Mahiyangana Viharaya is a Buddhist site situated on the east bank of Mahaweli Ganga River. It is one of the Solosmastana places in the country.
Mahiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya M ahiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: මහියංගන රජමහා විහාරය) is a Buddhist site situated on the east bank of Mahaweli Ganga River near Mahiyanganaya town in Badulla District, Sri Lanka. The site is considered an important shrine by pilgrims as its history is related to the first arrival of the Buddha in Sri Lanka. Legends Mahiyanganaya is associated with the story of the first visit of the Buddha to Sri Lanka. Therefore, the history of this temple goes as far back as the 6th century B.C. (Wijesekara, 1990). Local chronicles such as Mahavamsa record that in the 9th month of his Buddhahood, on a Duruthu (January) full moon Poya day, the Buddha visited the island of Sri Lanka to subdue Yakkhas, who had assembled at the site of the modern Mahiyangana Stupa (Priyadarshani & Gunasena, 2017; Wijesekara, 1990). The Buddha is said to have appeared at Mahanaga Garden, the customary meeting place of the Yakkas, and dispersed them to an island named Giri Divaina (Nicholas, 1963). Then the Bud…
