Kolankanda Gallen Aranya Senasanaya

Kolankanda Gallen Aranya Senasanaya is a Buddhist forest hermitage situated in Koholankanda village in Colombo District, Sri Lanka.

History

Folklore says that the area got the name Kolankanda due to the large number of Kolan trees growing in the area (Rajapakshe et al., 2018). It is said that agricultural activities related to the Wak-Oya River were practised in this area during the Sitawaka Period [(1521-1594 A.D.) Rajapakshe et al., 2018].

The temple

There are four drip-ledges caves on the premises of Kolankanda Gallen Aranya Senasanaya. The monks' residence has been built under the shade of one of them. This cave is 16 m long, 5.5 m wide and 4 m high (Rajapakshe et al., 2018).

A protected site

The drip-ledged cave temple, the Buddha Bhikkus residence together with the attached drip-ledged cave in the Koholan Kanda Aranya Senasana premises in the Grama Niladhari Division of No. 439 - Didhdheniya North in the Divisional Secretary’s Division of Hanwella are archaeological protected monuments, declared by a government gazette notification published on 23 January 2009.

References

1) Rajapakshe, S.; Bandara, T. M. C.; Vanninayake, R. M. B. T. A. B. (Editors), 2018. Puravidya Sthana Namavaliya: Kolamba Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Vol. I. Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). ISBN: 978-955-7457-19-2. p.67.
2) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1586. 23 January 2009. p.108.

Location Map

This page was last updated on 11 June 2023