Birthplace of Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera

Birthplace of Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera
Photo credit: Google street view

The Birthplace of Rev. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera (Sinhala: හික්කඩුවේ ශ්‍රී සුමංගල හිමි උපන්ගෙය) is located in Hettigoda village in Galle District, Sri Lanka.

Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera
Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera (20 January 1827 – 29 April 1911) was a renowned Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, who is considered as one of the pioneers of the Sri Lankan Buddhist revivalist movement in the 19th century. He was also the founder of Maligakanda Vidyodaya Pirivena (1873), a Buddhist learning institute that was raised to the standard of a university in 1958 (Abeyawardana, 2004).

The house of the birth
The house where the Sri Sumangala Thera was born is situated near Hettigoda Sri Sumangalarama Viharaya in 55 D Wellawatta Grama Niladari Division of Hikkaduwa Divisional Secretariat Division (Ranchagoda, 2015). It is a 9-cubit building with a small verandah in front (Abeyawardana, 2004; Ranchagoda, 2015). The roof of the verandah is held by four pillars made of wood (Ranchagoda, 2015). The large wooden door frames and windows, as well as the thick walls of this building, portray Dutch architectural features (Ranchagoda, 2015). The roof is two-slopped and has been repaired in recent times (Ranchagoda, 2015).

This building is presently used as an office by the Department of Archaeology.

References
1) Abeyawardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Ruhuna: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka. ISBN: 955-575-073-4. p.18.
2) Ranchagoda, T. O., 2015. Pauranika Sthana Ha Smaraka: Galla Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka. ISBN:955-9159-53-4. pp.41-42.

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This page was last updated on 25 December 2022
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