Getabaruwa Raja Maha Viharaya is a Buddhist temple situated near Kotapola. According to locals, history of this site goes back to time of Valagamba.
Getabaruwa Raja Maha Viharaya G etabaruwa Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: ගැටබරුව රජමහා විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Getabaruwa village near Kotapola in Matara District, Sri Lanka. The site is popular among devotees for its Devalaya Shrine dedicated to God Rajjuru Bandara, a local deity worshipped in the region. History According to traditional belief, the history of this site goes back to the reign of King Valagamba (103, 88-77 B.C.) of Anuradhapura (Ranaweera, 2015). It is said that the caves of this site were used by the king during the period when South Indian invaders ruled the Anuradhapura Kingdom (Ranaweera, 2015). Over time, the site was neglected and remained swallowed by the jungle. It was rediscovered accidentally in about 1834 by a villager named Eliyashami who came to the jungle for hunting (Ranaweera, 2015). The site was then cleared by the villagers headed by Ketagoda Upasaka and after constructing a dwelling for monks, they bestowed it to a Buddhist monk named Weerasinhakande Sumangala Thera (…
