Dedigama Eth Pahana

Dedigama Eth Pahana or Dedigama Elephant Lamp (Sinhala: දැදිගම ඇත් පහන) is referred to as a unique hanging lamp discovered from Dedigama Kota Vehera (Suthighara Stupa), Kegalle District, Sri Lanka. The lamp is presently on the display in the Gallery of Polonnaruwa Period at the Colombo National Museum.

History

In 1951, two Eth Pahana lamps similar in design were discovered in the upper relic chamber of Kota Vehera at Dedigama (Jayawardana & Peiris, 2009; Udayakumari, 2016). This Stupa has been identified as the ancient Suthighara Dagoba built by King Parakramabahu I (1153-1186 A.D.) in the 12 century A.D. (Nicholas, 1963; Udayakumari, 2016). According to Mahawamsa, King Manabharana, the father of King Parakramabahu I, used Punkhagama (present Dedigama) as the capital city of the southern locality. It is mentioned that King Parakramabahu I was born there and afterwards, he built the Cuthighara (Suthighara) Stupa of 120 cubits (180 ft) tall on the site of the house in which he was born (Nicholas, 1963). 

As it was found in the relic chamber of Suthighara Stupa, the Eth Pahana lamp has been dated by scholars to the reign of King Parakramabahu I; to the 12 century A.D. (Jayawardana & Peiris, 2009; Udayakumari, 2016).

The lamp

The lamp has been made out of bronze and predominantly represents a figure of an elephant (hollow cast) carrying two mahouts on its shoulder (Udayakumari, 2016). The elephant is 12.6 cm tall and 6.1 cm wide and stands on the top of a dish base (oil receptacle) with a diameter of 23 cm and a height of 8.5 cm (Jayawardana & Peiris, 2009). The elephant and the two mahouts are held in position by a movable Makara Thorana (the Dragon arch) locked onto the elephant. The total height of the lamp is said to be about 28.5 cm.

The chain by which the lamp is hung is decorated with a female dancer, a male cymbal player, and, a drummer. The end of the chain is decked with an open-hooded cobra forming a hook for hanging the lamp.

Technology

A sufficient quantity of oil should be present on the receptacle of a lamp if it is needed to be lit for a long period. In the Eth Pahana lamp, the elephant stands on the oil receptacle (R) and its belly (B) acts as a vessel and a reservoir for the oil. It is possible to remove the elephant figure from the oil receptacle and a pipe (P) has been provided on one of its front legs. By inverting the elephant figure, oil could be poured into the belly of the elephant through the given pipe and the oil stocked in is automatically closed by a valve within. After fixing the elephant figure on the lamp, the stocked oil is started to flow out as droplets onto the receptacle through the elephant's genital organ (O) when the level of the oil in "R" goes below the bottom level of the "P" in the leg due to the consumption of oil by the burning lamp-wick. The air that enters the elephant's belly through the opening of "P" builds up the atmospheric pressure inside the belly and causes the oil inside to drip out onto the receptacle. The oil flows even after the opening is covered with oil until such time that the air pressure inside the belly goes below the atmospheric pressure by an amount equal to the pressure developed by the height (H) of oil inside the elephant.

This sequence of events has been demonstrated and proved using the real lamp at the National Museum of Colombo (Jayawardana & Peiris, 2009).

References

1) Jayawardana, C. and Peiris, K., 2009. Ancient micro-scale hydraulic elements in Sri Lanka. Engineer - Vol. XXXXII, No. 03. The Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka. pp.51-56.  

2) Nicholas, C. W., 1963. Historical topography of ancient and medieval Ceylon. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series (Vol VI). Special Number: Colombo. Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch). p.123. 

3) Udayakumari, P.A.N. 2016. Relationship between Elephant Figure and Hydrostatic Principle of Eth Pahana in Dedigama. In: International Conference on Asian Elephants in Culture & Nature, 20th – 21st August 2016. pp.22,389-392.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 12 January 2023

A short note for local school students

දැදිගම ඇත් පහන

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කෑගල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කයේ දැදිගම පිහිටි කොටවෙහෙර ස්තූපයෙන් (සූතිඝර දාගැබ) අනාවරණය කර ගත් අපූර්ව එල්ලිය හැකි පහන දැදිගම ඇත් පහන වශයෙන් ප්‍රසිද්ධ වී තිබේ. වර්තමානයේ මෙම පහන කොළඹ ජාතික කෞතුකාගාරයෙහි ප්‍රදර්ශනයට තබා ඇත.

ඉතිහාසය

සමාන ආකෘතියෙන් යුතු ඇත් පහන් දෙකක් 1951 වර්ෂයේදී දැදිගම කොට වෙහෙර ස්තූපයේ ඉහළ ධාතු ගර්භයෙහි තිබී සොයාගන්නා ලදී. මෙම ස්තූපය 12වන සියවසේදී මහා පරාක්‍රමබාහු රජු (ක්‍රි.ව. 1153-1186) විසින් ඉදිකරන ලද සූතිඝර දාගැබ බව හඳුනාගෙන තිබේ. මහාවංශයට අනූව, මහා පරාක්‍රමබාහු රජුගේ පියා වූ මානාභරණ රජු විසින් දක්ඛිණ දේශයේ අගනගරය ලෙස පුංඛගාම යොදාගත් බව දැක්වේ. පරාක්‍රමබාහු කුමරු එහි උපත ලද බවත් පසුකාලීනව ඔහු විසින් තමා උපන් නිවස පිහිටි ස්ථානයෙහි රියන් 120කින් (අඩි 180) යුතු සූතිඝර නමින් ස්තූපයක් ඉදිකල බවත් සඳහන් වේ.

ඇත් පහන සූතිඝර ස්තූපයෙහි ධාතු ගර්භයෙහි තිබී හමුවීම හේතුවෙන් විද්‍යාර්ථයින් විසින් එම පහන මහා පරාක්‍රමබාහු රජුගේ රාජ්‍ය සමයට නැතහොත් 12වන ශතවර්ෂයට අයත් යැයි කාල වකවානු නිශ්චය කොට තිබේ.

පහන

සුසිර වාත්තු ක්‍රමයට ලෝහයෙන් නිමවා ඇති පහන මූලික ලෙසම ඇත්ගොව්වන් දෙදෙනෙකු දරා සිටින ඇතෙකුගේ ස්වරූපය නිරූපණය කරයි. උස සෙ.මි. 8.5 හා විෂ්කම්භය සෙ.මි. 23 වන තැටි පාදමක් (තෙල් රඳවනය) මත සිටගෙන සිටින ඇත් රූපය සෙ.මි. 12.6ක් උස වන අතර සෙ.මි. 6.5ක පළලින් යුක්තය. ඇතා සහ ඇත් ගොව්වන් දෙදෙනා අදාල නිශ්චිත පිහිටුමෙහි රඳවා ඇත්තේ ඇතාටම සම්බන්ධ කර අගුළු දමා ඇති ගැලවිය හැකි මකර තොරණ මගිනි. පහනෙහි සම්පූර්ණ උස සෙ.මි. 28.5කි.

පහන එල්ලීමට යොදාගන්නා දම්වැල කාන්තා නර්තන රුවකින්, පිරිමි අත්තාලම් හඬවන රුවකින් හා බෙර වයන්නෙකුගේ රුවකින් සරසා තිබේ. දම්වැලෙහි කෙළවර පහන එල්ලීම සඳහා කොකුවක් නිර්මාණය වන පරිදි තැනූ පෙණය විලිස්සාගත් නාග රුවක් වේ.

