Mahawewa Sri Nagarama Purana Tampita Viharaya

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Mahawewa Sri Nagarama Purana Tampita Viharaya after restoration by the Archaeology Department in 2010 - මහවැව ශ්‍රී නාගාරාම පුරාණ ටැම්පිට විහාරය — Mahawewa Sri Nagarama Purana Tampita Viharaya after restoration by the Archaeology Department in 2010 – මහවැව ශ්‍රී නාගාරාම පුරාණ ටැම්පිට විහාරය

Mahawewa Sri Nagarama Purana Viharaya is an ancient temple with a Tampita Viharaya built during the era of the Kandyan kingdom. However, the paintings and the statues seem to have gone through a makeover at a later date and don’t show the typical features of Kandyan sittara art.

A Tampita Viharaya is a special building constructed on a wooden platform supported by several stone stumps, typically around 3 to 4 feet tall. Its roof is supported by a timber frame, and the walls are often made of wattle and daub, a mixture of woven branches and clay. Inside, the chamber walls are usually adorned with paintings, often in the Kandyan style, depicting religious themes and stories.

Mahawewa Sri Nagarama Tampita Viharaya is built on 9 wooden pillars and 3 cement pillars, each 3 feet 1 inch tall. The building is 18 feet long and 14 feet wide. The image house is 10 feet 3 inches long and 8 feet 2 inches wide. A circumambulating path is built around the image house with a half-height protective call. This is 2 feet 4 inches wide on the sides and the rear.

The Tampita Viharaya at Sri Nagaramaya was conserved by the Archaeology Department in 2010. The rotten wood at the base and the pillars were replaced the damaged walls were filled and the older paintings were restored. The wooden staircase has been replaced with cement and rock steps. These steps lead to the porch of the Tampita Viharaya. The roof is built on top of 11 wooden pillars. These pillars lack any carvings.

Two statues of Door Keepers are found beside the main entrance which lies beneath a beautiful Makara Thorana (Dragon Arch) and the entrance is built in the form of a chandrawanka. There are 3 Buddha statues belonging to the Kandyan era. The main image is placed at the centre of the rear wall in Samadhi mudra and is 3 feet 8 inches tall.

There are 2 standing statues beside the Buddha statue built backing the side walls. These two statues are generally considered as of Sariyuth and Mugalan, the two chief disciples of Buddha. However these 2 statues are also very similar in features to the centre statue complete with the aura around the body, these two statues are also possibly of Buddha himself and are 4 feet 10 inches tall. The hands of the right statue represent Abhaya Mudra and on the left statue, the right hand shows Abhaya Mudra and the left hand shows Kataka Mudra. A statue of Vishu is found next to the Buddha statue on the right-hand side and a statue of Daitey Natha is found next to the Buddha on the left-hand side.

Some plaster has fallen off the wall beside the main image and some of the more older paintings have been exposed. This includes a painting of a Bikkhu. At the bottom, you see a row of Upasaka with flowers in their hands going to worship Buddha. At the top of the wall, you see deities with flowers worshipping Buddha. One of the wood pillars indicates that this temple was built in Buddhist Era 2391 (1847). However, the older paintings indicate that they are of an older style and possibly built during the era of the Kandyan Kingdom and renovated in 1847.

Older paintings have been exposed on the right-hand wall of the main entrance. Paintings of two human figures of high status and on the left side paintings of two average people are seen here. One of them is carrying a sword and wears a headdress similar to a crown. This is probably the king of Kandy himself or a high minister.

This temple lies between Marawila and Chilaw. The distance is 16 km (20 mins) from Chilaw and 29 km (45 minutes) from Negombo. To reach the temple from Negombo, Travel towards Chilaw up to Mahawewa and then turn left from Pansal Handiya. The temple lies just 250 meters down this road.

This Tampita Viharaya was declared as a protected archaeological monument by the gazette dated 23 February 2007.

Mahawewa Sri Nagarama Purana Tampita Viharaya - මහවැව ශ්‍රී නාගාරාම පුරාණ ටැම්පිට විහාරය

References

තල්ගහවෙල සුමේධ හිමි, 2021. පුත්තලම් දිස්ත්රික්කයේ ටැම්පිට පිලිමගෙවල් සහ ටැම්පිට දේවාල. 1st ed. හලාවත: කතෘ ප්‍රකාශනයකි.

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