Sri Dharmendrarama Raja Maha Vihara Explained

Building Name:Sri Dharmendrarama Purana Raja Maha Vihara
Native Name:ශ්‍රී ධර්මේන්ද්‍රාරාම පුරාණ රජ මහා විහාරය
Location:No.30, Mayadunna, Gonagolla
Coordinates:7.4271°N 81.634°W
Country:Sri Lanka
Province:Eastern Province
District:Ampara
Heritage Designation:Archaeological protected monument (10 October 2014)
Architecture:yes
Architecture Type:Buddhist Temple

Sri Dharmendrarama Purana Raja Maha Vihara (also known as Mayadunna Pansala) (Sinhala; Sinhalese: '''ශ්‍රී ධර්මේන්ද්‍රාරාම පුරාණ රජ මහා විහාරය''' හෝ '''මායාදුන්න පන්සල''') is an ancient Buddhist temple in Mayadunna, Sri Lanka. The temple is located in the Gonagolla village on Ampara – Maha Oya road approximately 10km (10miles) distance from Uhana town. The temple has been formally recognised by the Government as an archaeological site in Sri Lanka. The designation was declared on 10 October 2014 under the government Gazette number 1884.

The temple

The temple in Mayadunna has been constructed on a natural rock plateau belonging to the Uhana DS. Most buildings that stand today at the temple are recent constructions but some of the ancient structures such as slabs of Buddha footprint, pieces of Sandakada pahana, bases of buildings and pillars still can be found within the premises.[1] Before the construction of Buddha statues, people used various objects such as Asanaghara and Sri Pathul Gal (Buddha footprint) to represent Buddha. Therefore the presence of Sri Pathul Gal or Asanaghara in a temple is considered by the archaeology as an indicator that the temple was there before the Buddha statues were built in the country.[2] Also a rock inscription, engraved on the rock plateau between the image house and the pond has been protected by the archaeological department.

References

Works cited

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sri Dharmendrarama Viharaya (Mayadunna). Lanka Pradeepa. Manjula. H. A. K. L.. 18 September 2018. 25 December 2023. 25 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231225172852/https://www.lankapradeepa.com/2018/09/sri-dharmendrarama-viharaya-mayadunna.html. live.
  2. Web site: සිරිපතුල් වන්දනාව (in Sinhala). https://web.archive.org/web/20170324165556/http://www.lakehouse.lk/budusarana/2017/03/20/tmp.asp?ID=fea05. dead. 24 March 2017. ඉතාම පැරණි පුදබිමක් ලෙසින් හඳුනා ගැනීමට නිශ්චිත පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක සාක්ෂියක් ලෙසින් පුරාවිද්‍යාඥයෝ සිරිපතුල් ගල් හඳුන්වති. Budu Sarana, Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. Wijethunga. Sirisaman. 20 March 2017. 27 August 2017.