Niththawela Raja Maha Viharaya in

Niththawela Raja Maha Viharaya is an active Buddhist temple in the Niththawela area of Kandy, about four kilometers from the city center via Mahaiyawa. It today holds a large extent of land in the village and functions largely as residential quarters for monks affiliated with the Asgiri chapter, rather than as a major ceremonial site.

According to local historical accounts, the temple was one of four viharas established by royal decree to house monks visiting the headquarters of the Malwathu and Asgiri chapters — the others at Suduhumpola, Gangaramaya, and Daulagala in Ampitiya — with the work entrusted to a figure named Rajakaruna Wijewardena Wasala Mudiyanse. During the reign of King Narendrasinghe (1707–1739), it accommodated the monk Velivita Sri Sarankara, who would later become known for reviving Buddhism and instigating the Siyam Nikaya ordination. In 1771, King Kirti Sri Rajasinghe renovated the viharaya and granted land to its resident monks.

The temple did not survive the 1817–1818 rebellion intact: British colonial soldiers destroyed it, and the resident monks — punished for their part in the uprising — lost the site, which passed to another monk connected with the Asgiriya Viharaya. Reliable published detail on the temple's original structures and their age remains limited; visit for the setting and confirm historical detail with the resident clergy.