Wandurupitiya Ketewaththa Sathpaththini Tampita Devalaya

According to history, during the reign of king Vanka-Natha-Tissa (109-112) , a soli king called Karikalan had invaded Sri Lanka and taken 12,000 Sinhalese to India as prisoners.  in 112, king Gajabahu I, son of Vanka Natha Tissa took reign of the country.

King Gajabahu used to disguise himself and traverse the kingdom during the night to find out issues and problems faced by his subjects. One day he heard cries of a woman in the night, and found out that her son has been one of the 12,000 prisoners taken by Karikalan to India. The king vowed to bring all his subjects imprisoned in India back to Sri Lanka. Then he formed an army and attacked the kingdom of Karikalan in India and came back with the 12,000 Sinhalese prisoners and another 12,000 Soli prisoners to Sri Lanka.

According to legend, the anklets of goddess Pattini was also brought to Sri Lanka by the captured Soli prisoners which was beginning of the Pattini cult of Sri Lanka. These holy anklets were carried through Narammala – Wadakada – Ranagala – Pambadeniya – Alawwa – Paramaulla – Galwarama – Morugama and Yaththalgoda. From Yaththalgoda, the Salamba has been carried on the Ma Oya (Maha Oya)  in a boat carved out of a Kumbuk tree trunk. They had stopped at a rocky segment on the river in the village known as Madurupitiya on the first night.

In the morning, the crew went to fetch the bag containing the anklets from the Kadumberiya tree but found out the anklets fused to the tree. So they axed the trunk of the tree with the fused anklets deposited in a cave. Thus this place was known as Kete-aththa ( The Aththa which was served by a Keteriaya) which late became Kete-watta.

From here on this has been developed as a devalaya. The devala land lies at the end of a large estate. The main Devalaya is built in the form of a Tampita Viharaya. The history of this site goes back the the times of Dambadeniya Kingdom and the Tampita Devalaya is said to be the smallest in the country.

A Tampita Viharaya is a structure built on a wooden platform which rests on number of stone stumps usually 3-4 feet tall. The roof is held by a structure built of timber and the walls are generally made of wattle and daub. This Tampita Devalaya has been designated as a protected monument by the Department of Archaeology.

This devalaya is located near a “Wakkalama” (වක්කලම), a deep river edge produced by bend on the Maha Oya. It is said that there is a albino crocodile living in the vicinity of the Wakkalama and it would either just float or float upside down whenever she passes the devalaya.

References

• සිරිසේන (2017) වඳුරුපිටිය කෙටේවත්ත සත්පත්තිනි දේවාලය, Dinamina.com. Available at: https://archives1.dinamina.lk/2017/11/17/විශේෂාංග/44461/වඳුරුපිටිය-කෙටේවත්ත-සත්පත්තිනි-දේවාලය (Accessed: 09 October 2023).

Also See

• Tampita Vihara of Sri Lanka Index
• Ancient Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka
• Other Places of Interest Within Close Proximity

Map of the Wandurupitiya Ketewaththa Sathpaththini Tampita Devalaya

Driving Directions to Wandurupitiya Ketewaththa Sathpaththini Tampita Devalaya

Route from Pasyala to Wandurupitiya Ketewaththa Sathpaththini Tampita Devalaya

Though : Mirigama – Madurupitiya distance :16  km Travel time :30 mins Time to spend : 20-30  mins Driving directions : see on google map