Galkissa Samudrasanna Viharaya (Sinhala: ගල්කිස්ස සමුද්රාසන්න විහාරය), is a Buddhist temple situated in Mount-Lavinia in Colombo District, Sri Lanka.
History
During the 19th century, a modern Buddhist revival took place in Sri Lanka and as a result, many Buddhist institutes were established throughout the country. The Samudrasanna Viharaya is also one of such temples established during that period. Bodhigama Dammarathana Thera is said to have pioneered in establishing this temple in 1845 (Rajapakshe et al., 2018).
The Image House
The image house is the temple's main attraction and is considered a monument of archaeological interest. It mainly consists of the inner shrine room and the outer section. Paintings belonging to two different periods are found drawn on the walls of both the inner and outer sections of the image house. The paintings in the inner shrine room mainly show features belonging to the transitional period of the southern school art style and the walls of the outer section are adorned with paintings of the 1950s (Rajapakshe et al., 2018).
Paintings based on the life story of Buddha, heaven, and Jataka stories such as Vessantara are found in the image house. Among them, the painting which depicts the cremation of Buddha is considered a special piece of work (Rajapakshe et al., 2018).
A Protected Site
The Buddha shrine at Vedikanda Galkissa Samudrasanna Vihare situated in the Grama Niladhari Division, No. 546-A Wedikanda, in the Ratmalana Divisional Secretary’s Division, is an archaeological protected monument, declared by a government gazette notifications published on 6 June 2008.
References
1) Rajapakshe, S.; Bandara, T. M. C.; Vanninayake, R. M. B. T. A. B. (Editors), 2018. Puravidya Sthana Namavaliya: Kolamba Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Vol. I. Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). ISBN: 978-955-7457-19-2. p.56.
2) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1553. 6 June 2008. p.533.
