Hiththatiya Raja Maha Viharaya is a Buddhist temple situated in Matara. Ola leaf documents reveal bestowments made to the temple in the 18th century.
Hiththatiya Raja Maha Viharaya H iththatiya Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: හිත්තටිය රජමහා විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Hiththetiya village in Matara District, Sri Lanka. History The image house of this temple was built on the present site after the original Tempita image house was destroyed by the heavy flood that occurred in 1760 (Abeyawardana, 2004; Wikramaratne, 2015). The seated Buddha statue that is sheltered in the present image house is said to be a statue placed in the original image house (Wikramaratne, 2015). Although no construction dates back to the 18th century, some Ola leaf documents reveal bestowments made to the temple in the 18th century (Abeyawardana, 2004). According to them, King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1742-1782 A.D.) bestowed the temple with some valuable gifts in recognition of the efforts made by Indrasara Thera for the development of the temple (Wikramaratne, 2015). Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933) who played a prominent role in the revival of Buddhism in the country is said to have rec…
