A visit to the Wewurukannala Buddha Temple, which is a cultural, ancient and religious landmark.

Hi my loving travelers,

Greetings from Sri Lanka. I have a keen interest in traveling even on a small vacation. There are many reasons for doing so. My wife, who lives in the same frame of life at home, and I, who work in the same pattern at the workplace, get immeasurable happiness and mental freedom through a trip. In addition, more educational knowledge and even history can be explored. So what I hope to present is a travel experience that has earned many more values. Wewrukannala Buddha Maha Vihara, located between Dickwella and Beliatta cities, has become famous as a temple built during the old king's time. This temple is a temple with many historical values. Vavrukannala temple is located in the southern province, but it is a temple known by many people in any province of Sri Lanka. Foreign tourists also come to see this place because of the objects full of ancient values.

After entering the Wewurukannala temple, he took off his shoes and came to the site where the library building containing the books of the temple is located. It is built according to traditional architecture. From bottom to bottom wood carvings are common to almost every temple. On the upper roof is a small golden stupa. Doors and window frames are made of strong wood. Even the walls have beautiful designs.

As Sri Lankans, we remove our shoes when entering a religious shrine as a sign of respect for the religion. It is a common feature of all religions. We climbed a stone staircase and entered the Wewurukannala temple grounds. It appears that the small stone steps were built during the reign of the king.

This ancient sacred site has been named Vavrukannala Buddharaja Maha Viharaya since March 2, 1969, as the largest Buddha statue is seated. Before that this temple was known as Sudassanananda temple. The history of Wewrukannala Buddharaja Maha Vihara dates back to the Rajadhirajasingha era of the Kandy period. The son of that king's Madakumbura Vasala Devi resided as a Lord in the ancient rest house at Vavurukannala. It is for security that they have lived in an area far away from Kandy. The people of the area also addressed him as 'Rajakumara Thera'. Rajakumara Thero is also considered as one of the seven monks who came from Burma to bring the Upasampada to this country. The beginning of Dikwella Sudassanananda Vihara is also from him. There are 3 Buddha houses located in Dikwella Buddharaja Maha Viharasthan. Among them, the oldest Buddha House was built in 1870.
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After entering the temple grounds, you can see the buildings, the stupa, the big Buddha statue, the bell and the steps leading to the Bodhi. Apart from that, a booth was also built to offer flowers near the stupa we worshiped first. A separate chamber is created because flowers are not placed directly on the stupa. It is common practice to place small Buddha statues in such chambers.

After offering lily flowers to the stupa, we went to the upper area to worship the Bodhi tree. In the meantime, the task of taking photographs was assigned to my wife.

After going to the upper part of the Vavrukannala temple, you can see the shape of the roof of the buildings where the monks live and the library below. The buildings are roofed with tiles. My location helped me to see the triangular shape of the buildings.

Wewrukannala Temple is a place full of ancient artifacts. I could see a place in the shape of an old fort, designed in a circular shape above and below and with many Buddhist carvings. Between four rectangular windows covered with glass on four sides, there is an open door for entry. Discolored due to lack of recent paint. Many devotees from Sri Lanka come to Wewurukannala temple and some devotees give financial support for development activities.

As I mentioned earlier, this temple was built during the reign of the king. At that time, most of the temples were made of stone. Casters created many ancient objects by fine-tuning the shape of the stone. Here, I caught the eye of an amazing stone work that is used nowadays to light instant sticks.

No matter how old the temple is, it is a pity that the ancient treasures are going to destruction. I got to see such a Buddha statue in the temple grounds. Due to the lack of color coating and lack of a roof, the above Buddha statue is on the verge of destruction. In fact, the preservation of such antiques is even more important as it enables us to pass them on to future generations.

After that I entered the Bodhi tree. A large area was set aside to offer flowers to the Bodhi tree, which we Buddhists worship. It is indeed a credit to Bodhi to have succeeded in creating a long chamber covered with ceramic tiles.

The huge and tall Buddha statue of Wewurukannala Buddha Temple can be seen even from far away places. Built on a small hill, it can be viewed from several locations. I took a photo of the Bodhi tree. Look at the splendor there.

The floor in front of the Bodhi tree, to which Buddhists worship from the top, must have been recently paved with cement tiles. After that, one of the best creations of Buddhist architecture, the stone carvings of various animals and motifs can be seen at the entrance.

In front of the Bodhi tree can be seen a newly constructed Buddha chamber covered with glass. The frame around it is made using steel. There is an opportunity to offer flowers in front of it. Devotees can sit and worship as the beautifully designed tiles that are laid on the floor of Buddhist temples are laid here. This place is also ideal for meditation.

Like other temples in Sri Lanka, Wewurukannala Temple has a gold-plated fence built around the Bodhi tree for security purposes. Around it, the chamber was spread like a wall made of golden Buddha statues and Bo leaves. It is covered with glass all around. It has been created using beautiful wood carvings in the form of small doors that can be opened when you get closer.

It can be concluded that the Bo tree located here is an old one because it is widely spread. Plants have been planted in flower vases and decorations have been given around the Bodhi. My daughter and I stood there for a while and enjoyed the coolness.

Next, my attention was drawn to the statue of Lord Shiva under an umbrella with Buddhist motifs. Hindus believed in the blue color to see the living appearance of Lord Shiva.

The portraits of some of the monks and philanthropists who contributed to the development and revival of the Wewurukannala Temple and who resided in the temple were displayed in remembrance.

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While there was an old bell to announce the events and emergencies of the temple, another bell was hanging on the top floor of a beautiful shaped chamber.

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After seeing and worshiping all the cultural objects, we entered from the back of the big Buddha statue and reached the entrance to climb up. It was a great benefit to you and me that it was open some time ago, but it was open when we got there.

After entering the place to climb the big statue of Buddha, which looks like a tunnel temple in Vavrukannala temple, we had to climb the small stairs without much space. This is similar to a tunnel temple but cannot be considered as a tunnel temple as it is located above the ground. But the Wewurukannala temple has a tunnel temple. I will describe it in the second part of this in the architecture community.

You can see the murals created according to the architectural features established in historical and traditional Buddhism. When I see them, my heart is always filled with excitement. The reason for that is my experience and knowledge as a Buddhist. Beautiful artistic creations feature on the ceiling and walls with designs of lotus flowers and pots filled with coconut flowers. Also, the shapes used for the woo va windows have very unique architectural features.

In the Sri Lankan Buddhist tradition, various shapes are used for paintings and murals for temples. They bring a special form and a strange beauty because they are from the past. Many Buddhist stories including the past stories of our religious teacher Buddha have been used for these paintings. Also, the carvings and designs used for the towers are very interesting. They may not be seen in any other Asian country, but similar designs can be seen. But because these are created according to the traditional art of Sri Lanka, all the designs seen in the murals and pillars are interesting.