
Tampita Vihara Heritage
Muruddeniya Kandapita Purana Tampita Viharaya
Central Province
Kandy District
7°19'15.4"N 80°31'42.0"E
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STAND INSIDE IT — 360°
THE PLACE
Muruddeniya Kandapita Purana Tampita Viharaya, also recorded as Kandepitiya Vihara, stands in Muruddeniya within the Hatharaliyadda Divisional Secretariat, Kandy District, about 23 kilometres, roughly an hour, from Kandy city. Its tampita image house, a timber shrine raised on stone supports, rests on stone pillar stumps.
Local documentation credits the shrine's construction to the mid-18th century, under the patronage of Weliwita Saranankara Thero, the monk who later became Sangharaja, though this attribution has not been independently confirmed. The shrine is said to have been restored to its original condition in 2012 by the Central Cultural Fund, and was declared a protected archaeological monument by government gazette No. 1264 on 22 November 2002.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS
THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S NOTES
Ask the resident monks or custodian before entering the old image house. Remove footwear and avoid touching paintings, timberwork or statues.
- Viran de Silva
UNIQUE SRI LANKA
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SOURCES
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RECORD
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CONTACT
Photographs © Viran de Silva
info@virandesilva.com
uniquesrilanka.com

