Uththararama Purana Vihara (also known as Maligagodella Vihara) is a historic

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 at

Udugampola Udugampola is a small town in the Gampaha District of Sri Lanka and was a sub kingdom during reign of the King Sakala Kala Wallabha of Kotte Era. The main point in the area is around the intersection of Gampaha-Minuwangoda and Kotugoda-Naiwala roa ...

in the

Western province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

, Sri Lanka. The temple is located on Udugampola – Weediyawatta junction road approximately away from the Udugampola

Roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

. The temple 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 designation was declared on 7 July 2005 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 ...

number 1401.

History

The historical chronicles such as

Rajaveliya Rajavaliya (line of kings) is an ancient chronicle of Sri Lanka. It contains the history of King Vijaya to King Vimaladharmasuriya ΙΙ. It is the only chronicle which contains continuous history of Sri Lanka written in Sinhalese language. Raja ...

and ''Alakeshwara Yuddhaya'' reveal that the

and its surrounding area was a provincial kingdom during the Kotte period. According to these resources, the elder of three of sons of king

Parakramabahu VIII Vira Parakramabahu VIII, also known as Ambulagala Kumara, was King of Kingdom of Kotte, Kotte in the fifteenth century, who ruled from 1484 to 1518. He succeeded Parakramabahu VII of Kotte, Parakramabahu VII and was succeeded by his son Dharma Par ...

(1484–1505) became the king of

Kingdom of Kotte The Kingdom of Kotte (, ), named after its capital, Kotte, was a Sinhalese kingdom that flourished in Sri Lanka during the 15th century. Founded by Parakramabahu VI with the help of the Ming, the Kingdom managed to conquer the Jaffna ki ...

by the name of Dharma Parakramabahu while the second son prince Thaniya Wallabha lived in the principality of

Madampe Madampe is a town situated in the Puttalam District, of North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Madampe is a town with historical importance which was ruled by king Thaniwallbha according to the history. There are two areas: Old town and New town whi ...

. The third son, prince Sakalakala Wallabha lived in that of Udugampola as a

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

The evidence about the existence of a palace in Udugampola is proved by the copper plate, ''Kadirana Sannasa'' which was discovered in Kadirana cinnamon plantation near

Negombo Negombo (, ), also known as Punchi Romaya (Little Rome), is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in the Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province, from Colombo via the E03 expressway ...

. The Sannasa records a donation made to a Brahmin by the king at a royal assembly held in his new palace at Udugampola on new moon day of (18 June 1517) when a full

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

was sighted. According to the archaeological evidences found around the area, it is believed that the place called Maligagodella (Mound of Palace) where the Uththararama temple stands today was the location of the palace of King Sakalakala Wallabha. There are some ruins still to be seen, including remains of an ancient pond with retaining walls of masonry, and some stone works. The ancient pond,

Pathaha Pokuna Pathaha Pokuna is an ancient bathing tank or pool situated in Udugampola, Sri Lanka. It is located approximately from Udugampola Roundabout and close to the historic temple Uththararama Purana Vihara. The pond has been formally recognised by the ...

adjoining the Uththararama temple has been identified as the bathing pool of the king.

References

Buddhist temples in Gampaha District Archaeological protected monuments in Gampaha District {{SriLanka-struct-stub