Galgepitiya Raja Maha Viharaya

Galgepitiya Viharaya is an ancient cave temple in Badulla, with early Brahmi inscriptions and Kandyan-era architecture, protected since 2002.
Galgepitiya Viharaya
Galgepitiya Cave Temple

Galgepitiya Raja Maha Viharaya, also known as Shailagangaramaya (Sinhala: ගල්ගේපිටිය පුරාණ ලෙන් විහාරය, ශෛලගංගාරාමය) is a Buddhiat temple situated in Kottegoda in Badulla District, Sri Lanka. It belongs to the monks of the Ulugala Vihara lineage of the Asgiri Chapter of the Siyam Nikaya (Priyadarshani & Gunasena, 2017).

History

The history of this temple runs back to the early part of the Anuradhapura Period. An Early-Brahmi Inscription belonging to the 3rd century B.C.-1st century A.D. is found in the Len Viharaya of this temple.

The architectural elements of the present temple resembles features belonging to the Kandyan Period (Priyadarshani & Gunasena, 2017). It is said that the Buddhist monks named Irugaltissa and Suriyatissa of Ganegama Devanagala Vihara of Satara Korale resided here during the time of King Wimaladharmasuriya I (1591-1604 A.D.) of Kandy (Priyadarshani & Gunasena, 2017).

A Protected Site

The Len Viharaya (cave temple) on the Galgepitiya Vihare premises in the Grama Niladhari Division Kottegoda-Kadana, in Hali-Ela Divisional Secretary’s Division is an archaeological protected monument, declared by a government gazette notification published on 22 November 2002.

 Galgepitiya Viharaya

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References

Books, Government Gazette Notifications

1) Priyadarshani, S. A. N.; Gunasena, I. P. P., 2017. Pauranika Sthana Saha Smaraka: Badulla Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). ISBN: 955-9159-48-8. pp.28-29.
2) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1264. 22 November 2002.

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Attribution

To Whom

LankaPradeepa.com extends its gratitude to Malsha M. Ranasinghe for providing the necessary photographs required for this article. All the photos are published here with the permission of the author.

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