Wewurukannala Viharaya | Former Sudassananandaya Wewurukannala Purana Viharaya , also known as Wewurukannala Budu Rajamaha Vehera (Sinhala: වැවුරුකන්නල පුරාණ විහාරය, වැවුරුකන්නල බුදු රජමහ වෙහෙර) is a Buddhist temple situated in Dikwella in Matara District, Sri Lanka. The temple is famous among devotees due to its gigantic seated Buddha statue of about 160 feet (49 m) tall (De Thabrew, 2013). History The history of this temple runs back to the reign of King Sri Rajadhi Rajasinha (1781-1798 A.D.) of Kandy (Ranaweera, 2015). It is said that the son of the Sri Rajadhi Rajasinha and his queen Madakumbura Wasala Deviya lived as a Buddhist monk by the name Rajakumara Himi in an Ambalama situated in Wewurukannala (Ranaweera, 2015). This Rajakumara Himi is considered one of the seven monks who represented the delegate to Burma (present Myanmar) to obtain the higher ordination (Ranaweera, 2015). He is believed to be the first monk who established this Viharaya (Ranaweera, 2015). This temple has three image houses and the oldest of them belongs to…
