Lankathilaka temple in Kandy District

Lankathilaka Viharaya is a medieval Buddhist temple in the hills to the west of Kandy. The Lankathilaka temple, not to be confused with the image house of the same name in Polonnaruwa, is the most magnificent edifice that has survived from the Sri Lanka’s 14th century Gampola period. It was constructed on order of a chief minister called Senalankadhikara during the reign of King Bhuvanekabahu IV (1341 – 1351). The architect is said to have been from South India. Inscriptions carved in the rock just south of the main edifice have both Sinhala and Tamil sections. The layout is that of a Buddhist image house, which opens to the east, surrounded by a ring of five Hindu chapels, the aisles of which can be entered from the west. This Hindu Devales form an integral part of the mainly Buddhist temple, making Lankathilaka a unique ensemble of shrines of the Buddha and the five major deities also venerated by Sinhalese. The combination of a brick temple inspired by Drawidian stone temples from Tamil Nadu and tiles roofs inspired by the wooden temples of Kerala is unique, too. In the 18th century, the walls and the ceiling of the Buddhist main shrine room have been decorated with Kandy paintings. Indeed, Lankathilaka is the best example of a a temple interior in the Kandyan stye which is not a cave but a constructed image house.

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