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Thalalla Lanka Viharaya |
Lanka Viharaya (Sinhala: තලල්ල ලංකා විහාරය) is a Buddhiat temple situated between Talalla and Na-otunna villages in Matara District, Sri Lanka.
History
As the present temple is located near the Na-otunna village, it is believed by locals that the ancient name of this temple could be Nagawaddana (Vanarathana, 1994). The chronicle Mahavamsa mentions that Dappula who fled to Ruhuna abandoning his throne at Anuradhapura built a Viharaya in Nagavaddana and made donations to it in the 7th century A.D. A verse in the Sigiri Graffiti records a person named Bud came from Nawadunna (Vanarathana, 1994). The Devinuwara Slab Inscription of King Vijayabahu VI (1509-1521 A.D.) of Kotte also mentions the name Nawadunna (Vanarathana, 1994).
The ruins of some ancient buildings were unearthed on the Talalla Lanka Viharaya premises and they are believed to be the remnants of structures belonging to the middle part of the Anuradhapura Period (Vanarathana, 1994). The size of the bricks as well as the two coins that were discovered among the ruins have helped scholars to date these structures to the 6-7 centuries A.D. (Vanarathana, 1994).
As happened to many religious places in the region, this temple is also believed to have been destroyed by the Portuguese who invaded the coastal areas of the island in the 16th century.
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References
Books
1) Rohanadeera, M., 2007. Archaeological Survey of Ceylon: Inscriptions of Ceylon. Vol. VIII. Department of Archaeology. ISBN: 978-955-91-59-64-3. pp.98-101.
2) Vanarathana, K., 1994. Matara Puravidyathmaka Ithihasaya (In Sinhala). ISBN: 955-9325-00-0. pp.156-157.
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Attribution
To Whom
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.