Most visited Tourism Destinations places in Sri Lanka----Pusulpitiya Raja Maha Vihara

 

                 Pusulpitiya Raja Maha Vihara

Pusulpitiya is a village in Kotmale about 3 miles from Morape on the banks of the Kotmale Oya. This area is full of folk legends as this is the area where Prince Dutugemunu spent his childhood when Elara was ruling Anuradhapura. 

According to legends a South Indian Brahmin heard about a golden ash pumpkin in the area called Nain Kelina Thota in the Kotmale area. He came to Sri Lanka and married a girl from the same area. After a while, they had a son. He sacrificed the son to take the golden ash pumpkin and while running with it, he kept the pumpkin on a rocky plain to rest. It is said that the rock cracked open and the the golden ash pumpkin fell in through this crack. Due to this, the area was known as Pusulpitiya, and the Pusulpitiya Rajamaha Viharaya was built on the ground where the Golden Treasure was sunk back to earth.

Kotmale Pusulpitiya Rajamaha Viharaya is historically linked with the Sacred Tooth Relic as it has found refuge here several times during times of political unrest. It is said that the relic was hidden here during the Maga’s rule (1215-1236) at Polonnaruwa. Vijayabahu III (1232-1236) took it back to Dambadeniya where he established the kingdom. The sacred Tooth Relic again found refuge here when the British entered the Kandyan Kingdom in 1815. But the British found it and took it back to the Kandy.

The temple also owns one of the four valuable Buddha statues which has been brought to Sri Lanka from India by Arahat Maliyadeva (The last maha arahat to live in Sri Lanka). The other 3 statues are said to be housed at Vattarama, Diddeniya, and Madanwala. This seated bronze statue under a Makara Thorana is a beautiful work of art. Apart from this statue, there is nothing of significant historic value in the temple.

According to Sinhala Bodhiwamsa, “Pusulpitiya in Kotmale” was one of the locations where Dethis Pala Bodhis were planted in the 3rd century BC by King Devampiyatissa.