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If you ever traveling to the Kiralagala Archaeological Reserve, there are few other sites along this route which belong to the same early Anuradhapura era. Some of these are
- Handagalakanda Ancient Cave Temple
- Walahawiddawewa Kuda Dambulla Rajamaha Viharaya
- Wane Pansala – Paluketuwewa (Palukatiwewa) Temple – වානේ පංසල – පළුකෙටුවැව (පළුකැටුවැව) පංසල – Temple lies 1.5 km north -west of Kuda Dambulu Viharaya
- Rasnakawewa Sri Rathnagiri Rajamaha viharaya (GPS – 8.566636, 80.736992)
- Alapathwewa Siyambalaewa Archaeological site : ඇලපත්වැව සියඹලෑව පුරාවිද්යා ස්ථානය
- Kulumeemaakada Archaeological Site – කුළුමීමාකඩ පුරාවිද්යා ස්ථානය
Kulumeemaakada Archaeological Site consist of only one conserved stupa with some ruins spread around this stupa. The site lies about 4 km before Kiralagala Archaeological Site, 250 away from the Medawachchiya – Horowpathana road. The sutpa stand alone in middle of the large paddy field on a 8×8 meter square platform. The stupa is about 5 meters in height.
Stairs from all four directions reach the top of the platform. Curving brick balustrades decorate the sides of the stairs. The stupa shows a further expansion at a later stage. The conservation work have left an area to show the older stupa which had a stone base at the beginning. Few artifacts belonging to the early Anuradhapura period can be found scattered around the stupa. The most important is the slab inscription found at the site. The inscription has been made during the reign of king Bhatikatissa (140-164) and records portion of paddy fields belonging to the five villages of Bamanagama, Vedagama, Lohatabagama, Catanakaragama and Karabatagama by king Bhatikatissa for the work on the Chaithya of Dapatakara Viharaya. It also records the donation of income received from canals and reservoirs.
Also you find a carved foot print of Buddha (Siripathul Gala) with the Ashtamangala icons. Unfortunately the nothing of the aramic complex which this stupa belonged to survives today although signs of this aramic complex can be seen over 5 acre area. The area is dominated by Muslim farmers today and all the land has been converted to paddy fields destroying a 2000 year old heritage. Its a surprise that even this stupa surviving the onslaught of the villagers.
References
- Mendis, T., Abeywardana, N. and Dissanayaka, S. (2015) “මධ්ය යාන්ඔය නිම්නය ආශ්රිත පුරාණ ජනාවාස රටාව හා සංස්කෘතික භූ දර්ශනය,” The Journal of Archaeology & Heritage Studies, 2(1).
- Wijepala, W.M.T.B.(2015) “මධ්ය යාන්ඔය නිම්නයේ පුරාන වාස්තුවිද්යාව හා නිර්මිත පරිසරය,” The Journal of Archaeology & Heritage Studies, 2(1).
Also See
Map of Horowpathana Kulumeemaakada Archaeological Site
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
Zoom out the map to see more surrounding locations using the mouse scroll wheel or map controls.
Driving Directions to Horowpathana Kulumeemaakada Archaeological Site
| Route from Dambulla to Horowpathana Kulumeemaakada Archaeological Site |
| Though : Devalagama distance : 35 km Travel time :45 mins Time to spend : 1 – 3 hours Driving directions : see on google map |