
source : The Ṭämpiṭavihāras of Sri Lanka: Elevated Image- Houses in Buddhist Architecture
Maliyadda is a village located off the Mawanella-Rambukkana road in the Kegalle District. According to legend, this area was home to paddy fields that provided rice to the royal palace in Kandy. Over time, the name Maha-Liyadda (මහ ලියැද්ද) evolved into Maliyadda.
The Maliyadda Rajamaha Viharaya was originally a forest monastery of the vanvasi tradition, dating back to the Dambadeniya Kingdom. The temple’s Tampita Viharaya was constructed in the mid-18th century under the patronage of King Kirti Sri Rajasinghe, who ruled Kandy from 1747 to 1781 (Chandrasekara & Silva, 2021, p. 141).
The Tampita Viharaya at Maliyadda is built on 22 stone pillars, each 610 mm high. The circumambulatory path surrounding the structure is 787 mm wide on all three sides. The image house within measures 2.3 meters in width and 5.2 meters in length (Yatawara, 2006).
The circumambulatory path remains open, with no railing enclosing it. Wooden pillars surrounding the path support the roof beams, and a short wall was later added to the front of the Tampita Viharaya, incorporating the stone pillars at the front (Chandrasekara & Silva, 2021, p. 141).
This Tampita Viharaya is considerably well-preserved, with the paintings inside the inner chamber still intact (Yatawara, 2006).

source : The Ṭämpiṭavihāras of Sri Lanka: Elevated Image- Houses in Buddhist Architecture
References
- Chandrasekara, D. P., & Silva, K. D. (2021). The Ṭämpiṭavihāras of Sri Lanka: Elevated Image- Houses in Buddhist Architecture. Anthem Press.
- Yatawara, M. D. M. S. (2006). කෑගලු කෝරළ පවත : පරණකුරු, කිණිගොඩ සහ ගල්බඩ කෝරළයන්හි ඓතිහාසික, සංස්කෘතික සහ පුරාවිද්යාත්මක ගවේෂණය. Ariya Publishers.
Also See
- Tampita Vihara of Sri Lanka Index
- Ancient Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka
- Other Places of Interest Within Close Proximity
Map of Maliyadda Sri Sudarshanarama Tampita Viharaya
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| Route from Colombo to Maliyadda Sri Sudarshanarama Tampita Viharaya | Route from Mawanella to Maliyadda Sri Sudarshanarama Tampita Viharaya |
| Through : Pasyala – Warakapola – Kegalle – Mawanella Distance : 102 km Travel time : 3 hours Driving directions : see on Google map | Distance : 5.3 km Travel time : 10 minutes Driving directions : see on Google map |
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