Heritage

Karandana Gal Lena Viharaya in Kiriella (විනාශ වූ කරඳන ගල්ලෙන් විහාරය නටබුන්)

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Karandana Gal Lena Viharaya in Kiriella (විනාශ වූ කරඳන ගල්ලෙන් විහාරය නටබුන්)

After killing his father, King Seethawaka Rajasinghe (1581-1591) became a Hindu as the Biddhist priests were unable to wash this sin away. The murder of his own parents was considered an irreversible anantharya karma by Buddhist monks, so conflicts arose between him and the monks. As a result, he became a Hindu and followed an anti-Buddhist line.

King Rajasinghe I appointed a South Indian, named Aritta Kivendu as his chief advisor and acted on his advice. He was reported to have settled Brahmans at significant Buddhist sites such as Sigiriya, Sri Pada etc. He razed many Buddhist religious sites to the ground. According to the Manadarampura Puwatha, prelates were involved in an attempt to make Konappu Bandara the king of Kandy. This conspiracy was exposed leading to the execution of hundreds of Buddhist prelates. Manadarampura Puwatha reported that in one place, 121 monks were killed by Rajasinha.

During this period, Karandana Gal Lena Viharaya lying 3½ miles off Ratnapura-Ingiriya road was one of the remote sites which helped the priests hide from the brutality of King Sitawaka Rajasinghe. Karandana Gal Lena Viharaya was used by Rev. Karandana Devarakkhitha Thero who received from his mentor Guananda Thero. But when Devarakkhitha Thero received over 8000 acres of land in Kiriella by a royal decree from King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe (1798 – 1815), he built the Kirielle Nadun Rajamaha Viharaya, also known as the Kirielle Temple, and moved from the Karandana Gal Lena Viharaya temple leaving it to decay,

The statues and buildings of the Karandana Gal Lena Viharaya fell into the jungle and the land belonging to the temple was encroached by various villagers. Today this cave lies in the middle of a private rubber estate.

Today only the cave can be seen. A drip ledge has been cut in the Karandana Gal Lena. The cave had once been extended from the front with a roof. There are indications of statues in the cave although none can be found now. The cave roof had been plastered with a paste made of cow dung and rice husk and painted over with designs. Some of this plaster can be seen today.

A well can be seen at one edge of the cave. To collect rainwater falling on the rock into the well, a drain is found cut in the rock to the well.

Note that the location marked on the Google Map below is approximate.

References

Gnanawimala, K. (1942) සපරගමූවේ පැරණි ලියවිලි . Colombo, Sri Lanka: Kirielle J. M. Samarakoon Bandara.

Also See

Map of Karandana Gal Lena Viharaya in Kiriella

Please click on the button below to load the Dynamic Google Map (ගූගල් සිතියම් පහලින්)

Show Location (ගූගල් සිතියම)

The map above also shows other places of interest within a approximately 20 km radius of the current site. Click on any of the markers and the info box to take you to information of these sites

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Travel Directions to Karandana Gal Lena Viharaya in Kiriella

Route from Panadura Junction to Karandana Gal Lena Viharaya in Kiriella
Through : Horana – Ingiriya Distance : 48 km Travel time : 1.30 hours Time to spent : about 1 hour Driving directions : see on g oogle map

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References

Also See

Map of Karandana Gal Lena Viharaya in Kiriella

Travel Directions to Karandana Gal Lena Viharaya in Kiriella

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