Mulkirigala Raja Maha Vihara, Mulgirigala, Sri Lanka - Buddhist Temples and Public Shrines on Waymarking.com

From wikipedia:

Mulkirigala Raja Maha Vihara (also known as Mulgirigala Raja Maha Vihara) (Sinhala: ?????????? ????? ??????) is an ancient Buddhist temple in Mulkirigala, Sri Lanka. It has been built on a 205 m (673 ft) high natural rock, surrounded with another four rocks known as Benagala, Kondagala, Bisogala and Seelawathiegala. The temple site is located about 2 km (1.2 mi) from the Mulkirigala junction and can be reached from either Dikwella or Tangalle towns. The temple has been formally recognised by the Government as an archaeological site in Sri Lanka.

Except its most common name Mulkirigala, the temple is also referred to as Mulgirigala, Muvathitigala, Muhudungiri and Dakkhina Vihara. As the temple has been constructed on a massive natural rock similar to Sigiriya, the site is known as Punchi Seegiriya (Little Sigiriya) by the locals.

As mentioned in the Bodhi Vamsa chronicle, one of the temples known as Giriba Viharaya is where one of the Bo saplings out of 32 saplings germinated from Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi is planted, which was currently identified as Mulkirigala temple. During the Polonnaruwa period this temple was known as Samuddagiri Viharaya, according to the Kamburupitiya Wanaratna Thero, who had read the stone inscription of the pond.

In the 18th century the Mulkirigala rock was called as Adam’s Berg by the Dutch. It is believed that Europeans confused Mulkirigala with the Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak) with the assumption that tombs of Adam and Eve were located here.

According to the ancient chronicle Mahavamsa, the Mulkirigala Vihara was constructed by King Saddhatissa in the third century.[4] After that the temple received royal patronage by numerous successive kings. During the 461-479 AD time period a Stupa was added to the temple by King Datusena and it was further developed by King Kirti Sri Rajasinghe (1747-1782).

Open to visitors?: Yes Photography Permitted Inside?: Yes Statue of the Buddha present?: Yes Related Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Include in your log one or two complete sentences. Logs containing a few words like "visited it" are subject to deletion.

Photos of the shrine are strongly encouraged when permitted otherwise please refrain from taking pictures inside and in any case, generally have respect for the religious nature of the site.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   03/17/2014 Becktracker visited it