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Kahatawilagedara Tempita Viharaya |
Kahatawilagedara Tempita Viharaya, also known as Kahatawilagedara Swarnaprathibimbarama Raja Maha Viharaya (Sinhala: කහටවිලගෙදර ස්වර්ණප්රතිබිම්බාරාම රජමහා විහාරය), is a Buddhist temple situated in Kahatawilagedara village near Kanoyaya in Kurunegala District, Sri Lanka.
History
The Tempita Viharaya of this temple is believed to have been constructed by or during the period of Meegastenne Adikaram (Dumbara Nilame), an Adigar of King Kirti Sri Rajasinghe (1747-1781 A.D.) of Kandy (De Silva & Chandrasekara, 2009; Thilakaratne, 2018).
Tempita Viharaya
Tempita Viharas were popular in many Buddhist temples during the Kandyan Period. These structures were usually built on a wooden platform resting on bare stone pillars or stumps which are about 1-4 feet tall. The roof is generally made of timber and held by wooden stumps. The walls are usually made of wattle and daub and form the main enclosed shrine room containing Buddhist sculptures and murals in the Kandyan style. Some Tempita Viharas have narrow verandas and ambulatories circulating the main enclosed space. The construction of these buildings started in the 17th century and lasted until the end of the 19th century (Wijayawardhana, 2010).
Kahatawilagedara Tempita Viharaya
Kahatawilagedara Tempita Viharaya is built upon 6 short stone pillars roughly 50 cm in height. The Buddha shrine which is roughly 4 m in length and 2.5 m in width is surrounded by a narrow ambulatory margined by 18 roof-supported wooden columns. The entrance to the shine room is flanked by two guardians. In the shrine room, there is a seated Buddha statue in Dyana Mudra. This statue is accompanied by the images of Sariputta (left) and Moggallana (right), the two chief disciples of Gautama Buddha. The whole structure is roughly 5.2 m in length and 3.7 m in width.
A Protected Site
The Tampita image house (Image house built on stone piles), Theva Mandapaya and the wall situated within the boundary of Swarnaprathibimbarama Viharaya, No. 376, Kanoyaya, Kahatavilagedera in the Panduwasnuwara (East) Divisional Secretary’s Division, are archaeological protected monuments, declared by two government notifications published on 23 February 1967 and 24 July 2009.
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References
Books, Government Gazette Notifications, Journal Articles
1) De Silva, N.; Chandrasekara, D.P., 2009. Heritage Buildings of Sri Lanka. Colombo: The National Trust Sri Lanka, ISBN: 978-955-0093-01-4. p.20.
2) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. No: 1612. 24 July 2009. p.1024.
3) The Government Gazette notification. No: 82. 23 February 1967.
4) Thilakaratne, U.D.R.S., 2018. මහනුවර දිස්ත්රික්කයේ දක්නට ලැබෙන ටැම්පිට විහාර පිළිබද විමර්ෂණාත්මක අධ්යයනයක්. Nenesa. ISSN: 2012-8339. pp.510-523.
5) Wijayawardhana, K., 2010. Sri Lankawe Tampita Vihara (In Sinhala). Dayawansa Jayakody & Company. Colombo. ISBN: 978-955-551-752-2. p.12.
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Attribution
To Whom
LankaPradeepa.com extends its gratitude to Mr Navod Hemal for providing the necessary photographs required for this article. All the photos are published here with the permission of the author.
