Vilbawa Raja Maha Viharaya

Vilbawa Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: විල්බාව රජමහා විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Vilbawa village in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka. History Due to the presence of an Early Brahmi Cave Inscription , the history of this temple can be dated back to the period between the 3rd Century B.C. - 1st century A.D. (Paranavitana, 1970). This inscription records the donation of a cave to Buddhist monks by a merchant (Paranavitana, 1970). Script: Early Brahmi Language: Old Sinhala Transcript: Vanica-Tisaha lene shagasha Translation: The cave of the merchant Tissa, [is given] to the Sangha. Citation: Paranavitana, 1970. Locals link the history of this temple to Kuveni, a Yakshini queen who is mentioned in Pali chronicles such as Mahavamsa (Anuradha & Kumari, 2015). A Sannasa (a record of grant) which was given to the temple during the reign of King Veera Parakrama Narendrasinghe (1707-1739 A.D.) also reveals the relation of Kuveni to this temple (Anuradha & Kumari, 2015). According to anothe…