Meddegama Raja Maha Viharaya

Meddegama Raja Maha Viharaya (Photo credit: Kaveesha Mesith, Google Street View)

Meddegama Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: මැද්දේගම රජමහා විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Meddegama village in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka.

History

Locals believe that the history of the Bodhi tree of the temple runs back to the 3rd century B.C. The ancient text Mahabodhivamsa mentions the name Meddegama as a place where one of the first 32 saplings sprang from the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree at Anuradhapura was planted in the 3rd century B.C. Therefore, many believe that the Bodhi tree at the present Meddegama Viharaya is the same one mentioned in the Mahabodhivamsa.

Locals also believe that this site provided shelter to King Valagamba (103, 88-77 B.C.). The drip-ledged caves at the site indicate that this temple has its roots extending to a very early period, probably to the Anuradhapura Period.

The ancient Bodhi tree on the Maddegama Raja Maha Vihara premises in the Meddegama village located in the Dompe Divisional Secretary’s Division is an archaeological protected monument, declared by a government gazette notification published on 25 September 1959.