Udugodagama Tempita Viharaya

Udugodagama Tempita Viharaya (Sinhala: මලගමුව උඩුගොඩගම ටැම්පිට විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Malagamuwa village in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka.

History
The Tempita Viharaya is the main attraction of this temple with archaeological value. It is said to have been built during the Kandyan Period (Mendis et al., 2019).

Tempita Viharaya
Tempita Viharas were a popular aspect of many Buddhist temples during the Kandyan period. These structures were usually built on a wooden platform resting on bare stone pillars or stumps which are about 1-4 feet tall. The roof is generally made of timber and held by wooden stumps. The walls are usually made of wattle and daub and they form the main enclosed shrine room containing the Buddhist sculptures and murals belonging to the Kandyan style. Some Tempita Viharas have narrow verandas and ambulatories circulating the main enclosed space. The construction of these buildings was started in the 17th century and lasted until the end of the 19th century (Wijayawardhana, 2010).

Udugodagama Tempita Viharaya
The Tempita Viharaya of this temple can be identified as an ancient monument with archaeological value. It is a small building balanced on 9 stone stumps of about 0.7 m tall (Mendis et al., 2019). The building is 3.7 m in length and 5.31 m in width (Mendis et al., 2019). The floor of it is laid with planks and the interior walls have been decorated with paintings depicting Buddhist themes. The surface of the outer walls have been covered with a clay layer in 2014 (Mendis et al., 2019).

A protected site
The Tempita Viharaya belonging to the Udugodagama Vihara premises situated in the No. 464, Malagamuwa Grama Niladhari Division in the Kurunegala Divisional Secretary’s Division is an archaeological protected monument, declared by a government gazette notification published on 21 October 2010.

References
1) Mendis, D.T.; Wijepala, W.M.T.B.; Harshajith, D.M.N., 2019. දැදුරු ඔය සහ මී ඔය අතර කලාපයේ පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක ස්ථාන පිළිබඳ මූලික විමර්ශනයක්. මධ්‍ය දැදුරු ඔය හා මී ඔය නිම්නයේ ජනාවාස පුරාවිද්‍යාව. Research and Publication Fund, Rajarata University Of Sri Lanka. ISBN: 978-955-0189-14-1.pp.33-103.
2) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1677. 21 October 2010. p.1749.
3) Wijayawardhana, K., 2010. Sri Lankawe Tampita Vihara (In Sinhala). Dayawansa Jayakody & Company. Colombo. ISBN: 978-955-551-752-2. p.12.

Location Map
This page was last updated on 2 July 2022
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