Devagiri Raja Maha Viharaya (Koggala)

Not to be confused with Devagiri Raja Maha Viharaya (Bingiriya), Devagiri Raja Maha Viharaya (Diyavinna) and Devagiri Viharaya (Medagoda)

Devagiri Raja Maha Viharaya , also known as Hirugal Devalaya (Sinhala: කොග්ගල දේවගිරි රජමහා විහාරය, හිරුගල් දේවාලය), is a Buddhist temple situated in Koggala in Galle District, Sri Lanka. 

History

The antiquity of this temple is evidenced by its ancient Bodhi tree, inscription, and the old Buddha statue measuring 18 cubits (Abeyawardana, 2004). The temple is said to have been damaged by the British colonials during World War II [(1939-1945) Abeyawardana, 2004]. 

A protected site

The image house with ancient Devalaya in the Koggala Devagiri Vihara premises in the Grama Niladhari Wasama No. 144A, Koggala of the Habaraduwa Divisional Secretary’s Division is an archaeological protected monument, declared by a government gazette notification published on 7 December 2001. 

Attribution

1) imm015 16, imm019 20, imm031 32, imm033_34A, and imm018 19 by Anja Leidel are licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

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.34.
2) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1739. 30 December 2011. p.1092.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 18 November 2023