තාක්ෂණය

පහනක් දීර්ඝ කාලයක් මුළුල්ලෙහි දැල්වී තිබීමට නම් එහි තෙල් රඳවනයෙහි ප්‍රමාණවත් තරමක තෙල් තිබිය යුතුය. ඇත් පහනෙහි තෙල් රැඳවුම් තැටිය (R) මත ඇත් රුව සිටගෙන සිටින අතර ඇතාගේ බඩ (B) තෙල් රැඳවුමක් හා සංචිතයක් ලෙස ක්‍රියා කරයි. ඇත් රුව තෙල් රඳවන තැටියෙන් ගලවා ඉවත් කල හැකි අතර එහි ඉදිරිපස පාදයක නාලයක් (P) වේ. ඇත් රුව අනෙක් පස හැරවීමෙන්, දී ඇති P නාලය හරහා බඩ තුලට තෙල් ඇතුල් කල හැකි වන අතර ගබඩා කරන තෙල් ඇතුලත වූ කපාටයක් මගින් නැවත ගලා ඒම වළකයි. ඇත් රුව නැවත තෙල් තැටියට සම්බන්ධ කල පසු , බඩ තුල වූ තෙල් ඇතාගේ පුරුෂ අවයවය (O) හරහා බිංදු වශයෙන් තෙල් රැඳවුම් තැටියට වෑස්සීම ආරම්භ වේ. මෙය සිදුවන්නේ පහන් තිරය දැල්වීම නිසා තෙල් රැඳවුම් තැටියේ වූ තෙල් මට්ටම ඇතාගේ පාදයේ වූ නාලයේ පහළ කෙළවර මට්ටමට වඩා අඩුවූ විටයි. එවිට නාලයේ පහළ කෙළවර හරහා ඇතාගේ බඩ තුලට වාතය ගමන් කරමින් එතුල වායුගෝලීය පීඩනය නිර්මාණය කරන බැවින් ගුරුත්වය ඔස්සේ ඇතාගේ පුරුෂ අවයවය හරහා තෙල් වෑස්සීම සිදුවේ.

මෙම ක්‍රියාවලිය, ජාතික කෞතුකාගාරයෙහි වූ සැබෑ ඇත් පහන යොදා ගනිමින් තහවුරු කොට තිබේ.

Read More

Batatotalena Cave

Not to be confused with Batadombalena Cave

Batatotalena Cave (Sinhala: Batathota-lena) is a Buddhist cave temple situated in Kuruwita in Ratnapura District, Sri Lanka.

History

The history of this site is linked by locals to the Lord Buddha. Some believe that Diwa Guhawa or Bhagawalena associated with the Buddha's third visit to Sri Lanka is identical to this site (Abeyawardana, 2002).

The cave is about 20 ft tall (Gnanawimala Thera, 1967). Within the cave, a small Stupa, an image house, and a Vishnu Devalaya shrine can be seen. The image house is the main shrine and has been erected between the Vishnu Devalaya and the Stupa. The front wall of the image house is decorated with a Makara Thorana (a dragon arch) and other murals. The entrance door is guarded by two statues of door-keepers. Inside the image house is a reclining Buddha statue of about 21 cubits long. This statue is believed to be a construction belongs to the reign of King Nissankamalla [(1187-1196 A.D.) Abeyawardana, 2002]. However, some of these constructions show artistic features belonging to the early Kandyan Period (Abeyawardana, 2002). Some work of repairs on the present shrine has been done in 1908 (Gnanawimala Thera, 1967).

A small pond created by the water that drips through the inner cavities of the cave roof is also found at the entrance of the cave.

A protected site

The Batathota Lena cave situated in Batathota village in Kuruwita Divisional Secretariat Division is an archaeological protected monument, declared by a government gazette notification published on 27 July 2001.

References

1) Abeyawardana, H.A.P., 2002. Heritage of Sabaragamuwa: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Sabaragamuwa Development Bank and The Central Bank of Sri Lanka. ISBN: 955-575-077-7. pp.10-11.
2) Gnanawimala Thera, K., 1967. Saparagamu Darshana (In Sinhala). S. Godage Saha Sahodarayo. p.15.
3) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1195. 27 July 2001. 

Location Map

This page was last updated on 9 June 2022
For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map

Read More

Kala Wewa

Kala Wewa (Sinhala: කලා වැව) is a twin reservoir complex (Kala-Balalu Wewa) situated in Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka.

History

The Kala Vapi or the Kala Wewa was constructed during the reign of King Dhatusena [(459-477 A.D.) Arumugam, 1969; Nicholas, 1963]. It is said that Dhatusena built Kala Wewa to encompass Balalu Wewa which was built by King Kutakannatissa [(42-20 B.C.) Fernando, 1980]. According to historical sources, King Mahinda II (777-797 A.D.) improved and strengthened the work (Arumugam, 1969).

The present reservoir was restored in 1887 and in 1939, it was enlarged by 6 ft. (Arumugam, 1969). The breaches in 1957 were repaired in 1958 and the twin reservoirs Kala Wewa and Balalu Wewa were merged together to form one large reservoir (Arumugam, 1969). In 2015, the reservoir was rehabilitated by the Dam Safety & Water Resources Planning Project.

Reservoir

The reservoir has been constructed across the Kala Oya and the Jaya Ganga. It has a capacity of 100,000 Ac. ft. (123 million cubic meters) and has facilitated by a stone-made spillway and three main sluices (Yodha Ela, Goda Ela, and Balalu-wewa). The water of the reservoir brings to the Tissa Wewa reservoir in Anuradhapura by an ancient 54 miles (86.90 km) long canal called Jaya Ganga (present Yodha Ela) Arumugam, 1969; Nicholas, 1963]. This canal was also built by Dhatusena and it is considered a unique creation of ancient engineers (Fernando, 1980). The gradient in the first 20 miles of this canal is said to be only half a foot to the mile (Fernando, 1980).

The Kala Oya valley has been dammed by a 5 miles (8.04 km) long earthen embankment of about 60 ft. high (Arumugam, 1969). 

.

References

1) Arumugam, S., 1969. Water resources of Ceylon: its utilisation and development. Water Resources Board. pp.17,342-343.
2) Fernando, A.D.N., 1980. Major ancient irrigation works of Sri Lanka. Journal of the Sri Lanka Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 22, pp.1-24.
3) Nicholas, C. W., 1963. Historical topography of ancient and medieval Ceylon. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series (Vol VI). Special Number: Colombo. Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch). p.166.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 14 January 2023

Read More

Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya

Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: කැළණිය රජ මහා විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Kelaniya in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka. Local devotees consider this place as one of the most sacred 16 Buddhist sites (Solosmasthana) in the country.

History

Ancient Kelaniya
The name Kelaniya (or Kalyani) is found in ancient chronicles such as Mahawamsa as one of the abodes of Nagas who, according to chronicles, is a class of super-humans taking the form of serpents and living in a subterranean world (Paranavitana, 1961). The name is also found in a pre-Christian inscription in Mandagala in Hambantota District and in a 5th-century Inscription at Diyagama near Kalutara (Nicholas, 1963).

Legends
According to chronicles, the Buddha in the eighth year after his enlightenment visited Kelaniya in Sri Lanka with his followers on the full moon day of Vesak and this visit was done upon the invitation by the Naga King Maniakkhika. It is said that the king built a Stupa here by enshrining the gem-studded throne on which the Buddha was seated while preaching Dhamma to the king and his followers. The Stupa in the present Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya is believed to be the monument that holds this sacred gem-studded throne.

Foundation of Kelaniya Viharaya
However, the exact history of the foundation of Kelaniya Viharaya is obscure (Nicholas, 1963). Local Pali chronicles are silent about the foundation of Kelaniya Viharaya but Sinhalese chronicles say that Yatalatissa (reigned in the 2nd century B.C.) constructed Kelani Viharaya and a palace and reigned there (Nicholas, 1963). However, the details revealed by the Pali chronicle Mahawamsa that Yatalatissa ruled in Rohana and not at Kelaniya are confirmed epigraphically (Nicholas, 1963). The Pujavaliya (a Sinhalese classic written in the 13th century) mentions that Kavantissa of Ruhuna (205-161 B.C.) was the builder of the Stupa of Kelaniya Viharaya (Nicholas, 1963).

Royal patronage
Kelani Viharaya is said to have existed during the reign of King Dutugemunu [(161-137 B.C.) Nicholas, 1963]. According to historical sources, King Kanittha Tissa (167-186 A.D.) built an Uposatha-House in Kelani Viharaya and King Voharika Tissa (209-231 A.D.) erected a parasol on the Stupa of the temple (Nicholas, 1963). After the 3rd century A.D., there are no references in chronicles or epigraphs to the Kelaniya Viharaya until the 12th century A.D.

