Maligawila Buddha statue, Buddhist limestone statue in Monaragala District, Sri Lanka.

The Maligawila Buddha statue is a monumental limestone work in Monaragala District, carved from a single stone block. It displays fine details and balanced proportions that demonstrate the craftsmanship of its creators.

A prince of the seventh century commissioned this monumental work, which later broke into fragments and underwent multiple restorations. The major reconstruction occurred in the 1990s when the pieces were reassembled.

The statue displays the asisa mudra hand position, a gesture that is particularly common in this region of Sri Lanka. The left arm is draped with a robe, while the right hand is raised in a characteristic blessing pose.

The statue stands near Maligawila village in Moneragala District, Uva Province. The ruins of its former image house, roughly 24 m square with 1.2 m thick walls, lie around the pedestal. The site is an archaeological protected monument, so the fallen pieces and foundations should be left untouched.

The ruins around the statue show that an image house once stood here, about 24 m square with walls 1.2 m thick and some 20 m high. The statue was repaired with an epoxy adhesive developed by Kirthi Samarasuriya, and the 1991 raising was engineered by Gemunu Silva and H.A. Wijegunawardhana.