Most visited Tourism Destinations places in Sri Lanka - Matale - Nalanda

 

                            Nalanda Gedige

Nalanda Gedige is an ancient complete stone temple near Matale, Sri Lanka and its original site is considered the geographical centre of Sri Lanka.The building was constructed between the 8th and 10th centuries with dravidian architecture in (Pallava style) and is believed to have been used by Buddhists. A pillar inscription of the 9-10th century A.D. that was unearthed from the site revealed Nalanda Gedige was a Buddhist monastery.[4] Recorded in the Sinhala language, it includes a code of regulations made for the temple. Also some scholars describe this building as a dravidian architecture dedicated to a Mahayana cult with pronounced Tantric learning and known as an ancient monument of possible Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhist affinities.Nalanda Gedige is designed on the lines of a Hindu temple with a mandapa, an entrance hall (originally roofed), a short passage to a bare cello, and an ambulatory round the holy centre. A limited number of the original Hindu deity statuettes exist within the temple; however, a statue of the God Kubera appears on the south side of the tympanum over the sanctuary, a feature that can only be seen in Sri Lanka.

 

The richly decorated facade sections, laboriously reassembled in 1975, are predominantly in the South Indian style. Although they cannot be precisely dated, they are believed to have originated sometime between the 8 to 11th centuries.