The inscriptions by King Nissankamalla (1187-1196 A.D.) record that the king had visited Kelani Viharaya and effected repairs there (Nicholas, 1963). The Kelaniya Stupa which had been destroyed later by Tamils (Magha of Kalinga) was restored by King Vijayabahu III (1232-1236 A.D.) with further repairs on other buildings (Nicholas, 1963). King Parakramabahu II (1236-1270 A.D.) also effected major restorations at Kelaniya Viharaya (Nicholas, 1963).

According to the Kelani Vihara slab inscription established in 1509 A.D., the temple which had been in a dilapidated state for a time was repaired by King Vira Parakramabahu VIII [(1490-1509 A.D.) Rohanadeera, 2007]. However, in the 16th century, the Kelani Viharaya was destroyed by the Portuguese who arrived in Sri Lanka in 1505 A.D (Sarma, 2007). In the 18th century, under the patronage of King Kirti Sri Rajasingha (1747-1782 A.D.) the temple was repaired and improved (Ranawella, 2015).

Reformation of Burmese Buddhism and Kalyani inscriptions
During the reign of King Buvanekabahu VI (1470-1478 A.D.), the ruler of Burma (present Myanmar) King Dhammazedi (1471-1492 A.D.) sought the assistance of the Sinhala kings to re-institute the Theravada ordination in his country. In 1476, a group of Burma monks and their disciples were sent to Sri Lanka, where they were re-ordained at the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara (Ko, 1892). When they returned to Burma King Dhammazedi was very pleased and he built a chapter house and named it Kalyani-sima (Kalyani ordination hall) and recorded the history of this mission on slabs of stone. These slabs are preserved to this day and are popularly known as Kalyani inscriptions (Ko, 1892).

Inscriptions

A few slab and pillar inscriptions have been unearthed from the temple premises. Besides these inscriptions, a copper plate charter issued by King Kirti Sri Rajasingha in Saka year 1701 (1780 A.D.) was also in the possession of the Kelaniya temple (Ranawella, 2015).

Kelaniya Vihara slab inscription of Vira Parakramabahu VIII
Period: 16th century A.D.
Reign: Vira Parakramabahu VIII (1490-1509 A.D.)
Script: Sinhala
Language: Sinhala
Content: This inscription is dated to 2051 B.E. (1509 A.D.), the 19th regnal year of King Vira Parakramabahu VIII. It records that the king had involved in repairs and restoration works in Kelani Raja Maha Viharaya which was in a dilapidated state for a time. According to the inscription, the Stupa, the 5-storeyed Pasada (Pas-mahal Paya), and other structures such as the Trivanka-geya, Thel-katara-geya, Samadi Pilima-geya, Na Pilima-geya, Sala-pilima-geya, Sivuru-dageya, and toilets of Kelaniya Viharaya had been repaired under the patronage of the king. A stone parapet and a flight of steps with a Sandakada Pahana (a moonstone) had also been added to the temple newly.
References: Rohanadeera, 1996; Rohanadeera, 2007.

Kelaniya Vihara slab inscription of Mapitigama Buddharakkhita
Period: 18th century A.D.
Reign: Kirti Sri Rajasingha (1747-1782 A.D.)
Script: Modern Sinhala
Language: Modern Sinhala
Content: This inscription is dated in 2322 B.E. (1779 A.D.). It records the work of repairs and donation of lands to the Kalyani Chaitya by Mapitigama Buddharakkhita Thera, incumbent of the temple as the successor of his teacher Attadassi Thera. It further says that the temples of Kitsirimewan Kelaniya and Doranagoda Vihara (probably Doranagoda Sumathindarama Viharaya) which had been in ruins for a time were also repaired and improved. According to the inscription, the support of the Kandyan King (Kirti Sri Rajasingha) had been obtained for this benevolent deed.
Reference: Ranawella, 2015.

The temple

Located near the bank of the Kelani Ganga river, the temple has been built on a raised terrace that can be accessed via four flights of steps set in four directions. The main entrance to the temple premises has been given a majestic appearance by constructing two large decorated pandols. A large Stupa, a Bodhi tree, an image house, and several other sacred edifices are found within the temple premises.

The temple was refurbished during the first half of the 20th century, under the patronage of philanthropist Helena Wijeywardena.

The image house
The image house of Kelaniya Viharaya mainly has two parts, viz: the old shrine and the new shrine. Both shrines are presently in one building but under two roofs. The image house is roughly 150 ft long and 90 ft wide and stands on a stone plinth 3 feet in height. Its outer walls are adorned with ornamental friezes and Vimanas (the mansions of gods).

The image house can be entered through a flight of stone steps leading to the verandah and then to the middle chamber or the vestibule. The walls of the middle chamber contain paintings and sculptures belonging to the Kandyan tradition. Jataka stories (stories that tell about the previous 550 lives of the Buddha), life incidents of the Buddha, the Sath-sathiya (the first week after the enlightenment), Solosmasthana (the 16 sacred shrines in Sri Lanka), and other Buddhist murals and sculptures are found drawn in horizontal strip of panels. Besides the walls, the wooden ceiling of this section contains paintings such as the planetary gods and the twelve zodiacal signs.

To the right of the middle chamber is the inner chamber or the sanctum of the old shrine. It contains a large reclining statue of Buddha and two seated Buddha statues. The statues are gold painted and the walls of this section are decorated with the figures of deities (Natha, Saman, etc.), and other Buddhist themes such as Suvisivivarana (24 assurances predicting Buddha-hood). The middle chamber and the inner chamber are considered the oldest part of the Kelaniya image house and both sections contain murals belonging to the Kandyan tradition.

The new shrine can be entered directly by walking forward through the middle chamber. It houses a gold statue of Buddha in the meditation posture. Large-scale paintings depicting the birth of the Sinhala nation ("The Buddha entrusting the protection of Buddhism in Sri Lanka to God Sakra, Landing of Vijaya") and other important events of the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka such as "King Devanampiyatissa presenting the Mahamegha Park to Arhat Mahinda by marking boundaries, Transcription of the Tripitaka into books at Alu Viharaya, Buddhagosa's presentation of the Visuddhimagga to the Sangharaja of Maha Vihara, King Kirthi Sri conferring the title of Sangharaja to Weliwita Saranankara Maha Thera by presenting him the ivory fan as the emblem of office, and the bringing of the Bodhi-tree by Theri Sangamitta, and the Tooth Relic of the Buddha by Prince Danta and Princess Hemamala" are found in this section.

To the left of this section is the outer chamber of the new shrine. It contains murals depicting the important events in the life of the Buddha as well as the history of Kelani Viharaya. The paintings include "Buddha's three visits to Sri Lanka (to Mahiyangana, Nagadeepa, and Kelaniya), The murder of the Maha Thera of Kelaniya-the consequent floods and the sacrifice of Princess Devi during the reign of Kelanitissa, Theravada tradition of ordination on the Burmese monks, and the destruction of Kelani Vihara by Magha in early 13th century and by Portuguese in late 16th century" etc.

The new shrine is widely famous for its attractive modern painting drawn by the native artist Solias Mendis [(1897-1975) Dharmasiri, 1990]. His paintings are considered to be one of the most important 20th-century contributions to the Sri Lankan tradition of Buddhist mural paintings that expands for more than 2000 years (Dharmasiri, 1990).


Stupa
The Stupa of Kelani Viharaya has been built in accordance to the Dhanyakara shape (the shape of a heaped pile of grains).

Duruthu Perahera

The temple is popular for its annual Perahera pageant (a procession) held in January. It was inaugurated in 1927, by Don Walter Wijewardene to commemorate the Buddha's first visit to Sri Lanka in the month of Duruthu (January) and to mark the commencement of the restoration work at Kelaniya in 1927.

A protected site

The ancient image house, Dagoba, the rectangular two-story building known as Simamalakaya, ancient preaching hall, ancient Vibhishana Devalaya, and inscriptions situated in Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara premises in the Grama Niladari Division bearing No. 264 in Kelaniya Divisional Secretariat Division are archaeological protected monuments, declared by a government gazette notification published on 23 February 2007.

