Medagoda Devagiri Viharaya

Not to be confused with Bingiriya Devagiri Viharaya , Diyavinna Devagiri Viharaya and Koggala Devagiri Viharaya Medagoda Devagiri Viharaya (Sinhala: මැදගොඩ දේවගිරි විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Kamburugamuwa in Matara District, Sri Lanka. The Siri Vajiragnana Pirivena established at the temple premises serves as an educational institute for both Buddhist monks and laymen. Several scholarly monks such as Pelene Siri Vajiragnana, Madihe Sumitta and Veragampita Siri Revatha are hailed from this temple. History As is evidenced by several Sannasas , this temple was established in 1840 during the British colonial era (Abeyawardana, 2004; Wikramaratne, 2015). Devagiri, the name of the temple is believed to have evolved from a god ( Deva in Sinhala) who lived around the rock ( Giri in Sinhala) at this site (Abeyawardana, 2004). It is said that the present  Stupa  built on this rock had originally housed a  Devalaya  shrine for the gods (Abeyawardana, 2004; Ranaweera, 2015). Another folklore r…