Umangala Ovagiri Raja Maha Viharaya

Umangala Ovagiri Raja Maha Viharaya
Not to be confused with Ampara Ovagiri Raja Maha Viharaya . Umangala Ovagiri Raja Maha Viharaya , also known as Amangala Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: උමංගල ඔවාගිරි රජමහා විහාරය), is a Buddhist cave temple situated in Gangodagama village near Hakmana town in Matara District, Sri Lanka. Folklore Built on one of the highest peaks in the area, the temple has got its name Umangala due to a belief that says about a tunnel ( Umanga  in Sinhala) that runs between this temple and the famous  Mulkirigala Raja Maha Viharaya  (Abeyawardana, 2004; Ranaweera, 2015). It is said that a king cobra who started from Mulkirigala arrived at Umangala by creating a tunnel. Presently, two cave entrances closed with the painting of a cobra are found at both temple premises (Abeyawardana, 2004). History The history of this site runs back to the early part of the Anuradhapura Period . The size of the bricks used to construct the  Stupa  at the top of the mountain indicates that it could be a work between the 2nd and 5th cent…