.

References

1) Dharmasiri, A., 1990. Painting, Modern period (1815-1950). Nandadeva W. (Editor in chief), Archaeological Department Centenary (1890-1990): Commemorative series (Vol. V). Painting. Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). pp.132.133.
2) Ko, T.S., 1892. The Kalyānī inscriptions erected by King Dhammacetī at Pegu in 1476 AD: Text and translation. Superintendent, government printing, Burma. pp.the "Contents" page, i-vi.
3) Nicholas, C. W., 1963. Historical topography of ancient and medieval Ceylon. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series (Vol VI). Special Number: Colombo. Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch). pp.119-120.
4)  Paranavitana, S., 1961. The Arya Kingdom in North Ceylon. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series, Vol VII, Part: II. Colombo. p.181.
5) Ranawella, S., 2015. Archaeological Survey of Ceylon: Inscriptions of Ceylon: Vol. IX. Department of Archaeology. ISBN: 978-955-9159-98-8. pp.58-62.
6) Rohanadeera, M., 1996. Dharma Parakramabahu IX-The Fake King of Ceylon Inflated by Portuguese Historians-A Historiographical Perspective. Vidyodaya J. Soc. Sc., Vol. 7. 1 & 2. pp.13-45.
7) Rohanadeera, M., 2007. Archaeological Survey of Ceylon: Inscriptions of Ceylon: Vol. VIII. Department of Archaeology. ISBN: 978-955-91-59-64-3. pp.91-97.
8) Sarma, B.S., 2007. History of Munneswaram Temple. Sri Sankar Publications. p.21.

9) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1486. 23 February 2007. p.122.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 2 July 2022

Read More

Kithsirimewan Kelaniya Viharaya

Kithsirimewan Kelaniya Viharaya (also known as Egoda Kelaniya Viharaya) is a Buddhist temple situated in Kelaniya in Colombo District, Sri Lanka. It is built on the northern bank of the Kelani Ganga river and the Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya, the main Buddhist temple in Kelaniya is located on the southern bank of the river.

Legends

According to chronicles, the Buddha in the eighth year after his enlightenment visited Kelaniya in Sri Lanka with his followers on the full moon day of Vesak and this visit was done upon the invitation by the Naga King Maniakkhika. It is said that the king built a Stupa here by enshrining the gem-studded throne on which the Buddha was seated while preaching Dhamma to the king and his followers. The Stupa in the present Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya is believed to be the monument that holds this sacred gem-studded throne.

During this visit, the Buddha and his followers bathed in the Kelani Ganga river before partaking the meals offered by King Maniakkhika. On this occasion, the Buddha gave the Jalasatikawa (the bathing cloth) he was clad in, to the king. This cloth was enshrined in another Stupa built by the king at the place where the present Kithsirimewan Kelaniya Viharaya stands. This Stupa was later renovated and enlarged by King Kit Sri Meghavanna (also known as Kithsirimewan) in the 4th century A.D.

Inscriptions

A few inscriptions have been unearthed from the site. Of them, two are pillar inscriptions belonging to the 10th century A.D. (Ranawella, 2005). A slab inscription dated to the 14th century A.D. has also been found (Ranawella, 2014). These inscriptions are presently erected near the entrance gate of the Stupa terrace.

Kitsirimewan Kelaniya Vihara slab inscription.

This inscription (left photograph) is found on a slab of about 6 ft. 4 in. tall and 1 ft. 10 in. wide (Ranawella, 2014). The slab has a slightly rounded upper part and the average thickness of it is about 7 in. (Ranawella, 2014). Fifty-one lines of writing are visible on the front face of the slab. Fifteen more lines along with the figures of a crow, a dog, the sun, and the moon are also found engraved on the right-hand side of it (Ranawella, 2014).

Prof. Sirimal Ranawella has given an account regarding this inscription as follows;

The inscription is dated A.B. 1887 (1344/5 A.D.), the same date as that of the Gadaladeniya and Lankatilaka rock inscriptions of King Bhuvanaikabahu IV (1341-1351), but no regnal year either of Bhuvanaikabahu IV or Parakramabahu V (1344-1359) is given therein. The inscription had been set up by an unnamed hierarch of the lineage of Gangatala Karambavalana, who was the head of the Vilgammula fraternity at that time; it informs us that this hierarch had attended to the repairs of Kitsirimevan Kalani-Viharaya with the patronage of a powerful minister named Alagakkonara, described as the tenth in succession from Nissanka Alagakkonara who himself belonged to a noble family of Vanci. S. Paranavitana who identifies this Alagakkonara as the minister of that name referred to in the Karagala inscription of the eleventh regnal year of King Vijayabahu V (1335-1341), incline to assigned ......>>

Citation: Ranawella, 2014. p. 22.

.

References

1) Ranawella, S., 2005. Archaeological Survey of Ceylon: Inscriptions of Ceylon: Vol. V, Part. III. Department of Archaeology. ISBN: 955-91-59-57-7. pp.101-104.

2) Ranawella, S., 2014. Archaeological Survey of Ceylon: Inscriptions of Ceylon: Vol. VII. Department of Archaeology. ISBN: 978-955-9159-62-9. pp.22-26.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 1 June 2022
For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map

Read More

Memorial of Aranthalawa Massacre

Memorial of Aranthalawa Massacre (also known as Monument of Aranthalawa Buddhist monks) is a memorial site situated in the village of Aranthalawa in Ampara District, Sri Lanka. It has been built to commemorate the killing of thirty-one Buddhist monks and three civilians in the village of Aranthalawa on 2 June 1987, by the cadres of "Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam" (LTTE), a Tamil secessionist group designated as a terrorist organization by a number of countries including India, the United States and the European Union (DeVotta, 2007; McCargo & Senaratne, 2020). The "Aranthalawa massacre", as this incident came to be known, is considered an event of violence that made clear the LTTE's capacity for ruthless action (Das et al., 2000).

Buddhist monks of the Theravada tradition are incapable of defending themselves. Therefore, the harming of monks is considered to be one of the great offences in Buddhism.  

The incident

On 2 June 1987, a group of Buddhist monks (most of them were young novice monks) boarded on a bus from the Mahāvāpi Temple in Ampara for a pilgrimage to Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya (Deegalle, 2009). They were stopped near the village of Nuwaragalatenna by a group of armed LTTE cadres led by a leader named Reagan (Das et al., 2000). They ordered the driver of the bus to drive into the nearby Aranthalawa jungle and after the bus stopped, the LTTE cadres murdered 30 young novice monks and their mentor, Hegoda Indrasara Thera (DeVotta, 2007). Three civilians who were on the bus were also killed by the attackers.

A few monks, however, escaped the massacre sustaining critical injuries. 

Memorial museum

In 2013, a memorial museum was opened by the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa on this site to remember the monks who were killed by the LTTE (Ruwanpathirana, 2016). The bus in which the Buddhist monks were massacred is also being exhibited at the site.

.

References

1) Das, V., Kleinman, A., Ramphele, M., and Reynolds, P., 2000. Violence and subjectivity. Univ of California Press. p.172.

2) Deegalle, M., 2009. Religious concerns in the ethno-politics of Sri Lanka. The Mahachulalongkorn Journal of Buddhist Studies, 2, pp.79-109.

3) DeVotta, N., 2007. Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist ideology: Implications for politics and conflict resolution in Sri Lanka. pp.38,77.

4) McCargo, D., and Senaratne, D., 2020. Victor’s memory: Sri Lanka’spost-war memory scape in comparative perspective. Conflict, Security & Development, 20:1. pp.97-113.

5)  Ruwanpathirana, T., 2016. Memorialisation for transitional justice in Sri Lanka. Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo. p.18.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 14 May 2022
For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map

Read More

Hokandara Purana Viharaya

Hokandara Purana Viharaya (Sinhala: හෝකන්දර පුරාණ විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Hokandara in Colombo District, Sri Lanka.

