Degaldoruwa Raja Maha Viharaya

Degaldoruwa Raja Maha Viharaya is an ancient temple located in the village Amunugama, Kandy in the Central province of Sri Lanka. It was initiated in 1748 by King Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe and later it was completed by his younger brother King Rajadhi Rajasinghe. This is simply a cave temple constructed on a rocky surface.

The earliest route to reach the temple from Kandy is via the roadway over Lewella Bridge  or by proceeding along Kundasale road and turning left at Nattharampota.

The lying Buddha Statue of about 12 cubits in length inside the cave temple is one of the significant statues and there are four standing Buddha statues and two Samadhi Buddha statues among them. The ceiling of the cave is decorated by beautiful eye-catching paintings that belong to Kandyan era. 

The paintings depicts how the Buddha as a saint Sumedha had received definite foresighting or niyatha vivarana from the Buddha Deepankara. Not only that it also depicts the war of Dasa Bimbara Mara sena and the great sorcerer or wasa warthi maraya, the mahi kanthawa or the Goddess Earth, Sadivya loka, Suvisi vivarana. The paintings also depict  the jathaka stories such as Vessanthara, Maha Suthasoma, Satthubaktha and Maha Seelawa jathaka stories.  The prominent colours of these paintings are red and white. 

The Bodhi tree and chaithya have built upon the compound of the rock surface. The stone staircase towards the compound is fully sheltered with beautiful green trees and the lotus pond nearby the path also adds beauty to the temple garden. 

There is also a devala of God Gambara in the temple premises too. 

📷 courtesy- LifeSriLanka- Amanda Mendis