Kotte Raja Maha Vihara, Buddhist temple in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Sri Lanka.
Kotte Raja Maha Vihara is a Buddhist temple with remaining stone pillars, stupa fragments, and parts of a shrine house that together form the structure of this ancient sacred site. The grounds consist of several connected areas where religious and meditative spaces are arranged.
A king commissioned this temple in the early 15th century next to his royal palace to serve the monastic community. It has remained an important place of Buddhist worship since then.
The temple walls display Buddhist artworks from different periods, with older frescoes alongside modern paintings in the outer sections of the image house. This blend shows how visitors and worshippers have maintained and renewed the site across centuries.
The grounds are recognized as an archaeological site and remain open year-round for religious ceremonies and meditation. Visitors should wear respectful clothing and remember this is an active place of worship.
A portrait of Queen Victoria flanked by two lions appears above an entrance door, showing a rare blend of colonial British and local Buddhist elements. This unexpected detail reflects the complex history of the region during colonial times.
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