Kithulgoda Ganegodella Rajamaha Viharaya

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Kithulgoda Ganegodella Rajamaha Viharaya is a temple located in the ancient Pas-yodun Korale in Kalutara District which looks rather new to the naked eye. However there the three ancient places inside the temple. One of them is the ancient Bodhi tree. The second is the Buddha image house. The third is the old residence house (Awasa Ge) of the priests.

The third, old residence house (Awasa Ge) was removed as it had fallen into disrepair. Its stone remnants are found scattered around. The Bodhi tree is located at the head of the stream, facing the ancient village boundary. The image house is constructed in a style similar to the old Dutch architecture. The Sinhala clay tiles (semi-cylindrical clay tiles) which were on the roof have been replaced with Calicut clay tiles.

Recently, during the renovation of its interior, several paintings which are considered to belong to the Kandy period have emerged. Although belonging to a later period, a group of beautiful paintings are found located inside the image house. These paintings are considered to belong to the first half of the 19th century.

Another interesting and unique feature is the statues of the two deities Kataragama and Vishnu in the seating position. Both the statues are four-armed. Deity Vishnu is painted in blue reminding of deity Upulvan. Based on the statues and paintings this image house could be dated from the eighteenth century to the nineteenth century. It can also be seen that the image house is a gradually evolved design.

When the Department of Archeology was carrying out the restoration of the paintings in the old image house, part of the pillar inscription was discovered in front of the image house. They realized its antiquity and traced the text. The inscription on the part of the pillar was “Namin Karavu Vaslai” (“නමින් කරවූ වාසලයි”).

According to legend as stated by an old resident of this village, During the period of King Parakramabahu, his minister, commander Prathiraja was assigned to cultivate the villages of Pasdun and Walallawita korales. While travelling from place to place and appointing village chiefs, he stopped for lunch in the shade of a Na tree on a hillock in Kithulgoda village. At that time, when the ministers took lodging, they built temporary castles. So a general who went with the minister was entrusted with the construction of this house/castle. His name is Segiri Tanthrina (සෑගිරි තන්ත්‍රිනා).

After resting in this castle, commander Prathiraja called Segiri Tanthrina, praised him and issued an order granting him the village of Kithulgoda. It is the duty entrusted to him to cultivate the villages and make the villagers settle and prosper. So the general Segiri Tanthrina stayed at Kithulgoda and established a pillar inscription where the temporary castle was built. It is also believed that the commander Prathiraja would have stayed at this place when he came to visit the villages again.

The name Minister Prathiraja has been used in both the Dambadeniya and Kotte eras. The son-in-law of King Parakramabahu II Dambadeniya (1236 -1270 CE) was Sri Vardhana Pratiraja Minister. It is said that he came to Pas-yodun Korala and cultivated a coconut estate spanning from Kalutara to Bentota. The second mentioned Sri Vardhana Prathiraja was the grandson of the first said minister.

He also was in charge of the Pas-yodun Korale and built the Kekunandola Viharaya in Agalawatte, and cultivated the land he was in charge of. The Pratiraja mentioned in the above legend of Kithulgoda is most possibly the 2nd Pratiraja.

Anyway as per the legend, the full text of the inscription would have been “Segiri Tanthrina Naide Namin Karavu Vaslai” (සෑගිරි තන්ත්‍රිනා නයිදේ නමින් කරවූ වාසලයි) and the inscription would be dated to the era of king Parakramabahu VI (1411-1463) of Kotte kingdom. It is also evident how this castle became a temple later on, especially during the Kandy period.

The broken pillar inscription found at Kithulgoda Ganegodella Rajamaha Viharaya

Image house of Kithulgoda Ganegodella Rajamaha Viharaya

References

Seneviruwan, M. (2017) ‘සැඟවුණු පුවතක් හෙළිකරන කිතුල්ගොඩ ටැම් ලිපිය’, දායාද , (11), p. 8.

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