Gedi-Ge Ruins at Ancient Anuradhapura (අනුරාධපුර ගෙඩිගේ නටබුන්)

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To the north east of royal palace of of king Vijayabahu I, lies a set of ruins which are rarely visited by pilgrims. These ruins are accessible through a by-road on the Watawandana Road or Sangamitta Road.

Only some of the ruins in this central palace area have been identified. Maha Pali Alms Hall (one of the refectories of Abhayagiriya Monastery), A ruin identified as the Dalada-Ge (House of the Tooth Relic), Gedi-Ge, an image house with a semi domical roof and another image house almost identical to Gedi-Ge, simply known as Building “A”. All these 4 buildings lie 50 meters of each other.

The building known as Gedi-Ge is a brick structure more or less close to the image house known as building ‘A’. Gedi-Ge is considered to have been a sanctuary for those of Mahayana cult who preached Tantric leanings.

Although the history of this structure is not known, the building has been built entirely from bricks and in fact the above two image houses are also the only known image houses built entirely of brick masonry in Anuradhapura. Only the door and window frame has been built with granite.

There is material evidence of the vaulted roof of both buildings and proofs of staircases which led to the upper floors. Some parts of the roof had bee visible in the time of H.C.P. Bell, the first British Commissioner of Archaeology in the late 19th century. Both shrines have square outer shrine and projecting bays on each sides and a regular square as the inner sanctum.

Leaving the vestibule out, the images houses are almost identical in size, building ‘A’ is 36×36 feet and Gedige is 34×34 feet. There is also some belief that one or both of these buildings may have been Tooth Relic temples and the building now known as the Temple of Tooth Relic might be part of a palace complex.

References

1. Bandaranayake, S. (1974) Sinhalese Monastic Architecture: The Vihāras of Anurādhapura. Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill.
2. Senevirathne, A. (1994) Ancient anuradhapura: The Monastic City. Colombo: Archaeological Survey Department.

Also See

• Ancient Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka
• Other Places of Interest Within Close Proximity

• Anuradhapura – The city of the God King

Map of Gedi-Ge Ruins of Anuradhapura Kingdom

Driving Directions to Anuradhapura (Gedi-Ge Ruins )

Anuradhapura can be reached through many routes from Colombo. The two main routes are through Puttalam (Puttalama) and though Kurunegala. Traveling from Puttalam you will pass scenic Wilpattu area. the From Kurunegala there are two main routes to Anuradhapura. The most common route is through Dambulla. The other route is though Galgamuwa. Out of all the routes, the commonly used is the Kurunegala – Dambulla route (Route 2).