Ancient Uposathaghara in Sri Lanka Uposathaghara or Pohoya-ge (Sinhala: උපෝසථඝර) (lit: Chapter-house) is a type of Buddhist structure in Sri Lanka used for the Uposatha ceremony and sometimes as a monastic dwelling ( Bandaranayake, 1990; The National Atlas of Sri Lanka, 2007). Consisting usually of two or more storeys and with a rectangular plan, Uposathaghara was an essential and major element in almost all major, suburban and rural Buddhist temples in ancient Sri Lanka ( Bandaranayake, 1990; The National Atlas of Sri Lanka, 2007). Uposathaghara is the central building linked with the order and organization of the body of monks in charge of a monastery or a chain of monasteries ( Bandaranayake, 1990 ). On the main Uposatha days of the new moon and the full moon, monks assemble at the Uposathaghara and observe various religious acts connected with the Vinaya (the monastic rule) and the Sangha [(the monastic order) Bandaranayake, 1990; Prematileke, 1990 ]. In the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods, the Uposathagharas of th…
