Dadagamuwa Raja Maha Viharaya

Dadagamuwa Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: දඩගමුව රජ මහා විහාරය; Tamil: தடகமுவ ரஜமஹா விகாரை) is a Buddhist temple situated in Dadagamuwa village in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka. 

History

The history of the Dadagamuwa temple goes back to the time of the Anuradhapura Period.

The temple

The temple mainly consists of an image house, a Stupa, a Bodhi tree, monks' dwellings, and a Vatadage. The ruins of ancient structures such as Nidan-gala, Padalas-gala, and stone pillars indicate the antiquity of the temple. Out of the monuments situated at the temple premises, the Vatadageya and the image house are archaeologically important. 

Dadagamuwa Vatadage 

The Vatadage at Dadagamuwa Viharaya is a quadrangular house enclosing a small Stupa. The roof of it consists of two decks (upper & lower) sloping in four directions and the top of the roof is ended with a pinnacle. The upper roof is borne by four pillars erected around the Stupa. The lower roof is supported on the walls as well as the circular pillars of the outer corridor. 

The inner side of the walls of the Vatadage is adorned with murals of Buddhist themes. Two rows of paintings depicting Jataka tales such as Sambula, Themiya, Dahamsoda, etc. are found among them. These paintings are said to have been done during the period between the latter part of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. There are some paintings on the back wall which are incomplete. However, some traces of ancient paintings are found on the walls where the modern paintings peeled off.

Image house & the Bodhi-tree

The image house, according to the date denoted above the entrance door, has been built on 2 September 1905. The Bodhi-tree is considered to be one of the saplings of Jaya Sri Maha Bodhiya at Anuradhapura. 

A protected site

The ancient Vatadageya and the image house in the premises of the Dadagamuwa Raja Maha Vihara in the Divisional Secretary’s Division of Attanagalla are archaeological protected monuments, declared by a government gazette notification published on 8 July 2005. 

.

References

1) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1401. 8 July 2005.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 14 January 2023