Koradoluwa Mayuraselarama Viharaya

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Koradoluwa Mayuraselarama Viharaya lies on a rocky outcrop in Polgahawela DS about 6.5 km from the town. According to folklore, this rocky plateau had a large imprint of a peacock and thus was called Monaragala in earlier times.

Most of the buildings and structures of the temple are of recent origin other than the image house. However, this too has been renovated recently but luckily its antiquity is fairly well preserved. The year 1828 is painted on the dragon’s arch (Makara Thorana) above the main entrance to the image house.

The other source of the history of this temple is a palm leaf manuscript dated 1857 on the gifts to the temple. According to this manuscript the temple has existed since the time of King Krishissree (Kris-his-sree). Since there is no record of such a king in Sri Lankan history, this name is thought to mean Kerthi Sri (Rajasinhe) (1747 – 1781) of the Kandyan kingdom.

Northeast of the image house is a cave with a drip ledge. This is a 7-meter long and 3.5-meter deep cave but it has been filled with earth with time thus a person cannot enter it now. An attempt has been made to expand the cave by blasting it from inside at some time. Today you will see all the flat roofing clay tiles of the original image house stacked inside this cave.

The image house is 8.4 meters long and 5.6 meters wide. The structure consists of an inner chamber and an outer chamber encapsulating the inner chamber. The structure is built using small rock pieces and clay mortar with 60 cm thick walls.

The entrance to the inner chamber of the image house is through a door frame with sooriyawanka design which lacks any carvings. Two guardian deities carrying pots on plenty stand beside the door. These are 1,94 meters tall and 55 cm wide. The paintings beside these sculptures are of recent origin.

On the inner wall left to the entrance, two Arhath paintings can be seen at the top. A picture of a priest carrying a lotus bud believed to be the chief embankment of the temple at the time can be seen painted below the arhath paintings.

On the other side of the door, a picture of a noble who could be the chief benefactor of the image house can be seen. At the centre of the image house lies the main Samadhi statue. The head of the statue has been destroyed by treasure hunters. The statue stands 90 cm up to the neck and stands on a 50cm high pedestal. Arhaths are painted at the top of this wall behind the statue. Buddha’s chief disciples, Sariputta and Moggallana stand beside the Buddha.

On the two side walls stand two Buddha statues in the Abhaya Mudra posture. These statues are 1.6 meters tall and 55 centimetres wide. On the left wall, a statue of the deity Vishnu can be seen. With 4 hands this statue is 1.9 meters tall. Opposite to this is an equally tall statue of the Saman deity. On the left-hand side of the statue, a painting of the deity Kataragama can be seen. With six heads and 12 hands he sits on a peacock, his official vehicle.

According to the chief disciple of the temple, some granite pillars had existed up to a few decades ago in the area known as Bomaluwa Watta west of the temple. These have been gradually carried off by the villagers for various construction purposes and no sign of them can be found today.

Koradoluwa Mayuraselarama Viharaya lies hidden beside the Polgahawela – Kurunegala main road.

References

ගවේෂන – 2 කලාපය – වයඹ පලාතේ පුරාවිද්‍යා ගවේෂන – 1 අදියර විශේෂ කලාපය – පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තුමේන්තුව

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Driving Directions to Koradoluwa Mayuraselarama Viharaya

Route from Colombo to Koradoluwa Mayuraselarama Viharaya	Route from Polgahawela to Koradoluwa Mayuraselarama Viharaya
Though : Katunayake – Divulapitiya – Giriulla – Distance : 102 km Travel time : 2.5 hours Time to spend : 30 mins Driving directions : see on Google map	Though : Distance : 8 km Travel time : 15 mins Time to spend : 30 mins Driving directions : see on Google map