Maramba Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: මාරඹ රජමහා විහාරය) is a Buddhist temple situated in Maramba village near Akuressa in Matara District, Sri Lanka.
History
The Siri Siduhathwatha poem mentions that Ketagoda Sri Rathanajothi Thera, a Buddhist monk of Siyam Nikaya who came to the low county in 1767 pioneered in building 18 temples in the Southern Province (Ranaweera, 2015). Of them, the first temple to be built in Matara District was the Viharaya at Maramba village (Ranaweera, 2015). The Pansiya Panas Jathakaya written on ola leaves by Ketagoda Sri Rathanajothi Thera is presently preserved in the temple in a wooden box decorated with paintings of the Kandyan tradition (Ranaweera, 2015). An old flag containing a lion figure similar to the one in the present National Flag of Sri Lanka is also preserved in the temple (Ranaweera, 2015).
The image house of Maramba Viharaya accommodates a reclining Buddha image of 18 Riyan long along with two more Buddha statues in standing and seated postures. Also, murals depicting the scenes of the life of the Buddha as well as the Bodhisattva are found in the image house.
References
1) Ranaweera, D. D., 2015. Matara Urumaya (in Sinhala). ISBN: 978-955-30-6285-7. S. Godage & Bros. pp.130-132.
Attribution
#) LankaPradeepa.com extends its gratitude to V. M. Vidanapathirana for providing the necessary photographs required for this article. All the photos are published here with the permission of the author.