Archaeological monuments

The image house and the belfry are the main attractions of this temple with archaeological value.  The image house is an octagonal-shaped building and consists of two sections: the inner shrine and the outer part. A large seated Buddha statue accompanied by two images of Sariputta (left) and Moggallana (right), the two chief disciples of Gautama Buddha, are found inside the inner shrine. A small Devalaya shrine has also been built in the outer part of the image house.

The belfry

The belfry is located in front of the image house. At the bottom of this bell-tower, there are two plaques probably containing the years denoted in Buddhist and Christian eras. Of them, one plaque displays the number "2479" (if this number is taken as a Buddhist year, its complementary Christian year should be 1935) while the other plaque contains the number "1858" (if we consider this as a Christian year the corresponding Buddhist year of it should be 2402). These numbers may denote the construction date of the belfry (probably including the image house) or other establishment of the temple.

A protected site

The image house and the belfry located in the territory of the Hokandara Purana Vihara in Hokandara village in the Grama Niladari Division of Hokandara-North in Kaduwela Divisional Secretary’s Division are archaeological protected monuments, declared by a government gazette notification published on 20 June 2014.


.

References

1) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1868. 20 June 2014. p.503.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 9 June 2020
For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map

Read More

Kumburulena Raja Maha Viharaya

Kumburulena Raja Maha Viharaya, also known as Kumburulena Sri Siddhartha Pirivena (Sinhala: කුඹුරුලෙන රජ මහා විහාරය, රිදීගම), is a Buddhist temple situated in Ridigama in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka.

History

The history of the Kumburulena temple goes back to the early period of the Anuradhapura Era. Several early-Brahmi inscriptions belonging to the 2nd-1st centuries B.C. have been found in the drip-ledged rock caves situated in the temple premises (Paranavitana, 1970). According to the view of Nicholas, Kumburulena was doubtless a part of the Ridi Viharaya entourage (Nicholas, 1963). 

The temple name Kumburulena is mentioned in the old Sinhalese text "Nampota" along with other nearby temples including "Segelena" and "Ridi-lena" (Ridi Viharaya).

Inscriptions

Prof. S. Paranavitana has read and published 7 early Brahmi inscriptions discovered at the site (Paranavitana, 1970). Of them, there are two cave inscriptions by Majjhima, the director of the palanquin bearers of King Gamini Abhaya who, according to scholars, is probably King Vattagamani Abhaya [(89-77 B.C.) Nicholas, 1963].

Kumburulena cave inscriptions of Majjhima

Period: 2nd-1st centuries B.C.
Script: Early Brahmi
Language: Old Sinhala
Transcript: Maharajhasha Gamani Abayasa sivika adaka parumaka Majjhima(sha) (le)ne agata anagata (catudisha shagasha)
Translation: The cave of chief Majhima, Director of palanquins of King Gamini Abhaya is given to (the Sangha of all four quarters) present and absent.
References: The information board at the site by the Department of Archaeology and the Ministry of Education.

.

References

1) Nicholas, C. W., 1963. Historical topography of ancient and medieval Ceylon. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, New Series (Vol VI). Special Number: Colombo. Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch). p.106.
2) Paranavitana, S., 1970. Inscriptions of Ceylon: Volume I: Early Brahmi Inscriptions. Department of Archaeology Ceylon. pp.69-70.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 4 October 2022

Read More

Nampota (Vihara Asna)

