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Lankatilaka Vihara (, ) is a
Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...
situated in Udunuwara of
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 ...
,
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, ...
. It is located on Daulagala road approximately away from Pilimatalawa junction and a few kilometres from the buddhist temple, Gadaladeniya Vihara. It is considered the most magnificent architectural edifice created during the Gampola era.


History

The history of the temple goes back to the 14th century. According to historical reports this temple was built during the time of King Bhuvanekabahu IV, who reigned from 1341 to 1351 A.D. He entrusted the construction of this temple to his Chief Minister named ''Senalankadhikara'', who successfully finished the works of this temple. The architecture of the temple was designed by a
South Indian South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
architect named ''Sathapati Rayar''. According to Professor
Senarath Paranavithana Senarath Paranavitana, (Sinhala language, Sinhala:සෙනරත් පරණවිතාන) (26 December 1896 – 4 October 1972) was a Sri Lankan archeologist and epigraphist, who pioneered much of post-colonial archaeology in Sri Lanka. ...
, Sathapati Rayar designed this temple using Tamil Pandya sculptors brought from Tamil Nadu in Hindu style. in the 13th century, Polonnaruwa era and also with other Dravidian and Indo Chinese architectural patterns.


The temple

The vihara buildings have been built on a natural rock called Panhalgala Rock. Among the buildings, the image house possesses characteristically outstanding architectural features, embellished with traditional Sinhalese sculptures. According to the facts recorded in the ''Lankatilake copper plaque'', this image house was constructed as a four-storied mansion with a height of eighty feet, but today only 3 stories can be seen. The walls and the ceiling of the image house have been adorned with the Kandyan era paintings and sculptures. Rock curved inscriptions found in the temple premises with both Sinhala and
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
sections, proclaim about the initiators and the facilities gifted to this temple by the kings. According to historian K. Indrapala, the temple inhibits the longest Tamil inscription found in Sri Lanka, which suggests that the pre-colonial kingdoms used Tamil alongside Sinhala as official languages. p. 282


Devales

The image house of the Lankatilaka is enriched with six devales. The gods:
Upulvan Upulvan (, ; Sanskrit: Utpalavarna), also known as Vishnu (''Vishnu deviyo'') is a guardian deity (Pali: Khettapala; Sanskrit: Kshetrapala) of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Buddhists believe him also as a protector of the Buddhism in the country. The name ...
; Ganapathi; Saman;
Vibhishana Vibhishana () is the younger brother of Ravana, the King of Lanka, in the ancient Indian epic ''Ramayana,'' and one of the eight Chiranjivis. Though a rakshasa himself, Vibhishana turned his back on Ravana, and defected to Rama's side, owing ...
,
Kataragama deviyo Kataragama ( , ) is a pilgrimage town sacred to Buddhist, Hindu and indigenous Vedda people of Sri Lanka. People from South India also go there to worship. The town has the Kataragama temple, a shrine dedicated to Skanda Kumara also known as ...
and Kumara Bandara are worshipped here. Kumara bandara is believed to be the deity, who protects the Lankatilaka vihara.


See also

* List of Archaeological Protected Monuments in Sri Lanka


References

{{Authority control Buddhist temples in Kandy District Archaeological protected monuments in Kandy District