
The ancient restrooms located near the roads for the benefit of the travellers are called Ambalama. In ancient times, even the kings and ministers used lodge in these Ambalama’s while travelling.In the past, building an ambalama to alleviate the travel fatigue of travelers on foot and on the palanquins was considered a highly meritous deed. The Buddhist approach in Sri Lanka further contributed to this. Therefore, Ambalams could be seen every two or three miles on public roads and even two or three Ambalams could be seen in many ancient villages. At the same time, this Ambalam became important as a gathering place for the people of the village.
Some of the ambalams were beautifully carved. They were often built under royal patronage or patronage of local aristocrats. So the size and the artwork of these ambalams varied based on the wealth of the people who sponsored.
Iluktenna Ambalama is located very close to the temple on the route to the famous Suriyagoda Rajamaha Viharaya. The date of 2451.02.10 Buddhist Era is eched on a stone pillar in front of this Ambalama. Accordingly, this Ambalama has been built in the year 1907. However, when the Yatinuwara Pradeshiya Sabha renovated the Ambalama in 1998, its antiquity had been completely neglected. Therefore, the archaeological value of this place has been greatly affected by this renovation.
According to forklore there had been seven Ambalams from this Ambalama to Galagedara but today only this remains.
This Ambalama can be seen on the left hand side at a distance of 5.2 km along the Aladeniya road from the Polgahamula junction in Peradeniya. Today, even the restorations made in 1998 has fallen in to despair.
References
- අම්බලම හා සමාජය : ශ්රී ලංකාවේ පුරාණ පිළිබඳ ඓතිහාසික හා පුරාවිද්යාත්මක පර්යේෂණයක්, 2018. , 1. කොළඹ : සීමාසහිත ඇස් ගොඩගේ සහෝදරයෝ (පුද්.) සමාගම.
Also See
- List of Ambalama’s in Sri Lanka
- Ancient Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka
- Other Places of Interest Within Close Proximity
Map of Sooriyagoda Ilukthenna Ambalama
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Travel Directions to Sooriyagoda Ilukthenna Ambalama
From Peradeniya to Sooriyagoda Ilukthenna Ambalama |
Though : Gannoruwa Distance : 6.6 km Travel time : 15 mins Time to Spend : about 10-15 minutes Driving directions : see on Google Map |