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Gadaladeniya Vihara
Gadaladenyia Vihara () (also known as Saddharmatilaka Vihara or Dharma Kirthi Viharaya) is an ancient Buddhist temple situated in Pilimathalawa, Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located on Gadaladenyia Road (B116), just up from the Gadaladeniya junction of the Colombo - Kandy Road (A1), approximately to the west of Kandy and from the ancient buddhist temple, Lankatilaka Vihara. It is considered one of the largest rock temples in Sri Lanka. History The history of the temple goes back to the 14th century. According to historical reports this temple was built in 1344, under the patronage of King Bhuvanekabahu IV, who reigned from 1341 to 1351 A. D., by the Ven. Seelavamsa Dharmakirti. The architecture of the temple was designed following Hindu artistic styles by, Ganesvarachari, a South Indian architect. On the rock outcrop, upon which the temple stands, is a carved inscription regarding the temple's construction. The temple was constructed in the Dravidian architectural style incorpo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kandy
Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is both an administrative and religious city and the capital of the Central Province. Kandy is the home of the Temple of the Tooth Relic (''Sri Dalada Maligawa''), one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. Historically the local Buddhist rulers resisted Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial expansion and occupation. Etymology The city and the region have been known by many different names and versions of those names. Some scholars suggest that the original name of Kandy was Katubulu Nuwara located near the present Watapuluwa. However, the more popular historical name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dravidian Architecture
Dravidian architecture, or the Southern Indian temple style, is an architectural idiom in Hindu temple architecture that emerged from Southern India, reaching its final form by the sixteenth century. In contrast with North Indian temple styles, Dravidian architecture uses shorter and more pyramidal towers, called vimana, over the garbhagriha or sanctuary, where the north has taller towers, usually curving inwards as they rise, called shikharas. Larger modern Dravidian style temples, however, include one or more high gopura or gatehouse entrances to the compound as their dominating feature; large temples have several dwarfing the vimana, although these are a much more recent development. There are numerous other distinct features, such as the '' dvarapalakas'' – twin guardians at the main entrance and the inner sanctum of the temple and ''goshtams'' – deities carved in niches on the outer side walls of the garbhagriha. Mentioned as one of three styles of temple building ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stupa
In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and meditation. Walking around a stupa in a clockwise direction, known as '' pradakhshina'', has been an important ritual and devotional practice in Buddhism since the earliest times, and stupas always have a ''pradakhshina'' path around them. The original South Asian form is a large solid dome above a tholobate, or drum, with vertical sides, which usually sits on a square base. There is no access to the inside of the structure. In large stupas, there may be walkways for circumambulation on top of the base as well as on the ground below it. Large stupas have, or had, ''vedikā'' railings outside the path around the base, often highly decorated with sculpture, especially at the torana gateways, of which there are usually four. At the top of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanctum Sanctorum
The Latin phrase ''sanctum sanctorum'' is a translation of the Hebrew term ''קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים'' (Qṓḏeš HaQŏḏāšîm), literally meaning Holy of Holies, in Latin texts, this generally refers to the holiest place of the Ancient Israelites, inside the Tabernacle and later inside the Temple in Jerusalem. However, the term also has some derivative use in application to imitations of the Tabernacle in church architecture. The plural form ''sancta sanctorum'' is also used, arguably as a synecdoche, referring to the holy relics in the sanctuary. The Vulgate translation of the Bible uses ''sancta sanctorum'' for the Holy of Holies. Hence, the derivative usage denotes the Sancta Sanctorum chapel in the complex of the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome. In Hinduism, the innermost part of a temple, where the deity's '' Murti'' is kept, forms the '' Garbhagriha'', also known as a sanctum sanctorum. Etymology The Latin word '' sanctum'' is the neuter f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shikhara
''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber where the presiding deity is enshrined is the most prominent and visible part of a Hindu temple of North India. In South India, the equivalent term is Vimana (architectural feature), ''vimana''; unlike the ''shikhara'', this refers to the whole building, including the sanctum beneath. In the south, ''shikhara'' is a term for the top stage of the vimana only, which is usually a dome capped with a finial; this article is concerned with the northern form. The southern ''vimana'' is not to be confused with the elaborate gateway-towers of south Indian temples, called ''gopuram'', which are often taller and more prominent features in large temples. It is argued that stylistic aspects seen on Buddhist architecture like the ''stupa'' may have bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gadaladeniya Viharaya 37
