Paramakanda Raja Maha Vihara
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Paramakanda Raja Maha Vihara () is an ancient
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 ...
in
Puttalam District Puttalam is a district of Sri Lanka situated near the west coast of the country. The district has an area of . Along with the Kurunegala District, it forms the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. The district capital is Puttalam, which border ...
,
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, ...
. The temple is located in Paramakanda village approximately distance from the
Anamaduwa Anamaduwa (Sinhala: ආණමඩුව) is a town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is located about away from Puttalam. Etymology According to one story, after uniting the country King Dutugemunu had given precious gi ...
town. The site has been formally recognised by the
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
as an archaeological site in Sri Lanka. The designations were declared on 1 November 1996 and 6 June 2008 under the government
Gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...
numbers 948 and 1586.


The temple

It is believed that the history of Paramakanda temple goes back to the reign of king Walagamba (103 BC and c. 89–77 BC). The Vihara complex mainly consists of two terraces. The lower terrace includes the
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 m ...
, Bodhi tree, dripledged rock caves, Bikkhu dwellings, the main image house and the bell tower. Another small image house, a Stupa and a rock carved foot print of Buddha are found in the upper temple premises. The main image house of the lower terrace is adorned with paintings and sculptures belonging to the Kandyan tradition as well as the new art style.


Inscriptions

Few rock inscriptions have been discovered in the temple premises. One inscription has been incised on the vertical face of a rock at one side of a small pool of water. Another inscription is found on a rock near Bo tree and belongs to the 7th century A.D.


The inscription near the pool


See also

*
Thonigala Rock Inscription, Anamaduwa Thonigala Rock Inscriptions () are two Elu-language inscriptions engraved on a rock situated in Anamaduwa of Sri Lanka, written in Brahmi alphabet. Each inscription is about 100 feet long and each letter is about one feet in height and engraved ...


References


Works cited

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paramakanda Raja Maha Vihara Buddhist temples in Puttalam District Buddhist caves in Sri Lanka Archaeological protected monuments in Puttalam District Sri Lanka inscriptions Sinhala Inscriptions