4/5 Kumara L. 4 years ago on Google
On
my
trip
to
Ratnapura,
I
got
to
visit
this
Pothgul
Viharaya
on
a
steep
hill
at
Karangoda
at
Rathnapura.We
were
surprised
by
the
flight
of
steps
leading
the
cave
temple
because
it
is
so
long
and
steep
and
most
of
the
steps
were
carved
with
ancient
script.
We
began
to
put
one
step
over
the
other
to
get
to
the
temple.
When
we
reached
the
temple,
the
serenity
of
the
surroundings
and
the
breath-taking
panoramic
view
around
removed
the
fatigue
caused
by
difficult
climb
and
made
us
enliven
to
explore
this
historically
valued
cave
temple.
This
ancient
temple
was
built
by
the
King
Valagamba
in
the
first
century
BC.
When
the
Tripitaka
was
documented
at
the
Aluvihara
Temple
in
Matale
under
the
sponsorship
of
the
King
Valagamba,
the
Palmyra
leaves
needed
were
collected
and
prepared
here
where
the
Palmyra
trees
were
abundant.
This
cave
was
used
to
store
the
books
bound
by
olla
leaves
prepared
by
Palmyra
leaves,
so
the
cave
was
named
as
“Pothgala”
later
it
became
“Pothgul”.
Just
as
we
reached
the
image
house
within
the
cave
at
the
bottom
of
a
colossal
rock,
our
attention
was
drawn
to
the
huge
reclining
Buddha
statue
in
the
image
house.
The
cave
surface
above
was
adorned
by
the
muli-coloured
beautiful
paintings,
some
of
which
were
damaged
and
faded.
These
paintings
clearly
show
the
artistic
skills
of
the
ancient
people.
It
is
said
that
some
renovations
were
done
during
the
reign
of
the
king
Keerthi
Sri
Rajasinghe.
It
is
worth
worshipping
this
great
religious
place
once
in
your
lifetime.
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