Asanaghara in Sri Lanka Asanaghara (Sinhala: ආසනඝර) is a type of ancient Buddhist structure found in several places in Sri Lanka. They have been built to house an Asana (a seat or throne) which symbolizes the Adamantine throne ( Vajrasana ) of the Buddha on which he attained enlightenment (Perera, 1976). History
In the early period of Buddhism, Asanas were venerated by Buddhists as a sacred object as it was considered a symbolical representation of the Buddha. In Sri Lanka, edifices housing Asanas were built during the Period of Anuradhapura and several such shrines have been found in sites associated with Bodhi Tree Shrines or Stupas (Bandaranayake, 1974). The structure It is apparent that the Asanagharas ( Asana = seat, Ghara = house) have been built according to a particular architectural plan and design. The only object of veneration in an Asanaghara shrine was a throne in the shape of a large rectangular slab of stone, smoothly chiselled, set up on a raised platform (Beligatamulla & Siyambalapitiya, 20…