Nampota (also called Vihara-asna) is an ancient Sinhalese text that lists the principal Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka. The author of the text is not known and the work is considered to be compiled after the 14th century (Wikramasinghe, 1900). The text was also one of the books used in schools attached to Buddhist temples, which must be committed to memory (Wikramasinghe, 1900).

The list was popular in the past among villagers and recited along with the Dorakada-asna and Anusasana on the concluding night of Pirith ceremonies lasting 7 days (Abeyawardana, 2004; Weerakone, 1991). It contains 267 Vihara and Devalas and out of them, 75 are located within the Central Province of the country (Abeyawardana, 2004).

Original text

නමො බුද්‍ධාය

සගම, පස්ගම, අරත්තන, මාදන්වල, විල්වල, කඩදොර, මොරපාය, දිඹුල, පුසුල්පිටිය, නියම්ගම්පායස්ථානය, වල්වාසගොඩ, සැලව, අරම, මැදිළිය, දික්පිටිය, බම්පනේ, කාරියගම, දඩගමුව, අළුත් නුවර, පරණ නුවර, මාවෙල, මාකඩවර, හිඟුල, කප්පාගොඩ, පදීදොර, උතුරාවල, අම්බුළුගල, දනගිරිගල, වාගිරිගල, ලෙනගල, අලවතුර, වතුර, මාකුරාව, කවුඩුගම, බිසෝවෙල, දැදිගම, අරන්දොර, දොරවක, මඩබඩවිට, තොටගෙදර, මදුරුපිටිය, අත්තනගල්ල, ඌරාවෙල, ගොඩගෙදර, දොරණෑගොඩ, යටවත්ත, රාගම, මීගමුව, දඹදෙණිය, බෙලිගල, නවගමුව, බමුණුගම, වට්ටාරම, වතුදෙණිය, පුහුරිය, ගල්බඩගම, කොල්ලුර, ඔකඳපළ, උඩපළ, අල්ගම, නවකෙළගමුව, ඇත්කඳ විහාරය, කුරුණෑගල, කුරුවෙණියාගල, ආඳාගල, ඉබ්බාගල, යක්දෙස්සාගල, නාථගම, සංවැල්ල, කඩිකාව, මලගණේ, කබල්ලෑලෙන, නියඳවනේ, නාගල විහාරය, රැස්වෙහෙරුව, තලන්ගමුව, පෙරියකඩුව, දේවගිරි විහාරය, සංගමු විහාරය, උතුරුපවු විහාරය, බුජස්ලෙන, යාම්ලෙන, ජයකඩුලෙන, සැඟෑලෙන, කුඹුරුලෙන, රිදීලෙන, රම්බඩගල්ල, දෙල්විට, විල්ගම, අස්ගිරිය, රුසීගම, ඇම්බැක්ක, මිලිලවාණය, බඹාවිහාරය, රන්ගිරිදඹුල්ල, සීගිරිය, කලාවැව, බළල්ලෑව, අනුරාධපුරයෙහි ශ්‍රී මහා බෝධීන් වහන්සේ, ලෝවා මහා ප්‍රාසාද ස්ථානය, මිරිසවැටි විහාරය, අභයගිරි විහාරය, දෙනා නඛය, භගිරි නඛය, රත්නමාලී චෛත්‍යය, ථූපාරාම වෛත්‍යය, මිහින්තලය, අටසැටලෙන, නිතුපත්පාන, සුරුලුමහමුනියාව, මුන්නේස්සරම, ඇත්තල, මක්කම, මන්නාරම, මාන්තෝට්‍ටම, පොම්පරිප්පුව, මල්විල, දෙමළපට්ටනමෙහි නාගකෝවිල, කදුරුගොඩ විහාරය, තෙලිපොල, මල්ලාගම, මිණිවන්ගොමු විහාරය, තන්නි දිවයින, අග්නි දිවයින, නාග දිවයින, පුවඟු දිවයින, කාර දිවයින, මොල්ලියාවල, තිරිකුණාමලය, විල්ගම් වෙහෙර, තිස්ස මහ වෙහෙර, ඉලන්දගොඩ, කදුරුකෝට්‍ටයෙහි ඇතුබඳය, ලඞ්‍කාතිලකය, ගඩලාදෙණිය, විජයොත්පාය, අභය ගිරි විහාරය, ජේතවන විහාරය, කපිල විහාරය, ඉසිපතනාරාමය, කුසිනාරාමයේ සිටිපිළිම ගෙය, පූර්‍වාරාමය, දක්‍ෂිණාරාමය, පශ්චිමාරාමය, උත්තරාරාමය, සළුමිණිසෑය, සිළුමිණිසෑය, දෙමළ මහ සෑය, පොළොන්නරු විහාරය, සුළුන්නරු විහාරය, සිතුල්පවු විහාරය, ධනංජය විහාරය, කුකුළුවා විහාරය, දඹුලාගල් විහාරය, නකා වෙහෙර, මියුඟුණා වෙහෙර, සොරන්නා තොට, බදුලු වෙහෙර, යුඳඟනා පිටිය, රුහුණුබද කතරගම, උග්ගල් අළුත්නුවර, තඹගමුව, මුල්ගිරිය, ඔවාගිරි විහාරය, දෙව්නුවරෙහි දිව්‍යරාජ භවනය, ඔත්පිළිම ගෙය, ගල්ගණේ, වැලිගම අග්‍රබෝධි විහාරය, පරගොඩ විහාරය, තොටගමු විහාරය, ගලපාත විහාරය, බෝධිමලු විහාරය, වනවාස විහාරය, බෙම්වෙහෙර, බෙම්තොට, කළුතොට, සොරණ, විසිදාගම, කොතලාවල, රඹුක්කන, පානදුරේ දේවාලය, බෙලන්විල, පැපිළියාන, නාවින්න, විජයාරාමය, සුභද්‍රාරාමය, ජයවර්‍ධන කෝට්ටයෙහි ඔත්පිළිම ගෙය, ෂන්මුඛ දේවාලය, කිත්සිරිමෙවන් කැළණිය, රජමහ කැළණිය, විභීෂණ දේවාලය, වැලිවිට, බොල්ලෑගල, සංවැල්ල, සේවාගම, දිසාපති නුගය, කඩුදෙවොල, බෝමිරිය, කෙහෙල්බටුවාව, අතුරුගිරි විහාරය, දෙනගමුව, දෙල්ගමුව, බටුගෙදර, දෙනවක, සබරගමුව, ගලීමලය, සමන්තකූට පර්‍වතය, දිවාගුහාව, බල්ලාහෙල, සිඳගල, කළුගමුව, ගංගාතිලක විහාරය, කුඹල්ඔළුව, අලුදෙණිය, කොටකේදෙණිය, ඉලුපැන්දෙණිය, සේන්දෙණිය, නිග්ගම්මන, අරත්තන, සන්තානාගොඩ, වේගිරිය, ඇම්බැක්ක, වටදාගෙය, දෑලිවෙල, ගඟුල්දෙණිය, උරුලෑදෙණිය, කොටබෝගොඩ, රම්මුංගොඩ, දෙල්දෙණිය, මැණික්දිවෙල, මොනරාගොඩ, කොළුගල, වල්ගම්පාය, දම්තොටවතුර, සියඹලාගොඩ, දොඩම්වල, දියකෙළිනාවල, සූරියගොඩ, කොබ්බෑකඩුව, ගන්නොරුව, කුළුගම්මන, මාගම්මන, අත්තරගම, මැදවෙල, ගල්ලෑල්ල, දොළපීල්ල, අලවතුගොඩ, කොහොන, තිබ්බොටුවාව, ඇඹිල්ල විහාරය, ආලෝක විහාරය, කුරුවාබෝගම්බර, කඩුවෙල, දුනුවිල, ඇඹෙල, නිත්තවෙල, සිරිමල්වත්ත, අමුණුගම, ගංගාරාම විහාරය, සෙංකඩගල, අළුත් විහාරය, පරණ විහාරය, නාගවිමානය, උපෝසථාරාමය, ශ්‍රී දංෂ්‍ට්‍රා දළදා මන්‍දිරය ඇතුළු වූ සියලු විහාර දේවාලයවල අධිගෘහිත දෙවි මහරජාණන් තමනුත්, තමන්ගේ සහ පිරිවර දෙවියනුත් සන්දෘෂ්‍ට සම්‍භක්‍ත දෙවියනුත්, උපවෙනෙහි දෙවියනුත්, නොහැර කැඳවාගෙන මඞ්‍ගල සූත්‍රාදි බණ අසනු පිණිස ඊම සමග මහා සඞ්‍ඝයා වහන්සේට අභිමත දෝ, අභිමත දෝ, අභිමත දෝ! අහිමතයි, අභිමතයි, අහිමතයි! සමග මහා සඞ්‍ඝයා වහන්සේ සඟ ව වදාළ මෙහෙවර සඞ්‍ඝාණත්‍තිය නූගුළුවා ඉයැ යුතු.

