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The Gal Vihara (Sinhala: ගල් විහාරය, lit. 'rock monastery'), and known originally as the Uttararama (Sinhala: උත්තරාරාමය, lit. 'the great monastery'), is a rock temple of the Buddha situated in the ancient city Polonnaruwa, the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Polonnaruwa, now present-day Polonnaruwa, in North Central Province, Sri Lanka.
Raja Raja Chola I built Vanavan Mahadevisvaram, a Shiva temple at Polonnaruwa named after his queen, which presently is known as Siva Devale. [12] The temple among other contained Ganesha and Parvati statues of bronze. [7] north and central parts of Sri Lanka was under this period ruled under Rajendra Chola I directly as a Chola province.
There is clear evidence that the many rock shelters and caves in the vicinity were occupied by Buddhist monks and ascetics from as early as the 3rd century BC. The earliest evidence of human habitation at Sigiriya is the Aligala rock shelter to the east of Sigiriya rock, indicating that the area was occupied circa 3000 BC during the Mesolithic ...
The city saw its golden age in the 12th century under Parakramabahu I, when numerous Buddhist monuments and temples were constructed, including the Vatadage (pictured), a temple that used to house the relic of the tooth of Buddha. It declined in the 13th century. [7] [8] Ancient City of Sigiriya: Central: 1982 202; ii, iii, iv (cultural)
Rock faces were used as supporting walls for buildings. The platform carrying the mirror wall at Sigiriya and the brick flight of steps stand on steep rock. Around the 6th century, the builders had moved from limestone to the harder gneiss. The vatadage in Polonnaruwa had walls that were constructed of stone to the height of the upper storey.
The temple is composed of five caves of varying sizes and magnificence. [3] The caves, built at the base of a 150m high rock during the Anuradhapura (1st century BC to 993 AD) and Polonnaruwa times (1073 to 1250), are by far the most impressive of the many cave temples found in Sri Lanka.
Dimbulagala Raja Maha Vihara is situated 16 kilometres south east of the ancient city of Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka.The Dimbulagala range houses a number of caves cut into the rock with Brahmi inscriptions over their drip ledges.
Balapokuna Raja Maha Vihara, Pamankada; Buddhist Cultural Centre, Dehiwala; Gangaramaya Temple, Colombo; Isipathanaramaya Temple, Havelock Town; Kotte Raja Maha Vihara, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte