Polwatta Gangarama Viharaya Gangarama Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: පොල්වත්ත ගංගාරාම මහා විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple in Polwatta village near Weligama town in Matara District, Sri Lanka. It is situated on the bank of the Polwatta Ganga River close to Weligama Bay. History Gangaramaya, the name of the temple is derived from its location on the bank of a river. It is believed that this temple was established by a general named Swaraja Kulawardhana Devadhikari (or Ayasmanta) during the reign of Queen Kalyanavathi (1202-1208 A.D.) of Polonnaruwa (Wikramaratne, 2015). The small Stupa at the site is thought to be a construction of him (Wikramaratne, 2015). The temple received the patronage of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha ( 1747-1781 A.D. ) of Kandy when he donated the Polwatta land to it to provide coconut oil required to Weligama Agrabodhi Vharaya (Wikramaratne, 2015). Image house The image house of Gangarama Viharaya preserves a collection of valuable paintings belonging to the Kandyan Period (Abeyawardana, 2004). It consists of t…