Gadaladeniya is a village in Sri Lanka. It is located within Central Province. See also *List of towns in Central Province, Sri Lanka Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province is a Provinces of Sri Lanka, province of Sri Lanka, containing the Kandy District, Matale District, and Nuwara Eliya District. The following is a list of settlements in the province. __NOTOC__ A Ab ... External links *The Gadaladeniya Temple, with an ancient monastery {{KandyDistrict-geo-stub Populated places in Kandy District ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero
Weliwita Asaranasarana Sri Saranankara Sangharaja Thero (19 June 1698 – 18 July 1778) or popularly Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero was a Buddhist monk, who was the last Sangharaja of Sri Lanka. He was the pioneer in the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, after the decline of the religion in the 17th and 18th centuries. Saranankara Thero was bestowed with the a title by king Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy, Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe in 1753, the same year he received the Upasampada (higher ordination of Buddhist monks) and re-established the Upasampada in Sri Lanka with the help of Mahasangha in Siam. He is also credited with the establishment of ''Silvath Samagama'' (pious group), a union of monks who lived in accordance with the Buddhist monastic discipline. Early years Welivita Sri Saranakara Thera was born on June 19, 1698, in Welivita Waththe Walauwa, Tumpane, Hatharaliyadda, about 24 km from Kandy. His father was a chieftain and was a descendant of an influential family. At th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vira Narendra Sinha Of Kandy
Sri Veera Parakrama Narendrasinha ( Sinhala:ශ්රී වීර පරාක්රම නරේන්ද්රසිංහ; 1707–1739 AD) was the last Sinhalese King of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ... of the Kingdom of Kandy. He was also known as the "Prince of Kundasale". Childhood Narendrasinghe was the successor of his father Vimaladharmasurya II. His mother was a Royal Concubine called Muthukude Devi, who was from a local noble family. According to historical sources his father's other wives became jealous of him. So they conspired to kill him and his mother while they sailed across the Mahawali river at Lewella ferry by drawing. But a young man was going nearby saved both of them. After this incident King Vimaladharmasuriya II ke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vimalakirti
Vimalakīrti ( ' "stainless, undefiled" + ' "fame, glory, reputation") is a bodhisattva and the central figure in the ', Wisdom Library : Significance of Vimalakirti. 84000.co : The Teaching of Vimalakīrti. Introduction. which presents him as the ideal [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikāya
''Nikāya'' () is a Pāli word meaning "volume". It is often used like the Sanskrit word '' āgama'' () to mean "collection", "assemblage", "class" or "group" in both Pāḷi and Sanskrit. It is most commonly used in reference to the Pali Buddhist texts of the Tripitaka namely those found in the Sutta Piṭaka. It is also used to refer to monastic lineages, where it is sometimes translated as a 'monastic fraternity'. The term ''Nikāya'' Buddhism is sometimes used in contemporary scholarship to refer to the Buddhism of the early Buddhist schools. Text collections In the Pāli Canon, particularly, the "Discourse Basket" or ''Sutta Piṭaka'', the meaning of ''nikāya'' is roughly equivalent to the English ''collection'' and is used to describe groupings of discourses according to theme, length, or other categories. For example, the ''Sutta Piṭaka'' is broken up into five nikāyas: * the Dīgha Nikāya, the collection of long (Pāḷi: ''dīgha'') discourses * the Majjhima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dharmakirti
Dharmakīrti (fl. ;), was an influential Indian Buddhist philosopher who worked at Nālandā.Tom Tillemans (2011)Dharmakirti Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy He was one of the key scholars of epistemology ( pramāṇa) in Buddhist philosophy, and is associated with the Yogācāra and Sautrāntika schools. He was also one of the primary theorists of Buddhist atomism. His works influenced the scholars of Mīmāṃsā, Nyaya and Shaivism schools of Hindu philosophy as well as scholars of Jainism. Dharmakīrti's '' Pramāṇavārttika'', his largest and most important work, was very influential in India and Tibet as a central text on pramana ('valid knowledge instruments') and was widely commented on by various Indian and Tibetan scholars. His texts remain part of studies in the monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism. History Little is known for certain about the life of Dharmakirti. As per John Taber, the only reliable information that we have about his life was that he was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sangharaja
Sangharaja (Pāli: ''sangha'' religious community + ''raja'' ruler, king, or prince) is the title given in many Theravada Buddhist countries to a senior monk who is the titular head either of a monastic fraternity ( nikaya), or of the ''Sangha'' throughout the country. This term is often rendered in English as 'Patriarch' or 'Supreme Patriarch'. Overview The position of ''sangharaja'' has been assigned according to various methods in different countries and time periods. In some cases, the sangharaja is determined by absolute monastic seniority; the sangharaja is the monk who has spent the most rains retreats (vassa) as a monk. In other cases, royal appointment may play a role--the sangharaja may be appointed by the king, particularly in Southeast Asian countries where the monarchy is closely associated with Buddhism (Thailand, for example). Alternatively, the ''sangharaja'' may be chosen semi-democratically by monks or the laity (similar to the election of an abbot in some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
