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The Gal Vihara (Sinhala: ගල් විහාරය, lit. 'rock monastery'), and known originally as the Uttararama (Sinhala: උත්තරාරාමය, lit. 'the great monastery'), is a rock temple of the Buddha situated in the ancient city Polonnaruwa, the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Polonnaruwa, now present-day Polonnaruwa, in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. It was fashioned in the 12th century by King Parakramabahu I. The central feature of the temple is four rock relief statues of the Buddha, which have been carved into the face of a large granite gneiss rock. The images consist of a large seated figure, another smaller seated figure inside an artificial cavern, a standing figure, and a reclining figure. These are considered to be some of the best examples of ancient Sinhalese sculpting and carving arts, and have made the Gal Vihara the most visited monument at Polonnaruwa.
The images of Uttararama follow a different style from the images of the previous Anuradhapura period, and show some significant differences. The identity of the standing image is subject to a certain amount of dispute among historians and archaeologists, some of whom argue that it depicts the monk Ananda rather than the Buddha. Each of the images have been carved in a way that uses a maximum possible area of the rock, and their heights seem to have been decided based on the height of the rock itself. Each statue appears to have had its own image house, as indicated by the remains of brick walls at the site. The Uttararama was where Parakramabahu I held a congregation of monks to purify the Buddhist priesthood, and later drew up a code of conduct for them. This code of conduct has been recorded in an inscription on the same rock face containing the images of the Buddha.
boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text. The GalVihara (Sinhala: ගල් විහාරය, lit. 'rock monastery'), and known originally as...
Polonnaruwa Vatadage Hatadage Rankoth Vehera Nissanka Latha Mandapaya GalVihara World Heritage List Anuradhapura Sigiriya Mahawamsa Place names in Sri...
marshy land. It has the main features of a Vihara (temple), the Cetiya (Pagada) the Bodhitree, the Vihara Mandiraya, the Seema malaka (assembly hall for...
Buddha, 5th century CE. Seated Buddha, Gupta period. Seated Buddha at GalVihara, Sri Lanka. Chinese Stele with Sakyamuni and Bodhisattvas, Wei period...
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republic of Kalinga and a king named Pandu. Legend states the Abhayagiri vihāra was first appointed custodianship of the relic when it was brought to the...
documented in 3D: GalVihara; Kiri Vihera; Lankatilaka Vihara and the Quadrangle (Hatadage; Atadage; Recumbent-house; Chapter House; Gal Pota; Satmahal Prasada;...
constructed a vihara and 68 caves for the bhikkhus to reside in. At Mihintale there gradually grew a number of Buddhist monasteries or viharas with all the...
Tank cascade system Parakrama Samudra Sites Dimbulagala Raja Maha ViharaGalVihara Hatadage Jetavanaramaya Nissanka Latha Mandapaya Polonnaruwa Vatadage...
pillaging and agreed to build a vihara on the grounds of Mahavihara. The Mahavamsa quotes the king: "We will make the vihara to be dwelt in yet again; forgive...
constructed with brick walls, granite window openings, and ceilings. The Galvihara, Polonnaruwa and the cave temples of Dambulla were initially constructed...
throughout the Angkor for centuries.[citation needed] Buddha statues in GalVihara Seven storeyed Satmahal Prasada Moonstone of Polonnaruwa Parakrama Samudra...
the King also built a separate house for Sangamitta known as 'Hathalakha-Vihara' acceding to the request of the nuns to reside in a secluded place where...
Muwangala Raja Maha Vihara, also known as Digamadulle Purana Raja Maha Vihara, (Sinhala: මුවංගල රජ මහා විහාරය හෝ දිගාමඩුල්ලේ පුරාණ රජ මහා විහාරය) is an...
hemispherical dome surmounted with a spire (kota). Mahiyangana Raja Maha Vihara in Mahiyangana, Uva Province is regarded as the first stupa of ancient Sri...
connecting it to the cliff, and the four 12-century Buddha figures at GalVihara; the brick foundations for image houses can be seen here. The seven 10th-century...
2009. Bandaranayake, S. D. (1974). Sinhalese Monastic Architecture: The Viharas of Anuradhapura - Senake Bandaranayake - Google Books. ISBN 9004039929...
Dimbulagala Raja Maha Vihara Sculpture Buduruvagala Samadhi Statue Toluvila statue Avukana Buddha statue GalVihara Maligawila Buddha statue Reswehera...
Tempita Vihara (Sinhala: ටැම්පිට විහාර) is a unique type of image house found in some Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka. With an inimitable architecture design...
(301-328) and handed over the tooth relic. The king enshrined it in Meghagiri Vihara (present day Isurumuniya) in Anuradhapura. Safeguarding the relic was the...
Magama. Somawathiya is therefore much older than Ruwanwelisaya, Mirisawetiya Vihara or Jetavanaramaya. The stupa is named after Princess Somawathi, the sister...
further than the last quarter of the first century BCE, the date of the Alu-vihara redaction, the earliest redaction we can have some knowledge of, and that...
constructed with brick walls, granite window openings, and ceilings. The Galvihara, Polonnaruwa and the cave temples of Dambulla were initially constructed...
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