Muwapitiya Sri Sudharmarama Tampita Viharaya (මුවපිටිය ශ්‍රී සුධර්මාරම පුරාණ ටැම්පිට විහාරය)

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An Archaeology Department Board points to the turn-off to the Muwapitiya Rajamaha Vihara, a short distance before reaching the Rambukkana town along the Kegalle road. If you are for a quiet setting in a pleasant environment you will definitely appreciate this little shrine.

It is a traditional- Tampita Vihara building – quiet and small and it stands on 13 stone pillars 3 feet above the ground.  The pillars are erected on a platform 3 feet high. A timber frame has been built with 8×8 inch beams on top of the pillar stumps. The floor of the structure is built by laying 3-inch thick wooden planks over this frame. A narrow circumambulating path is built around the image house. This is 4 feet 6  inches wide at the front and 1 feet 8 inches wide at the other 3 sides. The path is protected by a 2 feet 8-inch high timber balustrade. The entrance to the image house is through a flight of wooden stairs.

An hewisi mandapaya was built in front of this Tampita Viharaya at a later date. This mandapaya is held by  4 wooden pillars. The platform on which this structure has been built is about 4 inches shorter than the Tampita Viharaya platform.

The entrance to the shrine is typically by a short wooden stairway. The only murals on the outer walls are beside the main entrance. In addition, two guardian deities carrying swords stand guard at the entrance. The door frame is 6 feet 4 inches tall and 2 feet 11 inches wide and is covered with typical filler designs. The doors are painted using designs such as Annasi Mala (pineapple flower), Nari Latha flower, and flowered creepers. A creeper design with a European influence covers the door frame.

At the center of the image house is a 3 feet 10 inches tall seated Buddha statue in Samadhi posture. Two 5 feet 6 inch standing Buddha statues in Abhaya mudra flank the seated statue. The center statue is painted in gold color and yellow has been used to color the robes of the standing Buddha statues.

In a report by HCP Bell, the walls of the image house had been covered in murals of Suwisi Vivaranaya in 1892. Today what you see on the walls are unsuccessful attempt by a new artist to draw new pictures over the originals with chemical paint.

References

  • විජයවර්ධන, ක., 2010. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ටැම්පිට විහාර. 1st ed. Colombo: දයාවංශ ජයකොඩි සහෝදරයෝ.
  • යටවර, එම්. ඩී. එම්. ඇස්., 2009. කෑගලු කෝරළ පවත : පරණකුරු, කිණිගොඩ සහ ගල්බඩ කෝරළයන්හි ඓතිහාසික, සංස්කෘතික සහ පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක ගවේෂණය. 1st ed. වරකාපොළ: ආරිය ප්‍රකාශකයෝ.

Also See

Map of Muwapitiya Sri Sudharmarama Tampita Viharaya

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Travel Directions to Muwapitiya Sri Sudharmarama Tampita Viharaya

Route from Colombo to Muwapitiya Tampita Viharaya Route from Karandupona to Muwapitiya Tampita Viharaya
Through : Kelaniya – Kegalle – Karandupona – Pinnawela
Distance : 92
Travel time : 2.5 hours
Driving directions : see on google map
Through : Pinnawela
Distance : 8 km
Travel time : 30 minutes
Driving directions : see on google map

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