Kalalpitiya Kshetrarama Viharaya is a historic Buddhist temple situated in Kalalpitiya village near Ukuwela town in Matale District.
Kalalpitiya Purana Viharaya K alalpitiya Purana Viharaya , also known as Kshetraramaya or Wele Pansala (Sinhala: කලල්පිටිය විහාරය), is a Buddhist temple situated in Kalalpitiya village near Ukuwela town in Matale District, Sri Lanka. History Sri Lankan ancient texts such as Pujavaliya (13th century) and Asgiri Talpata (18th century) have recorded that 500 Buddhist monks gathered at Alokalena or Alulena (present Alu Viharaya ) during the reign of King Valagamba (89-77 B.C.) of Anuradhapura , under the protection of a chieftain (Abeyawardana, 2004; Nicholas, 1963). The monks undertook the task of committing the Tripitaka (Pali Theravada Canon) and its commentary to writing, for the first time ever, using ola-leaves as their medium. They wrote on ola-leaves the Dhamma words pronounced by the Buddha and passed down by word of mouth ( Bhanaka system) nearly five centuries after the conclusion of the Buddhist Council held at this site (Abeyawardana, 2004). According to popular belief, this crucial act of writing down the Can…
