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Photo By : Januka Chanshan Wijesiriwardene
Minuwangamuwa Shailamasthakarama Tampita Viharaya is an ancient temple hidden away in a remote area between Sudugala and Hettimulla in the Kegalle District. To reach the temple you need to take the road towards Aranayake from Mawanella and travel 4.5 km on the Aranayake road upto Sudugala Junction and a further 12 km towards Hettimulla. Travelling from Kegalle, the temple lies about 1.7 km away through Hettimulla Gamsaba Junction.
This temple lies on the slope of a rocky mountain in Minuwangamuwa. There are 2 caves with drip ledges and it is said that at least 4 other such caves exists on the other forested slopes of the mountain. Although there are no ledge inscriptions, it is believed that these caves have been occupied by meditating monks since the pre-Christian era.
Today the oldest building you find in the temple is the Tampita Viharaya belonging to the Kandyan Era. Tampita Vihara was a popular architectural feature of temples during the Kandyan era. The temple is built on top of granite stumps with a wooden platform laid across the stumps.
This Tampita Vihara Ge is built on 6 granite pillars of 3 feet 3 inches tall. These pillars are erected on a small platform built on the ground. The image house is 10 feet 6 inches long and 7 feet 9 inches wide. A 2 feet 4-inch wide circumambulating path is built around the image house with a 5 feet 10 inch wide front porch which is protected by a half-height wall. The whole structure is 18 feet 9 inches in length and 12 feet 6 inches wide.
This Tampita Viharaya was built around 1886 according to a two-century old receipt which is with the chief prelate of the temple. According to the first document, Tampita Viharaya was handed over to an artist called Polkatuwegedara Kiri Appu on the 1st of May 1885 for the art work on the image house. The work was to be completed within 18 months with a Rs 10 fine for late completion. Based on the second receipt, the work has been completed and has been handed over to the chief prelate on 29th May 1886. The artwork has not gone through any renovations thereafter and has remained in its original form since then.
The main entrance to the image house is built with a Suryawanka design. The door frame lacks any carvings but a white colour floral creeper is drawn on a blue background along the frame. Two guard deities (Doratupala) statues carrying a pot of plenty stand on the sides of the door. Three seated Buddha statues are found inside the image house. The centre statue is about 3 feet tall and the two statues beside it is about 2 feet in height. On the wall behind the two small statues are paintings of the Sun and the moon. Images of Vishnu and Saman deities are drawn on the side walls. The walls are covered in various Buddhist paintings including Suwisi Viwaranaya. The roof is painted with Nari Latha and floral designs. Unfortunately, most of these paintings are fading with age.
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
- Tampita Vihara of Sri Lanka Index
- Ancient Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka
- Other Places of Interest Within Close Proximity
Map of Minuwangamuwa Shailamasthakarama Purana Tampita Viharaya
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Traveling Directions to Minuwangamuwa Shailamasthakarama Purana Tampita Viharaya
| Route from Kegalle to Minuwangamuwa Purana Tampita Viharaya |
| Distance :7.2 km Travel time : 20 mins Driving directions : see on Google map |