Ranwala Purana Rajamaha Viharaya is an ancient temple with a Tampita Viharaya hidden just few hundred meters away from the Colombo Kandy road just before the Kegalle town.
One of the unique features a visitor could observe today at this temple is the ruins of the Tampita Vihara Ge. Tampita Vihara were a popular architectural feature of temples during the Kandyan era. The temple is built on top of granite stumps with wooden platform laid across the stumps.
The image house of the viharaya is attributed to king Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe’s period (1747 – 1781) retains the sculptures and paintings of the Kandyan period.The building is constructed on a platform raised about 5 feet of the ground. The floral designs of the Kandyan sittara art retained on the roof are also valuable specimen in the viharaya.
To reach the temple take the narrow Panatawa road to the left towards just before Kegalle town. The temple lies just 100 meters in to this road.
References
- Abhayavardhana, E., 2002. Heritage Of Sabaragamuwa : major natural, cultural, and historic sites. [Ratnapura]: Sabaragamuwa Development Bank, in association with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
- යටවර, එම්. ඩී. එම්. ඇස්., 2009. කෑගලු කෝරළ පවත : පරණකුරු, කිණිගොඩ සහ ගල්බඩ කෝරළයන්හි ඓතිහාසික, සංස්කෘතික සහ පුරාවිද්යාත්මක ගවේෂණය. 1st ed. වරකාපොළ: ආරිය ප්රකාශකයෝ.
Also See
- Tampita Vihara of Sri Lanka Index
- Ancient Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka
- Other Places of Interest Within Close Proximity
Map of Ranwala Purana Tampita Viharaya
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Traveling to Ranwala Purana Tampita Viharaya
Route from Kegalle to Ranwala Purana Tampita Viharaya |
Distance : 2 km Travel time : 5 mins Driving directions : see on google map |