Asmadala Purana Tampita Viharaya

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Asmadala Purana Tampita Viharaya
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Asmadala Tampita Viharaya lies in the ancient Sugatha Bimbarama Viharaya, hidden in the remote village of Asmadala between Ussapitiya and Hettimulla in Kegalle District.

Asmadala is a mountainous area in the Kegalle District. Urakanda and Wakirigala can be seen in the background of the village . The village is still thriving, with lush green paddy fields. There are several legends about the origin of the name Asmadala. King Rawana has seen a huge pig while hunting. Frightened by the sound of the king preparing bows to shoot, The pig ran away leaping close to a Yaksha in the king’s entourage. When the king saw the Yaksha was just looking at the animal without taking any action, he got mad and took arrow and shot him as well. The Yaksha had fallen on to a muddy swamp bleeding. Legend has it that the blood of the Yaksha filled the swap blood and flowed all over the place. thus it became known as ‘Asmadala’ after becoming ‘As-mada-le’.

According to another legend, kings who came to Malaya for protection have organized hideouts and war trainings in this area. ‘The Horses of the armies had been trained in this area which became to known as ‘Asmadala’.

One of the unique features a visitor could observe today at this temple is the Tampita Vihara Ge. Tampita Vihara were a popular architectural feature of temples during the Kandyan era. The temple is built on top of granite stumps with wooden platform laid across the stumps. The Tampit Viharaya on this temple is built on granite stumps of about 3 feet high and comparatively quite small. Unfortunately the granite stumps of this viharaya cannot be seen today since they have been buried in concrete, probably a attempt to keep the Tampita Viharaya intact after falling to despair at a later date.

To reach the temple take the Aranayake road from Mawanella and travel 4.5 km upto Ussapitiya and take the Hettimulla road. Travel 150 meters on this road and take the narrow concrete road towards Arawpola and travel 5.5 km to reach this remote temple.

A prehistoric burial site has been discovered on the edge of village of Asmadala. The site is located on the land called Marawahena Watta in the Asmadala Watte Gedara village.

References

විතානාච්චි, ච., 2016. පෞරාණික ස්ථාන හා ස්මාරක : කෑගල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කය. 1st ed.කොළඹ : පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව.

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Traveling to Asmadala Purana Tampita Viharaya

Route from Ruwanwella to Asmadala Purana Tampita Viharaya

Distance : 10.5 km
Travel time : 30-40 mins
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References

Also See

Map of Asmadala Purana Tampita Viharaya

Traveling to Asmadala Purana Tampita Viharaya

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