Traveling on the Gomarankadawala – Thiriyaya road for 6.5 km will bring you the ancient Surulumahamuniyawa Rajamaha Viharaya. This is one of the many small archaeological sites within ancient temples off the beaten path in the Anuradhapura district.
This has been one of the most popular temples in the 18th century which appears even in the Nampotha, a standard text book for then schools which lists the most popular temples in the country. Some of the ruins of this temple complex has been conserved by the Department of Archaeology, including Bodhi garaya, stupa, image house and another building.
In 2022, department of Archaeology discovered a pillar inscription and a rock inscription written in Medieval Sinhalese script and these were approximately dated to 9th -10th centuries CE. (Urugodawatte, 2022).
References
- Urugodawatte, B. (2022) ‘Recovering Newly Identified Inscriptions in the Trincomalee District’, Archeo Sri Lanka – Newsletter of the Department of Archaeology, Sri Lanka, 2(1), p. 4.
Also See
Map of Surulumahamuniyawa Rajamaha Viharaya
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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Travel Directions to Surulumahamuniyawa Rajamaha Viharaya
Trincomalee to Surulumahamuniyawa Rajamaha Viharaya |
Though : Gomarankadawala Distance : 46 km Travel time : 1 hour Time to Spend : about 30 minutes Driving directions : see on Google Map |