Kalotuwawa Purana Tampita Viharaya

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Kalotuwawa Purana Tampita Viharaya (කලෝටුවාව පුරාණ ටැම්පිට විහාරය)

Kalotuwawa Purana Viharaya, also known as Kalotuwawa Kande Viharaya is a concealed ancient Tampita Viharaya lying in the Hataraliyadda in Kandy District. The temple is built on a rocky hill and at the rock plain at the top lies the ancient stupa and the Tampita Viharaya structure.

With the Buddhist renaissance brought by Weliwita Saranankara Thero (19 June 1698 – 18 July 1778), village temples were provided with preaching halls and Tampita Viharas. Several of them were built in Tumpane. Some of them have been modernized. Following are the places where such Tampita viharas are found in Tumpane;

(Abeyawardhana, 2004)

A Tampita Viharaya is a structure built on a wooden platform that rests on a number of stone stumps usually 3-4 feet tall. The roof is held by a structure built of timber and the walls are generally made of wattle and daub. The walls inside the chamber is more or less always covered in paintings drawn mainly in Kandyan style.

During the reign of King Sri Wickrama Rajasinhe (1798–1815), two village headmen named Kalotuwawe Gamarala and Goḍagale Gamarala are said to have overseen the construction of this Tämpiṭa Viharaya within the grounds of the Kalotuwawa Purana Rajamaha Viharaya. The temple’s name appears to originate from a small fortress, known as Kala Koṭuwa, which was used for surveillance along the Colombo-Kandy road during the early Kandyan period (Chandrasekara & Silva, 2021).

Tampita Vihara built on rocks are rare and this tampita viharaya is built on 13 rock pillar stumps of about 3 feet in height on a rock surface. A platform has been built on the rock surface filled with earth. The rock stumps have been erected on this platform. The image house chamber is 17 feet 6 inches in length and 9 feet in width. A narrow 1 feet 10 inch wide circumambulating path is built around the temple. The structure has 2 sections. Inner and outer chamber. The outer chamber wall contains no paintings.

Access to the Vihara Ge is through a wooden flight of steps. The year 1898 is marked on the outer door probably indicating a renovation of this building in that year. On the inner side of the wall at the top of the door Buddha’s death is depicted. The door to the inner chamber is 7 feet in height and 2 feet 1 inch in width and is flanked by two statues of two guardian deities. The door frame is decorated with various wood carvings. At the top, you will find a painting of “Panch Nari Getaya” (a design of five interlocked women) at the centre with creeper designs. Painting of “Narilatha Flower” with a female face at the centre.

A seated Buddha statue flanked by two standing Buddha statues facing side walls is found inside the image house. Paintings of Sariyuth and Mugalan Thero are seen on two sides of the seated Buddha statue. The walls are covered in Buddhist paintings. The roof is painted with scenes from the seven weeks of Buddha.

In addition to the Tampita Viharaya, Sangawasaya, the living quarters of the temple have been declared as protected archaeological monuments by the gazette dated 22nd November 2002. The Sangawasaya is built on a 4-foot-high raised platform and is said to have been built around 1840.

Main door of Kalotuwawa Purana Tampita Viharaya

References

Abeyawardhana, H. A. P. (2004). Heritage of Kandurata: Major Natural, Cultural, and Historic Sites. Kandurata Development Bank, in association with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
Chandrasekara, D. P., & Silva, K. D. (2021). The Ṭämpiṭavihāras of Sri Lanka: Elevated Image- Houses in Buddhist Architecture. Anthem Press.
Wijewardhana, K., 2010. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ටැම්පිට විහාර. 1st ed. Colombo: Dayawansa Jayakodi.

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