Ganegoda Kataragama Devalaya
Photo credit: Denuwan ATTILIGODA VITHANAGE, Google view Ganegoda Kataragama Devalaya (Sinhala: ගණේගොඩ කතරගම දේවාලය) is a Devalaya shrine situated in Ganegoda village in Kandy District, Sri Lanka. It has been dedicated to God Kataragama, a Sinhalese deity who is considered as one of the patron deities of the Buddha Sasana in Sri Lanka. History It is said that this Devalaya was constructed by King Rajasinghe II (1635-1687 A.D.) in fulfillment of a vow made by him to win the battle at Gannoruwa against the Portuguese ( Abeyawardana, 2004; De Silva & Chandrasekara, 2009). However, according to another belief, this shrine was originally built during the days of King Senasammata Vikramabahu [(1469-1511 A.D.) De Silva & Chandrasekara, 2009]. King Kirti Sri Rajasinghe (1747-1782 A.D.) donated certain lands to this shrine from the villages at Udowiti, Elpitiya, Godawela, and Medapitiya (Abeyawardana, 2004). The shrine is said to have been plundered on two occasions (Abeyawardana, 2004). …
