Sri Rajasinharama Purana Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: ශ්රී පලාබද්දල ශ්රී රාජසිංහරාම පුරාණ රජමහා විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Palabaddala village in Ratnapura District, Sri Lanka. It is located on the wayside of one of the pilgrimage routes to the Sacred Mountain of Sri Pada.
History
The Stupa of this temple is believed to have been built during the reign of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-1781 A.D.) of Kandy (Bogahawatte, 2020). The old chronicle Pujavaliya states that King Parakramabahu II (1236-1270 A.D.) of Dambadeniya built a forest hermitage for the Buddhist monks in Palabaddala village during the 13th century (Bogahawatte, 2020). As per beliefs, it was the venue where a Buddhist monk named Vedeha Thera composed Samanthakoota Warnana, a 13th-century Sinhala literature book containing details about the career of the Buddha and his three visits to Sri Lanka (Bogahawatte, 2020). According to locals, the stone columns around the present Palabaddala Stupa were brought from that ancient forest hermitage later (Bogahawatte, 2020).
References
1) Bogahawatte, D., 2020. A Study of the Spatial Experience of Siripada Pilgrimage. An Essay submitted to the Liverpool John Moores University and Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology as a fulfilment of Module 6111ARSRI- CDP Research of the B.Sc. (Hons.) Architecture Degree Program. pp.8,22.
