Bahirawakanda Vihara Buddha Statue

Bahirawakanda is a range of mountains located west of Kandy town in Sri Lanka. Presently, this site has gained recognition of people due to the massive Buddha statue erected on one of the tops of the mountains. 

Name

In Sinhala language, Bahirawa-kanda means "the mountain of Bahirawa". According to local belief, Bahirawa is a spirit controlling the mineral sources (Abeyawardana, 2004). When commencing a new construction such as a house, some people offer a Bahirawa Puja to this spirit as a customary practice (Abeyawardana, 2004).

The Buddha statue

The Buddha statue at Bahirawakanda Vihara (also known as Sri Maha Bodhi Viharaya) was commenced under the guidance of late Ven. Ampitiye Dhammarama Thera (Abeyawardana, 2004). The statue is 25.85 m tall (Abeyawardana, 2004).

 

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Attribution

1) Sri Lanka - 028 - Kandy Buddha statue by McKay Savage is licensed under CC BY 2.0

References

1) Abeyawardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Kandurata: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka. p.46.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 16 January 2022
For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map