Ranawana Viharaya is a Buddhist temple in Pilimathalawa. The tallest Buddha statue at the site has made this temple an attractive place among visitors
Ranawana Purana Viharaya R anawana Purana Viharaya (Sinhala: රණවන පුරාණ රජමහා විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Pilimathalawa in Kandy District, Sri Lanka. The temple can be reached by travelling along the Ranawana temple road that starts from the Kiribathkumbura Highway Museum Junction on the Colombo-Kandy Highway. The calm ascetic environment and modern monastic features, including the tallest walking Buddha statue in the country, have made this temple attractive to local and foreign visitors. History The history of the Ranawana temple needs to be clarified. However, a golden Sannasa (a gold sheet) that had been granted by a king to an elite person reveals some information about a Buddhist temple located in the Ranawana area. As mentioned, this Sannasa was issued in 1602 Saka years (1675 A.D.) to an indigenous doctor named Ranawana Vedarala and to his deceased father Ranawana Mohottala. According to it, Ranavana Mohottala and a monk named Hamithi Thera had continued the construction work of a Buddhist t…
