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7°40'11.00''N 80°38'44''E

Nalanda Gedige

නාලන්දා ගෙඩිගේ

Nalanda Gedige

Nalanda Gedige

නාලන්දා ගෙඩිගේ

Nalanda Gedige ( sinhala:නාලන්දා ගෙඩිගේ ) ( Tamil: நாலந்த கெடிகே; Nālanda Gedige ) is an ancient complete stone temple near Matale, Sri Lanka and its original site was considered as the center of Sri Lanka. The building was constructed in between 8th and 10th centuries with dravidian architecture in( Pallava style )and is believed to have been used by Buddhists. Also some scholars describe this building is a dravidian architecture dedicated to a Mahayanaa cult with pronounced Trantric learning and known for an ancient monument of possible Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhist affinities. 


Nalanda Gedige is designed on the lines of a Hindu temple with a mandapa, an entrance hall (originally roofed), a short passage to a bare cello, and an ambulatory round the holy center. A limited number of the original Hindu deity statuettes exist within the temple, however, a statue of the God Kubera appears on the south side of the tympanum over the sanctuary, a feature that can only be seen in Sri Lanka. The richly decorated facade sections, laboriously reassembled in 1975, are predominantly in the South Indian style. Although they cannot be precisely dated, they are believed to have originated sometime between the 8 to 11th centuries.


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