Rankoth Viharaya (Panadura)

Not to be confused with Rankoth Vehera, (Polonnaruwa) Rankoth Viharaya (Sinhala: පානදුර රන්කොත් විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Panadura in Kalutara District, Sri Lanka. History The beginning The temple was established in 1810 as a small cottage (Abeyawardana, 2002). According to folklore, this temple has been built on a ground that gives victory for the weaker party. It is said that the residents in the area thought to establish a temple on this ground after seeing an attack on a cobra by a multitude of frogs (Abeyawardana, 2002). In the beginning, the temple was called Galwala Pansala or Galkande Vihara, but after the painting of the pinnacle of the Stupa in gold in the year 1890, it was begun to known as Rankoth Vihara which means the "Gold-pinnacled temple" (Abeyawardana, 2002). Before the end of the 19th century, the temple developed into a fully-fledged Vihara in the area. The two-storey residence of monks was built in 1886 and the works of the Stupa were finish…