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RIDI VIHARAYA

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Ridi Viharaya lies about 20 kilometers away from the ancient kingdom of Kurunegala in a small village called Ridi Gama. This temple is said to be built by King Dutugemunu in the 2nd century BC as a memorial to the place where he found a silver (ridi)

After defeating the kingdom's grasping Elara, he began the construction of the Ruwanvelisaya, also known as the "Great Stupa", one of the tallest monuments built before the 20th century. Among other materials, silver was needed for the stupa's basement.

Meanwhile, some traders were traveling from the central highlands of Sri Lanka to the then capital of the country; Anuradhapura. According to the chronicles, they saw some ripe jackfruits in Ridigama. I thought of cutting it and offering the first half to the Buddhist monks. Four Arhat monks appeared at their discretion and accepted the alms. Then four more monks came and accepted the alms. The last monk, Arhat Indragupta, after eating jackfruit, directed the traders to a cave with silver ore. After they reached Anuradhapura, they informed the king that they had found them. He was very happy to hear the news. The ore provided the amount of silver needed for construction. In gratitude, he built a temple complex on silver ore, employing 300 masons and 700 others, including his master craftsman Viswakarma Prathiraja.

There are approximately twenty-five caves around the temple, which are considered to be inhabited by Arhat monks, since the arrival of Arahat Mahinda in 3rd century BCE.

The temple was revived in the 18th century CE, during the reign of Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy (1746-1778 CE). Uda Viharaya was added to the complex during this period. Several affiliated devalas: Kumara Bandara Devalaya and Paththini Devalaya were also established. Ridi Viharaya now falls under the Malwatte chapter of Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka.

Maha Viharaya

Passing this you would enter the Main Vihara complex which is divided in to two. The lover one is called the ‘Maha Vihare’ ( the main temple) or ‘Pahala Vihare’ ( lower temple) and the upper is called the ‘Uda Vihare’ ( the upper temple). The Maha Vihare was constructed by the king Dutugemunu in the 2nd centaury BC and the Uda Vihare has been constructed by King Kirthi Sri Rajasainha (1747 – 1781) .

The maha vihare is located inside a spacious rock cave and contains a 9m recumbent Buddha image and the original gold plated Buddha Image donated by King Dutugemunu. At the feet of recumbent Buddha image there is a statue of Ananda Thero, a statue of a Maithree Bodhi Sattva and then statues of some Devatha. It is believed that the last statue of Devatha is actually a statue of King Dutugemunu. After these is a row of 5 buddha statues which is said to have been originally gold plated.

The flower pedestal of the recumbent Buddha image also has a very curious feature. It is decorated with about two hundred 18th centaury Dutch tiles portraying the life of Christ popularly known as bible tiles. These are believed to have been presented to King Kirthi Sri Rajasainha (1747 – 1781) by a Dutch Governor who in turn donated it to the temple. From the way these tiles are are arranged, the tiler seems to be clueless of the pictures on the tiles.

The roof of the cave is plastered and painted with various patterns. During the poson season of 2008, a large area of this plaster has fallen off due to heat generated by the large number of pilgrims inside of the cave.

Travel Directions to Ridi Viharaya

The Ridi Vihara is about 20 km from the Kurunegala Town. Travel on the Kandy Road from Kurunegala up to Mallawapitiya junction. This is about 5km form the Kurunegala town. Turn off to Keppitigala Road and Travel another 15 km along this road. You will come across the junction where route to the Viharaya is clearly marked. Travel about 1 1/2 km along this road to reach the Temple.

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