Sendeniya Royal Temple - සේන්දෙනිය රජමහා විහාරය in Kovilakanda

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  Chandima Ambanwala

  :: 21 March 2018 00:45:01

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  Dinesh Saparamadu

  :: 01 March 2018 17:37:08

  Sendeniya Rajamahaviharaya , Kandy and Gampola period

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  Miyuru Jayasekara

  :: 06 January 2018 23:17:21

  The Kingdom of Kandy in the earliest times was known as “Kanda Uda Pas Rata” (The five counties). It was from this that the name Kandy was derived. The Kanda Uda Pas Rata comprised the following divisions: Yatinuwara, Udu Nuwara, Hewaheta, Dumbara and Harispattuwa. Studding the entire Kanda Uda Pas Rata is a vast complex of ancient temples, devales, rock cave shelters (Len Vihara), monolithic stone pillars and dagobas which date back to the medieval Kingdoms of Sitawake, Gampola and Dambadeniya. Situated in Udu Nuwara is the rock cave temple called “Hendeniya Rajamaha Viharaya” Also called “Galgane Vihara” it lies along the Kandy-Daulagala Road, (via Peradeniya) about 12 km from Kandy. Local traditions say that the Hendeniya Rajamaha Viharaya was built at the the request of Henekanda Biso Bandara (consort of King Wickremabahu III) of the Gampola period (1357-1374), and served as her resting place when she visited Lankatilaka Viharaya and Embekke Devale in the vicinity. Unique stone carvings In the temple premises is a huge rock boulder which houses the cave shelters. In front lies the old devale. Apart from the intricate carvings found in this ancient temple – “parana vihara”– an elaborate stone doorway commands attention. This doorway is considered a fine sculpture in stone. The Makara Thorana portrayed here lends equilibrium to the entire frontage of the cloistered rock cave shrine. Makara Thorana motifs The Makara Thorana is an example of masterly ancient stone crafts: executed above the lintel of the stone doorway. The ‘Hansa-Puttuwa‘ motif (entwined swan) is etched below the Makara Thorana , while above its lintel, it has been edged in blue. This Makara Thorana is a typical archway with a pair of Makaras in the shape of some mythical aquatic species with an elephant trunk, crocodile body, and feet terminating in fish tail, symbolic of water fertility and life. On both sides of the stone doorway are two figures of cobra kings, in part human. Behind the two heads of the guard stones lie the multi-hooded cobra heads. The decorative artistic treatment of the stone lintel with a red background is typical of Kandyan art and sculpture. The next noteworthy element of the stone-doorway of the old temple is the floral design covering both sides of the doorway and the lintel. Inside this image house (pilimage) is enshrined a sublime seated Buddha statue. There is a stone pillar having a wooden ‘Pekada’ on its top (a bracket), while the roof is paved with flat Sinhala tiles. Moon stone The moonstone is another masterpiece. Unlike the moonstones of the Anuradhapura – Polonnaruwa periods, which have rows of elephants, oxen, flowers, horses and the like, this particular moonstone is simple, sans any such elaborate carvings. It has only a surrounding band ending in ‘Liyana Vel’ motifs. The shape of the moonstone seemed semi-circular up to the 13th century. Thereafter with the progress of time, the semi-circular design turned out to be a full circle by the 14th century as seen in the Parana Vihara. Such moonstones date back to the Gampola, Kandy periods, mostly to the reign of Rajadhi Rajasinha 18th century AD. The ancient image house has standing and seated Buddha statues of gilded gold. The murals adorning the cave ceiling depict Jataka stories.The reclining Buddha statue displays a beautiful halo (Budures Valalla). There is also a Poya Ge and a Seema Malaka (Chapter House). Other priceless treasures It is mentioned in ancient documents preserved at the Hendeniya Rajamaha Viharaya that there had been 991 such Viharas like the Hendeniya-Len Vihara. There is also a priceless artifact preserved there – a Bodhi Pooja bowl of gold which was gifted by King Rajaadhi Rajasinha. The only other such golden bowl is found in the Dalada Maligawa. There is also a gallery of “Suvisi Vivarana” comprising 24 statues of past and future Buddhas.

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  Udara Nandasena

  :: 30 October 2017 12:46:36

  මුල්ම යුගයේ මහනුවර රාජධානිය "කන්ද උඩ පස් රට" ලෙස හඳුන්වා ඇත. මහනුවර Kandy යන නම ව්යුත්පන්න වූයේ මෙයිනි. කන්ද උඩ පස් රට පහත කොට්ඨාශ වලින් සමන්විත විය: යටිනුවර, උඩු නුවර, හේවාහැට, දුම්බර හා හාරිස්පත්තුව. කන්ද උඩ පස් රට තිබෙන ඉපැරණි විහාරස්ථාන, දේවාල, ගල් ලෙන් ගුහා (ලෙන විහාර), ගල් කුළුණු සහ දාගැබ් සීතාවක ගම්පොළ හා දඹදෙණිය යන මධ්යතන යුගවලට අයත් වේ. උඩු නුවර පිහිටා තිබෙන්නේ "හෙන්දෙනිය රජමහා විහාරය" යනුවෙන් හඳුන්වන ගල් ලෙන් විහාරය "ගල්ගානේ විහාරය" යනුවෙන්ද හැඳින්වේ. ගම්පොළ යුගයේ (1357 - 1374) කාලයේදී හෙනකඳ බිසෝ බණ්ඩාර දේවියගේ ඉල්ලීම මත හෙන්දෙණියේ රජමහා විහාරය ඉදිකරන ලද අතර, ඇය ලංකාතිලක විහාරය , ඇම්බැක්ක දේවාලය සහ ඒ අවට සැරිසරන විට ඇගේ විවේක ස්ථානය ලෙස මෙය භාවිත කලේය. මෙම පැරණි විහාරයේ "පරණ විහාරය" සොයාගෙන ඇති සංකීර්ණ කැටයම් හැරුණු විට අලංකාර ගල් දොරටුවකටද අවධානය යොමු කරයි.මෙම දොරටුවේ ශෛලමය මකර තොරණක් සහ මූර්තිවලින් විචිත්‍රවත්ව තිබේ.