Heritage

Ridikanda Rajamaha Viharaya at Gomarankadawala (ගෝමරංකඩවල රිදීකන්ද රජමහා විහාරය)

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The archaeological reserve of Ridikanda Rajamaha Viharaya
Image courtesy of Dr. Ashan Geeganage

Ridikanda Rajamaha Viharaya (Rideekanda Rajamaha Viharaya) lies on top of a 400 feet high hill in the village of Kandamalawa in Gomarankadawala. There are more than 15 caves with drip ledges on the site and a large number of conserved ruins scattered around the temple grounds. The main temple lies at the base of the hill but it extends up to the top where you can see a restored stupa and other ruins at the top of Ridikanda.

The ruins at the bottom include several stupas, remains of many buildings, a Yantra Gala and a granite torso of a standing Buddha and a granite seated Buddha. All stupas have been vandalized by treasure hunters at some time.

There are two ponds used to collect water for the needs of the resident monks. On this site, the remains of a stupa, pratimaghara, uposathaghara, Bodhighara etc. have been conserved. The Ridikanda Viharaya is believed to have been a ‘panchayatana’ (five-unit monastery system) temple.

Some of the excavated artifacts including the Buddha statues have been kept on display in the temple museum.

In 2022, the Department of Archaeology discovered one dripledge cave inscription written in the early Brahmi Script and the language was ancient Sinhalese. The inscription was dated to a period from the 2^ndcentury BCE to the 1^st century CE. This inscription describes the donation of the cave to the Sangha (Urugodawatte, 2022).

The name ‘Ridikanda‘ (Rideekanda) literary means ‘Silver Mountain‘. Legends say that this site provided the silver to build the Ruwanweli Seya in Anuradhapura thus was called Ridikanda.

Gomarankadawala Town can be reached on the Trincomalee – Anuradhapura Road turning off at Pankulama Junction and proceeding towards Tiriyaya. Ridikanda is about 8km after turning to the left at Gomarankadawala.

A circular sri pathula stone of Ridikanda Rajamaha Viharaya

The temple museum of Ridikanda Rajamaha Viharaya

The many rock caves where the monks meditated in the ancient past at Ridikanda Rajamaha Viharaya

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 the Gomarankadawala Ridikanda Rajamaha Viharaya

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

Show Location (ගූගල් සිතියම)

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

Zoom out the map to see more surrounding locations using the mouse scroll wheel or map controls.

Traveling Directions to the Gomarankadawala Ridikanda Rajamaha Viharaya

Route from Trincomalee to Gomarankadawala Ridikanda Rajamaha Viharaya

Through : Gomarnakadawala
Distance : 42 km
Travel time : 1 hour
Driving directions : see on google maps

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References

Also See

Map of the Gomarankadawala Ridikanda Rajamaha Viharaya

Traveling Directions to the Gomarankadawala Ridikanda Rajamaha Viharaya

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