Identification of temples

This is an incomplete list prepared by "Lanka Pradeepa".

No.	Name	Present site (or probable)
1	සගම (Sagama)	Sagama Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
2	පස්ගම (Pasgama)	Pasgama Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
3	අරත්තන (Arattana)	Arattana Viharaya, Nuwara Eliya District
4	මාදන්වල (Madanwala)	Madanwala Viharaya, Nuwara Eliya
5	විල්වල (Wilwala)	Wilwala Viharaya, Nuwara Eliya
6	කඩදොර (Kadadora)	Nuwara Eliya District
7	මොරපාය (Morapaya)	Nuwara Eliya District
8	දිඹුල (Dimbula)	Dimbula Viharaya, Nuwara Eliya
9	පුසුල්පිටිය (Pusulpitiya)	Pusulpitiya Raja Maha Viharaya, Nuwara Eliya
10	නියම්ගම්පායස්ථානය  (Niyamgampayastanaya)	Niyamgampaya Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
11	වල්වාසගොඩ (Walvasagoda)	Walwasagoda Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
12	සැලව (Selawa)	Selawa Raja Maha Viharaya, Kegalle
13	අරම (Arama)	Kegalle District
14	මැදිළිය (Mediliya)	Kegalle District
15	දික්පිටිය (Dikpitiya)	Kegalle District
16	බම්පනේ (Bampane)	Kegalle District
17	කාරියගම (Kariyagama)	Kegalle District
18	දඩගමුව (Dadagamuwa)	Kegalle District
19	අළුත් නුවර (Alut-nuwara)	Kegalle District
20	පරණ නුවර (Parana-nuwara)	Kegalle District
21	මාවෙල (Mawela)	Mawela Raja Maha Viharaya, Kegalle
22	මාකඩවර (Makadawara)	Kegalle District
23	හිඟුල (Hingula)	Hingula Raja Maha Viharaya, Kegalle
24	කප්පාගොඩ (Kappagoda)	Kappagoda Raja Maha Viharaya, Kegalle
25	පදීදොර (Padeedora)	Padidora Raja Maha Viharaya, Kegalle
26	උතුරාවල (Uturawala)	Kegalle District
27	අම්බුළුගල (Ambulugala)	Ambulugala Danthapaya, Kegalle District
28	දනගිරිගල (Danagirigala)	Danagirigala Viharaya, Kegalle
29	වාගිරිගල (Vagirigala)	Kegalle District
30	ලෙනගල (Lenagala)	Lenagala Viharaya, Kegalle
31	අලවතුර (Alavatura)	Ganegoda Viharaya, Kegalle
32	වතුර (Vatura)	Kegalle District
33	මාකුරාව (Makurawa)	Kegalle District
34	කවුඩුගම (Kawdugama)	Kegalle District
35	බිසෝවෙල (Bisowela)	Bisowela Viharaya, Kegalle
36	දැදිගම (Dedigama)	Kegalle District
37	අරන්දොර (Arandora)	Kegalle District
38	දොරවක (Dorawaka)	Kegalle District
39	මඩබඩවිට (Madabadawita)
40	තොටගෙදර (Totagedara)
41	මදුරුපිටිය (Madurupitiya)
42	අත්තනගල්ල (Attanagalla)	Attanagalla Viharaya, Gampaha
43	ඌරාවෙල (Urawela)
44	ගොඩගෙදර (Godagedara)
45	දොරණෑගොඩ (Doranegoda)
46	යටවත්ත (Yatawatta)	Yatawatta Purana Viharaya, Gampaha
47	රාගම (Ragama)
48	මීගමුව (Meegamuwa)
49	දඹදෙණිය (Dambadeniya)
50	බෙලිගල (Beligala)	Beligala Vijayasundararamaya, Kegalle
51	නවගමුව (Nawagamuwa)	Kegalle District
52	බමුණුගම (Bamunugama)	Kegalle District
53	වට්ටාරම (Vattarama)	Vattarama Raja Maha Viharaya, Kegalle
54	වතුදෙණිය (Watudeniya)
55	පුහුරිය (Puhuriya)
56	ගල්බඩගම (Galbadagama)
57	කොල්ලුර (Kollura)
58	ඔකඳපළ (Okandapala)
59	උඩපළ (Udapala)
60	අල්ගම (Algama)
61	නවකෙළගමුව (Nawakelagamuwa)
62	ඇත්කඳ විහාරය (Athkanda Viharaya)	Athkanda Raja Maha Viharaya, Kurunegala
63	කුරුණෑගල (Kurunegala)
64	කුරුවෙණියාගල (Kuruweniyagala)
65	ආඳාගල (Andagala)
66	ඉබ්බාගල (Ibbagala)
67	යක්දෙස්සාගල (Yakdessagala)
68	නාථගම (Nathagama)
69	සංවැල්ල (Sanwella)
70	කඩිකාව (Kadikawa)
71	මලගණේ (Malagane)
72	කබල්ලෑලෙන (Kaballelena)
73	නියඳවනේ (Niyandawane)
74	නාගල විහාරය (Nagala Viharaya)
75	රැස්වෙහෙරුව (Reseveheruwa)
76	තලන්ගමුව (Thalangamuwa)
77	පෙරියකඩුව (Periyakaduwa)
78	දේවගිරි විහාරය (Devagiri Viharaya)
79	සංගමු විහාරය (Sangamu Viharaya)
80	උතුරුපවු විහාරය (Uturupaw Viharaya)
81	බුජස්ලෙන (Bujaslena)
82	යාම්ලෙන (Yamlena)
83	ජයකඩුලෙන (Jayakadulena)
84	සැඟෑලෙන (Sengelena)
85	කුඹුරුලෙන (Kumburulena)	Kumburulena Viharaya, Kurunegala
86	රිදීලෙන (Rideelena)	Ridi Viharaya, Kurunegala
87	රම්බඩගල්ල (Rambadagalla)
88	දෙල්විට (Delwita)
89	විල්ගම (Wilgama)
90	අස්ගිරිය (Asgiriya)	Udasgiriya, Matale District
91	රුසීගම (Ruseegama)	Matale District
92	ඇම්බැක්ක (Embekka)	Matale District
93	මිලිලවාණය (Mililawanaya)	Matale District
94	බඹාවිහාරය (Bamba-viharaya)	Matale District
95	රන්ගිරිදඹුල්ල (Rangiri-dambulla)	Dambulla Raja Maha Viharaya, Matale
96	සීගිරිය (Sigiriya)	Sigiriya, Matale
97	කලාවැව (Kalawewa)
98	බළල්ලෑව (Balallewa)
99	අනුරාධපුරයෙහි ශ්‍රී මහා බෝධීන් වහන්සේ (Anuradhapurayehi Sri Maha Bodhin Vahanse)	Sri Maha Bodhiya, Anuradhapura
100	ලෝවා මහා ප්‍රාසාද ස්ථානය (Lova-maha-prasada Stanaya)	Lovamahapaya, Anuradhapura
101	මිරිසවැටි විහාරය (Mirisaweti Viharaya)	Mirisawetiya, Anuradhapura
102	අභයගිරි විහාරය (Abhyagiri Viharaya)	Abhayagiriya, Anuradhapura
103	දෙනා නඛය (Dena-nakhaya)
104	භගිරි නඛය (Bhagiri-nakhaya)
105	රත්නමාලී චෛත්‍යය (Ratnamali Cheitya)	Ruwanweliseya, Anuradhapura
106	ථූපාරාම චෛත්‍යය (Thuparama Cheitya)	Thuparamaya, Anuradhapura
107	මිහින්තලය (Mihintalaya)	Mihintale Monastery, Anurdhapura
108	අටසැටලෙන (Atasetalena)	Ata Seta Len, Anuradhapura
109	නිතුපත්පාන (Nitupatpana)
110	සුරුලුමහමුනියාව (Surulumahamuniyawa)
111	මුන්නේස්සරම (Munnessarama)	Munneswaram Devalaya, Puttalam
112	ඇත්තල (Eththala)
113	මක්කම (Makkama)
114	මන්නාරම (Mannarama)
115	මාන්තෝට්‍ටම (Manthottama)
116	පොම්පරිප්පුව (Pomparippuwa)
117	මල්විල (Malwila)
118	දෙමළපට්ටනමෙහි නාගකෝවිල (Demalapattanamehi Naga-kovila)	Nagar Kovil in Vadamarachchi, Jaffna
119	කදුරුගොඩ විහාරය (Kadurugoda Viharaya)	Kadurugoda Viharaya, Jaffna
120	තෙලිපොල (Telipola)	Present Telippalai, Jaffna
121	මල්ලාගම (Mallagama)	Present Mallakam, Jaffna
122	මිණිවන්ගොමු විහාරය (Miniwangomu Viharaya)	Present Vimanakamam (in Valikamam), Jaffna
123	තන්නි දිවයින (Thanni Divaina)	Present Tanativu (Kayts), Jaffna
124	අග්නි දිවයින (Agni Divaina)
125	නාග දිවයින (Naga Divaina)	Present Nainativu, Jaffna
126	පුවඟු දිවයින (Puvangu Divaina)	Present Punkudutivu, Jaffna
127	කාර දිවයින (Kara Divaina)	Present Karativu, Jaffna
128	මොල්ලියාවල (Molliyawala)
129	තිරිකුණාමලය (Tirikunamalaya)
130	විල්ගම් වෙහෙර (Vilgam Vehera)
131	තිස්ස මහ වෙහෙර (Tissa-maha-vehera)
132	ඉලන්දගොඩ (Ilandagoda)
133	කදුරුකෝට්‍ටයෙහි ඇතුබඳය (Kadurukottayehi Athubandaya)
134	ලඞ්‍කාතිලකය (Lankatilakaya)	Lankatilaka Viharaya, Kandy
135	ගඩලාදෙණිය (Gadaladeniya)	Gadaladeniya Viharaya, Kandy
136	විජයොත්පාය (Vijayothpaya)
137	අභයගිරි විහාරය (Abayagiri Viharaya)
138	ජේතවන විහාරය (Jetavana Viharaya)
139	කපිල විහාරය (Kapila Viharaya)
140	ඉසිපතනාරාමය (Isipatanaramaya)
141	කුසිනාරාමයේ සිටිපිළිම ගෙය (Kusinaramaye-siti-pilima-geya)
142	පූර්‍වාරාමය (Purvaramaya)
143	දක්‍ෂිණාරාමය (Dakshinaramaya)
144	පශ්චිමාරාමය (Pashchimaramaya)
145	උත්තරාරාමය (Uttararamaya)
146	සළුමිණිසෑය (Saluminiseya)
147	සිළුමිණිසෑය (Siluminiseya)
148	දෙමළ මහ සෑය (Demala-maha-seya)
149	පොළොන්නරු විහාරය (Polonnaru Viharaya)
150	සුළුන්නරු විහාරය (Sulunnaru Viharaya)
