Bodhi trees are venerated by Buddhists from the earliest times as it is associated with the Buddha's enlightenment. In Sri Lanka, the worship of the Bodhi tree became prevalent after the arrival of Theri Sanghamitta who brought a Sapling of the Bodhi tree (India) in the 3rd century B.C. (Wijesuriya & Weerasekera, 1997). Within a short time, every temple had its own Bodhi tree and that led the people to develop and construct a special type of building around the tree called Bodhighara (The National Atlas of Sri Lanka, 2007; Wijesuriya & Weerasekera, 1997). History The Bodhigharaya at Nillakgama is believed to be a work of the 8th-9th centuries A.D. (Anuradha & Kumari, 2015; Nicholas, 1963). The ruined site was first noticed in 1895, by H.C.P. Bell but its true identity remained unsolved (Bandaranayake, 197…