Motagedara Sumangalaramaya Motagedara Sri Sumangalarama Purana Viharaya (Sinhala: මොටාගෙදර ශ්රී සුමංගලාරාමය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Motagedara village in Matara District, Sri Lanka. History This temple is believed to have been established in 1814 (Abeyawardana, 2004). The image house and the residence of the monks are regarded as the old monuments of this temple (Wikramaratne, 2015). The image house Construction The construction work of the image house is believed to have commenced with the establishment of the temple in 1814 and it is recorded that it took six years to complete (Abeyawardana, 2004). Paintings Paintings and sculptures belonging to the Kandyan tradition of art are found inside the image house. Some of them have been repainted in recent times (such as the paintings in the inner chamber) and as a result, they have lost their original characteristics (Abeyawardana, 2004). However, some original paintings are still found on the outer wall of the inner chamber (Abeyawardana, 2004; Wikramaratne, 2…
