Heritage

Yathurugahuliyadda Rajamaha Viharaya at Mawela (මාවෙල යතුරුගැහූලියද්ද රජමහා විහාරය)

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Yathurugahuliyadda Rajamaha Viharaya at Mawela
image by : Nayanajith Sanjeewa

The written history of Kothmale goes as far as the early 3rd century BCE, to the era when the mighty King Dutugemunu was a young prince hiding from his father and the capital of Anuradhapura was ruled by the invading king Elara.

Therefore Kothmale is full of legends of prince Gemunu from the places he bathed and farmed. Yathurugahuliyadda Rajamaha Viharaya in Mawela is another place which is shrouded with legends of Prince Gemunu.

It is said that after arriving and settling a house of a farmer as a farm boy he wanted to cultivate a paddy field. He had got on top of a rock called Galapitagala and thrown a Kulla (winnowing fan) to select a suitable area for his field. Kulla is called Yathura in the paddy farming lexicon. The temple is said to have been built on the location where the “Yathura” had fallen. The name of the area is derived from the same event meaning the field where the “Yathura” fell.

Yathurugahuliyadda Rajamaha Viharaya consists of a mixture of new and old buildings and still retains the old charm of a village temple. The current temple has been built during the Kandyan era. The image house at the temple is an art gallery of the Kandyan Art. It is built with an inner and outer chamber. The outer chamber is open and is covered with a half height wall. The outer walls of the inner chamber is covered in fading paintings belonging to the Kandyan era.

Access to the inner chamber is through an elaborate dragons arch. Eight deities are moulded beside the Kimbisi Muhuna of the arch. Two lions stand at the bottom of the entrance and two guardian deities stand next to these lions.

The ancient Bodhi is said to be a sapling of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi of Anuradhapura. In addition, you will find some granite artefacts including a large carved Siri Pathula Gala and a granite oil lamp.

The temple can be reached from Gampola passing the dam, Kothmale Seya and the Morape Kataragama Devalaya. The narrow road to the temple lies 1 km past the Kataragama Devalaya.

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Map of Yathurugahuliyadda Rajamaha Viharaya

Please click on the button below to load the Dynamic Google Map (ගූගල් සිතියම් පහලින්)

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The map above also shows other places of interest within a approximately 20 km radius of the current site. Click on any of the markers and the info box to take you to information of these sites

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Traveling Directions to Yathurugahuliyadda Rajamaha Viharaya

Route from Gampola to Yathurugahuliyadda Rajamaha Viharaya

Through : Ulapane
distance : 23 km
Travel time : 60 hours
Driving directions : see on Google map

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Also See

Map of Yathurugahuliyadda Rajamaha Viharaya

Traveling Directions to Yathurugahuliyadda Rajamaha Viharaya

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