Maligawila Buddha Statue Maligawila Buddha Statue (Sinhala: මාළිගාවිල බුද්ධ ප්රථිමාව) is an ancient rock-cut Buddha statue located in Maligawila (also pronounced Maligawela) in Monaragala District, Sri Lanka. It is the tallest Buddha statue in the country carved in the round (Chutiwongs et al., 2007). History It is believed that Maligawila is the ancient Kanagama where, according to Mahavamsa, a large image house was built by King Aggabodhi IV [(667-683 A.D.) Chutiwongs et al., 2007; Silva et al., 1990]. It is also mentioned that the king built a 15 feet high Bodhisattva Maitreya together with a large Buddha image and donated it to the Ariyakari Viharaya (Chutiwongs et al., 2007). The Dambegoda Bodhisattva Statue which is located near Maligawila is thought to be that Bodhisattva image built by the king (Chutiwongs et al., 2007). In ancient times Maligawila and Dambegoda remained as one monastery site ( Nicholas, 1963; Silva, 1990 ) . Scholars have dated this statue to the 7th-8th century A.D. (Chutiwongs et al., 2…
