Ilupandeniya Rajamaha Viharaya
Ilupandeniya Raja Maha Viharaya lies in the District of Kandy and its origins
are believed to be going as far as the era of King Devamnampiyatissa (250-210
BC). History records that there was an buddhist education center (Pirivena')
during the reign of Queen Kalyanawathi (1202-1208 AD) and again it appears
in the records during the reign of King Wickramabahu III ( 1357-1374) when
land was donated to the temple by the king. The current Bodhi tree has been
planted during the period of King Viraparakrama Narendrasinha (1707 - 1739).
At the beginning this temple has been a constructed as a Tampita Vihara (
built on a platform above ground level). But during 1933 renovations the
temple has lost the tampita vihara section and it has been rebuilt to give
a look of a modern day temple. But the remains of the stone columns which
constituted the base of the tampita vihara still can be seen in the temple
premises.
Of the remains of the ancient temple, a carving of a dog and a crow on
a stone slab takes an important place. This slab is used to inform the travelers
to the temple that anybody who disrespect the holiness would be reborn as
dogs and crows in the next life. Another stone slab shows a Gajasinghe (elephant
- lion ) carving. Both these are believed to be from the Kandyan Era.
map
The Island - March 8, 2003
Created : October 9, 2010
Updated :
October 9, 2010
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