Aluviharaya rock caved temple අලුවිහාරය ගල්ලෙන් විහාරය

Matale Aluviharaya rock cave temple can be seen when looking towards Kandy to Dambulla (34km from Kandy,3km from Matale). This temple is located in the Matale district of the central province in sri Lanka. This temple is a religious, cultural, historical and archaeological site for Buddhist people.

This temple was donated to Maha Sangha by king Devanampiyathissa in the 3rd century BCE. This temple occupies a prominent place among the temples devoted to the Buddha sasana. Because the main reason for this is the place where the Tripitaka (The book of Buddhism) was first written.

After the lord Buddha's death Buddhist Damma was keep memorizing by students monk. In the 1st century BCE during the reign of king Walagamba there was a severe famine called "Baminithigoosa". It lasted about 12 years. Due to the famine, the Buddhist monks had a difficult to getting food and water. Under these circumstances, the Dhamma was difficult to keep memorizing. Seeing the threat pose by Buddhism, about 60 monks travelled to Malaya Rata (Up country) and the  other monks travelled to north India. Due to the difficulty of obtaining food and water, many Buddhist monks in the Up country were living in very difficult condition. As a result, they realized that there was a risk of Buddhism being destroyed.

Tripitakaya 

Then the twelve years of famine was over. King Walagamba who had been in hiding for 15 years became the king of Sri Lanka again. The monks returned who went to Malaya Rata and North India. Then all of them assembled in the colony of Kalallagama. They discussed the writing of the tripitaka to preserve Buddhism for the future generation. With the patronage of King Walagamba the Aloka Lena (cave named Aloka) in Mathula colony was chosen as the best place for this task. This place is presently known as Matale Aluviharaya rock cave temple. Thereafter, they completed this Tripitaka in pali language on talipot leaves (palm tree leaves). In 1956 this Tripitaka was translated into Sinhala Language by Buddhist Monk. First Tripitaka had minor flaws and rewritten in talipot leaves at Matale Aluviharaya rock Cave Temple. It took ten years (1981-1991) for rewritten.

Dragon Pandal (Makara thorana)

There is a beautiful dragon Pandal at the entrance. It is made by two kinds of dragon figure on either side consisting of beautiful petals, flowers and writing.

The elephant wall (Athpaura)

The out wall is engraved from the elephants.

Entrance 

A stone stairway has been created to enter the temple premises.

Caves

This is a temple made of caves and paintings can be seen throughout the walls and ceiling.

Wall paintings

These paintings depict the Huridaththa jathakaya, Dahamsonda jathakaya, Vessanthara jathakaya, Anothaththa pond, Maithree Bodisathwa and few others.

Statues

There are lot of statues inside this temple.

Bo tree 

On one side can see a bo tree planted on a rock.

Two oil lamps

Climb another rock there are two shapes of oil lamps.

Dagoba (Sthupa)

After passing it up a few steps can see the sthupa. In this place shows a wonderful view of the valley below.

There is 13 caves in this temple area. But today only three of them are available for public inspection. Those every caves has lord Buddha's statues and beautiful wall and ceiling paintings.

In the centre of the mountain behind the Aluviharaya rock cave temple a large gold statue of lord Buddha can be seen. Its called Serugala Lord Buddha statue.

And many more such things are found in Aluviharaya rock cave temple. If you ever come to visit Sri Lanka don't forget to visit this Aluviharaya rock cave temple.

Bambawa rajamaha viharaya (temple) බම්බාව රජමහා විහාරය

Bambawa rajamaha viharaya is in Galewela town in Matale district, central province.This temple can be seen when you came two kilometers from Galewela to Matale road.

king Walgamba created Bambawa rajamaha viharaya who called Wattagamini Abhaya.king Walgamba became king as at 104 bc.He create lot of temple in sri lanka.

Because five months after his coronation as king,Thissa rrebelled against him who ruled Rohan area in sri lanka.At the same time, an ininvading army from south India led by seven tamil leaders landed in Mahathiththa.However the tamil leaders became rulers in sri lanka.

After then king Walagamba lived hiding in the forests rock caves amassing and training a force to attack the invaders.After 15 years in 89bc he fought with the Tamil invaders and became again as ruler in sri Lanka.There after the king turned every cave which he lived in to the temple.Bambawa was on of the cave he lived.

The another tale of Bambawa is how it got name as Bambawa.The people believe this place to be the birthplace of Kuweni, a queen of Demon who married prince Wijaya.Her father name is Bamaba and he had two brothers called Kumba and Homba.They rulled Sri Lanka as three province.Kumba rulled southern part of the island. Bamba middle and Homba northern part. This temple area is in middle of Sri Lanka. However this area got kings name Bamaba became Bambawa.

Bambawa temple has Budu medura and two Devales dedicated to the God Galebandara and god Dewathabandara. Budu madura is a room with statue of Lord Buddha. People come to pray and pleading to the gods for successful future.

Another special is this temple has Dageba near the main road. Dageba is a building like pyramid. This Dageba gave very beautiful scene to the temple.

Another one is lake aside the temple. It is a small lake but very impressive. Lot of people coming here clean up before they worship by using this lake.

A large annual Esala perahera possession is held at this temple during July and August. Massive crowds come to visit this Esala perahera. The most exciting experience is watching the elephant March. A herd of about 8 to 10 elephants are adorned with colourful costumes. One of the biggest elephants carries the Buddha's relic on his head.

Sri Lankan traditional dancers and drummers events are also very exciting. There are several traditional dancing called Udarata, Pahatharata and Sabaragamuwa can be seen at this Esala perahera. Also have Tamil traditional dance called Kawadi. With all these things this procession will take to the streets through the Galewela town for two days.

One day if you come to Galewela don't forget to visit Bambawa rajamaha viharaya and don't forget to get this experience on July or August Esala perahera.