| Sri Subodharama Raja Maha Vihara | |
|---|---|
ශ්රි සුබෝධාරාම රජ මහා විහාරය | |
 The front wall of the inner chamber | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Buddhism |
| District | Colombo |
| Province | Western Province |
| Location | |
| Location | Karagampitiya,Sri Lanka |
 | |
| Geographic coordinates | 06°50′56.0″N79°52′05.9″E / 6.848889°N 79.868306°E /6.848889; 79.868306 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Buddhist Temple |
Sri Subodharama Raja Maha Vihara (Also known asKaragampitiya Vihara) is a historicBuddhist temple situated atDehiwala in theWestern province,Sri Lanka. The temple is located at the Dehiwala junction on the Colombo-Galle main road, about 9 miles south ofColombo city. The temple has been formally recognised by theGovernment as anarchaeological site in Sri Lanka. The designation was declared on 23 February 2007 under the governmentGazette number 1486.[1]
In the early periods, Karagampitiya area was part of theKingdom of Kotte and came under the region of Medimala (Nedimale). During the reign of kingParakramabahu VI (1412–1467) the Medimala village was gifted to theNathaDevalaya atPepiliyana. The western area of the Medimala village was allocated to the fishing community and known as Karagampitiya as they supply fish to the royal palace.[2] In order to protect the fishermen from calamities and to safeguard the kingdom from foreign invasions, the king constructed a new Devalaya at the collum of a Na tree (Mesua ferrea) on a hillock at Karagampitiya.
During thePortuguese presence in the island, the Devalaya at Karagampitiya was destroyed and its stone pillars were used to erect the St. Anthony's church atMount-Lavinia.[2] A Dutch church and anAmbalama were built in the Karagampitiya area underDutch rule . It is said that the first incumbent of the Karagampitiya Vihara, Ven. Hikkaduwe Indrajothi thera had lived at that Ambalama. In 1881, the old stone pillars from the destroyed Devalaya were again returned to the Karagampitiya temple when the Methodist church of Mt. Lavinia was built byBritish rulers of that time.
The Buddha statues of the Vihara are dated back to the year 1780 and believed to be the creation of the same artist ofKelaniya Raja Maha Vihara.[2] In 1795 during the reign of kingRajadhi Rajasingha the construction of the Vihara work was completed and the work of theStupa (Cetiya) was finished in 1796. As soon as the completion of the Vihara work, a plant from theJaya Sri Maha Bodhi atAnuradhapura has been implanted in the premises. The preaching hall and the Sath-Sathi-Geya (A shrine room depicting the first seven week of Buddha) at the Vihara have been completed in the year 1895. Themonastery of Subodharama at the Karagampitiya is believed to be established in the 1820s.[3][4]
Recent records about the Subodhara temple has been made inThe Book of Ceylon written by Henry William Cave (1909) and inA New Model of the Universe by P D Ouspensky (1914).[2]
The layout of the Vihara consists of several sand terraces. The upper terrace is assigned for theStupa and the Sath-Sath-Geya and the small chamber of Sri Pada (Foot print of Buddha) are located south to it. The image house is a rectangular building located at the center of the middle terrace and faces to south. To the west of the image house is the lower terrace where theBodhi tree has been planted. The bell tower, Dhammasala (Preaching hall) and pilgrims' rest are also spread out on the lower terrace while the Awasa geya (Dwelling house of monks) is positioned on the south side, further away from them.
A large amount of paintings belonging to theKandyan era adorn interior walls of many buildings in the Vihara complex. The earliest and also the main publication of these painting series are preserved on the three inner walls of the ambulatory of the image house.
The image house consists of an inner chamber (shrine room) surrounded by an outer shelter. The inner chamber opens towards the south direction and has two entrances, framed with sculptedMakara Thorana (Dragons arches). A portrait of theQueen Victoria has been painted over the right side entrance door in a framed portrait, accompanied by twounicorns. Also someDelftware fragments and VOC coins have been used to decorate the door surface as well as the floor of the image house.
The outer walls of the inner chamber contain a large number of narrative paintings arranged in five horizontal bands of nearly 26 inches in height.[4] These bands are adorned with various drawings related to theBuddhism. The upper most horizontal bands of the three walls are illustrated with proclamation of the twenty four Buddhas of the past while the lower band decorated with floral scrolls and lotus petal motif. The middle bands of the walls display the episodes from the life of theGautama Buddha andJataka stories. (Khadirangara Jataka, Nimi Jataka, Mahajanaka Jataka, Manicora Jataka and Katthahari Jataka). All the paintings show the features of conventional style of the hill-country (18th century) and the realistic style of the low-country (19th century).
Theceiling and the upper part of the outer walls of the ambulatory of the image house have also been covered with paintings done in 1897. The upper part of the outer wall represent the story of Maha Ummagga Jataka while Buddhist heavens are depicted on the ceiling panels.
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