Sri Subodharama Raja Maha Vihara

Sri Subodharama Raja Maha Vihara, also known by its historical name Karagampitiya Vihara, is a significant Buddhist temple located in Dehiwala, within the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Its strategic position at the Dehiwala junction on the main Colombo-Galle road places it approximately nine miles south of Colombo city. The temple holds formal recognition as an archaeological site in Sri Lanka, a designation declared by the government on February 23, 2007.

History and Development

The history of the Karagampitiya area is linked to the Kingdom of Kotte. During the reign of King Parakramabahu VI (1412–1467), the Medimala village, which included Karagampitiya, was gifted to the Natha Devalaya at Pepiliyana. The western part of Medimala was allocated to the fishing community, who supplied fish to the royal palace, and this area became known as Karagampitiya. To safeguard the fishermen and the kingdom, the king established a Devalaya on a hillock at Karagampitiya, near a Na tree.

During the Portuguese occupation of the island, the Devalaya was destroyed, and its stone pillars were repurposed for the St. Anthony's church in Mount Lavinia. Under Dutch rule, a Dutch church and an Ambalama were built in the Karagampitiya area. It is recorded that the first incumbent of the Karagampitiya Vihara, Ven. Hikkaduwe Indrajothi thera, resided at this Ambalama. In 1881, the original stone pillars from the destroyed Devalaya were returned to the Karagampitiya temple when the Methodist church of Mount Lavinia was constructed by the British.

The construction of the Vihara itself was completed in 1795 during the reign of King Rajadhi Rajasingha, with the Stupa (Cetiya) finished the following year, 1796. Following the completion of the Vihara, a plant from the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi at Anuradhapura was transplanted onto the temple premises. The preaching hall and the Sath-Sathi-Geya (a shrine room depicting the first seven weeks of Buddha) were completed in 1895. The monastery of Subodharama at Karagampitiya is believed to have been established in the 1820s. Historical records of the temple appear in Henry William Cave's "The Book of Ceylon" (1909) and P. D. Ouspensky's "A New Model of the Universe" (1914).

Temple Layout and Artistry

The Vihara complex is arranged across several sand terraces. The upper terrace hosts the Stupa and the Sath-Sath-Geya, with a small chamber housing a replica of the Sri Pada (Footprint of Buddha) located to its south. The image house, a rectangular building at the center of the middle terrace, faces south. To the west of the image house lies the lower terrace, where the Bodhi tree is planted. The bell tower, Dhammasala (preaching hall), and pilgrims' rest are also situated on the lower terrace, while the Awasa geya (monks' dwelling) is positioned further away on the south side.

Significant Kandyan-era paintings adorn the interior walls of numerous buildings within the Vihara complex. The earliest and most prominent series of these paintings are preserved on the three inner walls of the ambulatory surrounding the image house. The image house features an inner chamber, or shrine room, enclosed by an outer shelter. This inner chamber opens to the south and is framed by sculpted Makara Thorana (dragon arches). A portrait of Queen Victoria, accompanied by two unicorns, is painted over the right-side entrance door. Delftware fragments and VOC coins have been incorporated into the decoration of the door surface and the floor of the image house.

The outer walls of the inner chamber display a large number of narrative paintings arranged in five horizontal bands, each approximately 26 inches in height. These bands feature various Buddhist motifs. The uppermost bands illustrate the proclamations of the twenty-four Buddhas of the past, while the lower bands are decorated with floral scrolls and lotus petal designs. The middle bands depict episodes from the life of Gautama Buddha and Jataka stories, including the Khadirangara Jataka, Nimi Jataka, Mahajanaka Jataka, Manicora Jataka, and Katthahari Jataka. These paintings exhibit the conventional style of the hill-country from the 18th century and the realistic style of the low-country from the 19th century.

The ceiling and the upper sections of the outer walls of the image house's ambulatory were also painted in 1897. The upper outer walls narrate the story of the Maha Ummagga Jataka, while the ceiling panels depict Buddhist heavens.