Nimalawa Aranya Senasanaya (Photo credit: Harsha Goonawardana, Google Street View)
Nimalawa Aranya Senasanaya (Sinhala: නිමලව ආරණ්ය සේනාසනය) is a Buddhist forest monastery located in Veherakema in Hambantota District, Sri Lanka. The ancient Talaguru Vehera is situated near this site.
History
There are two caves with drip ledges and inscriptions in the monastery premises (Somadeva, 2006). These monuments are considered firm clues about the existence of the site as a Buddhist monastery since the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka in or around 250 B.C. (Somadeva, 2006). The Early Brahmi Inscriptions found from and around the Nimalawa monastery have been published by S. Paranavitana under the title "Veherakema" (Paranavitana, 1970).
Presently the caves at this site have been converted into the residential quarters of the Buddhist monks.
References
1) Paranavitana, S., 1970. Inscription of Ceylon (Vol. I). Department of Archaeology Ceylon. p.52.
2) Somadeva, R., 2006. Urban origins in southern Sri Lanka. Doctoral thesis in Archaeology at Uppsala University. pp.120-121.
Location Map
This page was last updated on 20 January 2023