Thotagamuwa Sri Subhadrarama Viharaya

Thotagamuwa Sri Subhadrarama Purana Viharaya is a Buddhist temple situated in Totagamuwa village in Galle District, Sri Lanka.

History

This temple is believed to have been established in 1815 (Ranchagoda, 2015). As mentioned in one of the wall paintings, the image house of this temple may have been built in the 1880s (Abeyawardana, 2004). The temple's library has been constructed around 1935 (Abeyawardana, 2004).

The image house

The old image house of Subhadrarama Viharaya is well known for its wall paintings of the second half of the 19th century (Ranchagoda, 2015). These paintings belong to the low-country style of the Kandyan art tradition and portray strong European influence (Abeyawardana, 2004; Ranchagoda, 2015).

The image house consists of two sections; the outer chamber and the inner chamber. Over the entrance door between these two sections is a painting of the British crest with the face of Queen Victoria [(reigned: 1837-1901 A.D.) Abeyawardana, 2004]. The crest carries the date 2431 B.E. [(1888 A.D.) Abeyawardana, 2004].

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.15.

2) Ranchagoda, T. O., 2015. Pauranika Sthana Ha Smaraka: Galla Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka. ISBN:955-9159-53-4. pp.37-38.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 7 August 2021
For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map