Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara

The Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara or Kelaniya Temple is a Buddhist sanctuary in Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, seven miles from Colombo. The Chief Incumbent Chief Priest is Venerable Professor Kollupitiye Mahinda Sangharakkhitha Thera. Buddhists trust the sanctuary have been consecrated amid the third and last visit of the Lord Buddha to Sri Lanka, eight years in the wake of picking up edification. Its history would along these lines return to before 500 BCE.

The Mahawansa records that the first Stupa at Kelaniya cherished a pearl studded position of royalty on which the Buddha sat and lectured.The sanctuary thrived amid the Kotte time yet quite a bit of its territory was appropriated amid the Portuguese domain. Under the Dutch domain, notwithstanding, there were new endowments of land and under the support of King Kirthi Sri Rajasingha the sanctuary was modified. It was restored in the main portion of the twentieth century with the assistance of Helena Wijewardana.

The sanctuary is likewise popular for its picture of the leaning back Gautama Buddha and works of art by the local craftsman Solias Mendis which delineate imperative occasions in the life of the Buddha, in the historical backdrop of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, additionally occurrences from the Jataka stories. It is the scene for the Duruthu Maha Perehera parade every January. A 18-foot stone statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesa has been raised at the sanctuary.