151	සිතුල්පවු විහාරය (Sithulpaw Viharaya)	Sithulpawwa Viharaya, Hambantota
152	ධනංජය විහාරය (Dananjaya Viharaya)
153	කුකුළුවා විහාරය (Kukuluwa Viharaya)
154	දඹුලාගල් විහාරය (Dambulagal Viharaya)
155	නකා වෙහෙර (Naka Vehera)
156	මියුඟුණා වෙහෙර (Miyinguna Vehera)	Mahiyangana Viharaya, Badulla
157	සොරන්නා තොට (Soranna-tota)
158	බදුලු වෙහෙර (Badulu Vehera)
159	යුඳඟනා පිටිය (Yudagana-pitiya)
160	රුහුණුබද කතරගම (Ruhunubada Kataragama)
161	උග්ගල් අළුත්නුවර (Uggal Alutnuwara)
162	තඹගමුව (Tambagamuwa)
163	මුල්ගිරිය (Mulgiriya)
164	ඔවාගිරි විහාරය (Ovagiri Viharaya)
165	දෙව්නුවරෙහි දිව්‍යරාජ භවනය (Devnuwarehi Diwyaraja Bhavanaya)
166	ඔත්පිළිම ගෙය (Oth-pilima-geya)
167	ගල්ගණේ (Galgane)
168	වැලිගම අග්‍රබෝධි විහාරය (Weligama Agrabodhi Viharaya)	Weligama Agrabodhi Viharaya, Matara
169	පරගොඩ විහාරය (Paragoda Viharaya)	Paragoda Viharaya, Galle
170	තොටගමු විහාරය (Thotagamu Viharaya)	Thotagamuwa Rathpath Viharaya, Galle
171	ගලපාත විහාරය (Galapata Viharaya)	Galapatha Viharaya, Galle
172	බෝධිමලු විහාරය (Bodhimalu Viharaya)	Bodhimalu Viharaya, Galle
173	වනවාස විහාරය (Vanavasa Viharaya)
174	බෙම්වෙහෙර (Bemvehera)
175	බෙම්තොට (Bemtota)
176	කළුතොට (Kalotota)
177	සොරණ (Sorana)
178	විසිදාගම (Visidagama)
179	කොතලාවල (Kotalawala)
180	රඹුක්කන (Rambukkana)
181	පානදුරේ දේවාලය (Panadure devalaya)
182	බෙලන්විල (Belanwila)	Bellanwila Viharaya, Colombo
183	පැපිළියාන (Pepiliyana)	Pepiliyana Viharaya, Colombo
184	නාවින්න (Navinna)
185	විජයාරාමය (Vijayaramaya)
186	සුභද්‍රාරාමය (Subhadraramaya)
187	ජයවර්‍ධන කෝට්ටයෙහි ඔත්පිළිම ගෙය (Jayawardana Kottayehi Oth-pilima-geya)	Image house of Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya, Colombo
188	ෂන්මුඛ දේවාලය (Shanmukha Devalaya)	Devalaya situated in the premises of Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya, Colombo
189	කිත්සිරිමෙවන් කැළණිය (Kitsirimevan Kelaniya)	Kelaniya Kitsirimevan Viharaya, Colombo
190	රජමහ කැළණිය (Raja-maha Kelaniya)	Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya, Gampaha
191	විභීෂණ දේවාලය (Vibishana Devalaya)
192	වැලිවිට (Weliwita)
193	බොල්ලෑගල (Bollegala)
194	සංවැල්ල (Sanwella)
195	සේවාගම (Sewagama)
196	දිසාපති නුගය (Disapati Nugaya)
197	කඩුදෙවොල (Kadu Devola)
198	බෝමිරිය (Bomiriya)	Korathota Viharaya, Colombo
199	කෙහෙල්බටුවාව (Kehelbatuwawa)
200	අතුරුගිරි විහාරය (Athurugiri Viharaya)
201	දෙනගමුව (Denagamuwa)
202	දෙල්ගමුව (Delgamuwa)
203	බටුගෙදර (Batugedara)
204	දෙනවක (Denawaka)	Aramanapola Viharaya, Ratnapura
205	සබරගමුව (Sabaragamuwa)
206	ගලීමලය (Galeemalaya)
207	සමන්තකූට පර්‍වතය (Samantakuta Parvataya)	Sri Pada, Ratnapura
208	දිවාගුහාව (Diva-guhawa)
209	බල්ලාහෙල (Ballahela)
210	සිඳගල (Sindagala)	Hindagala Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
211	කළුගමුව (Kalugamuwa)	Kandy District
212	ගංගාතිලක විහාරය (Gangatilaka Viharaya)	Kandy District
213	කුඹල්ඔළුව (Kumbal-oluwa)	Kandy District
214	අලුදෙණිය (Aludeniya)	Uda Aludeniya Viharaya, Kandy
215	කොටකේදෙණිය (Kotakedeniya)	Kotakedeniya Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
216	ඉලුපැන්දෙණිය (Ilupendeniya)	Ilupendeniya Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
217	සේන්දෙණිය (Sendeniya)	Sendeniya Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
218	නිග්ගම්මන (Niggammana)	Niggammana Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
219	අරත්තන (Arattana)	Arattana Tempita Viharaya, Kandy
220	සන්තානාගොඩ (Santanagoda)	Kandy District
221	වේගිරිය (Wegiriya)	Wegiriya shrine, Kandy
222	ඇම්බැක්ක (Embekka)	Embekke Devalaya, Kandy
223	වටදාගෙය (Vatadageya)
224	දෑලිවෙල (Deliwela)	Kandy District
225	ගඟුල්දෙණිය (Ganguldeniya)	Kandy District
226	උරුලෑදෙණිය (Uruledeniya)	Urulewatta, Kandy District
227	කොටබෝගොඩ (Kotabogoda)	Kotabogoda Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
228	රම්මුංගොඩ (Rammungoda)	Kandy District
229	දෙල්දෙණිය (Deldeniya)	Kandy District
230	මැණික්දිවෙල (Menikdiwela)	Kandy District
231	මොනරාගොඩ (Monaragoda)	Kandy District
232	කොළුගල (Kolugala)	Kolugala Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
233	වල්ගම්පාය (Valgampaya)	Kandy District
234	දම්තොටවතුර (Damtotavathura)	Kandy District
235	සියඹලාගොඩ (Siyambalagoda)	Kandy District
236	දොඩම්වල (Dodamwala)	Kandy District
237	දියකෙළිනාවල (Diyakelinawala)	Diyakelinawala Kithsirimewan Viharaya, Kandy
238	සූරියගොඩ (Suriyagoda)	Suriyagoda Viharaya, Kandy
239	කොබ්බෑකඩුව (Kobbekaduwa)	Kobbekaduwa Viharaya, Kandy
240	ගන්නොරුව (Gannoruwa)	Gannoruwa Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
241	කුළුගම්මන (Kulugammana)	Kulugammana Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
242	මාගම්මන(Magammana)	Malagammana Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
243	අත්තරගම (Attaragama)	Attaragama Viharaya, Medawala, Kandy
244	මැදවෙල (Medawela)	Medawala Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
245	ගල්ලෑල්ල (Gallella)	Kandy District
246	දොළපීල්ල (Dolapeella)	Dolapihilla Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
247	අලවතුගොඩ (Alawatugoda)	Alawatugoda shrine, Kandy
248	කොහොන (Kohona)	Kohon Viharaya, Matale District
249	තිබ්බොටුවාව (Tibbotuwawa)	Matale District
250	ඇඹිල්ල විහාරය (Embilla Viharaya)	Ambilla Raja Maha Viharaya, Matale
251	ආලෝක විහාරය (Aloka Viharaya)	Alu Vihare, Matale
252	කුරුවාබෝගම්බර (Kuruwabogambara)	Matale District
253	කඩුවෙල (Kaduwela)
254	දුනුවිල (Dunuwila)	Dunuwila Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
255	ඇඹෙල (Ambela)	Kandy District
256	නිත්තවෙල (Nittawela)	Niththawela Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
257	සිරිමල්වත්ත (Sirimalwatta)	Sirimalwatta Viharaya, Kandy District
258	අමුණුගම (Amunugama)	Kandy District
259	ගංගාරාම විහාරය (Gangarama Viharaya)	Gangarama Raja Maha Viharaya, Kandy
260	සෙංකඩගල (Senkadagala)	Kandy sacred city
261	අළුත් විහාරය (Alut-viharaya)	Kandy sacred city
262	පරණ විහාරය (Parana-viharaya)	Kandy sacred city
263	නාගවිමානය (Naga Vimanaya)	Naga Vimanaya, Kandy
264	උපෝසථාරාමය (Uposataramaya)	Kandy sacred city
265	ශ්‍රී දංෂ්‍ට්‍රා දළදා මන්‍දිරය (Sri Danshtra Dalada Mandiraya)	Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth Relic)

References

1) Abeyawardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Kandurata: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka. pp.351-354.
2) Weerakone, T.B., 1991. The study of place names in Sri Lanka. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, New Series, Vol. 36 (1991/1992). pp.28-95.

3) Wikramasinghe, D.M.D.Z., 1900. Catalogue of the Sinhalese Manuscripts in the British Museum: London. p.41.

This page was last updated on 20 January 2023

Read More