Muthiyangana Temple

Known for Lord Buddha’s 3rd arrival, is regarded as one of the Solosmasthana, the 16 sacred places in the country. It is just one of the Badulla’s many landmarks which will carry you to the time of Lord Buddha.

History Sri Lanka Ancient Temple
Easy Access
Location Badulla
20 km From Ella
Known For Lord Buddha’s 3rd arrival
Solosmasthana
Our Rating Must Visit

5/5

Muthiyangana Temple (Muthiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya)

Muthiyangana Temple (Muthiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya) is regarded as one of the Solosmasthana, the 16 sacred places in the country. If you are staying more than 2 days in Ella, then we recommend you to visit the temple.

Temple is located in Badulla town, which is about 20km from Ella. You can take either the bus or the train from Ella, tuk tuk will cost you some money. It will not be quite difficult to find the temple as it is located in the middle of City Centre.

About

It is just one of the Badulla’s many landmarks which will carry you to the time of Buddha. It is not quite difficult to be traveled in considering the religious places of tourism in Sri Lanka.

Being one of the most venerated religious places it is believed that the sacred jaw-bone is placed in the Stupa. Lord Buddha had arrived to Sri Lanka three times after his Enlightenment. Muthiyangana is one of those 3 destinations. At that time there were 3 major tribes in Sri lanka called Deva, Naga and Yaksha. Lord Buddha was invited to visit Badulla by the King of Deva tribes Indaka.

Legends say that the Stupa is contained of Buddha’s Sacred hair and Mukthaka Dathu (few drops of sweat which had turned in to pearls) . By the time Muthiyangana Vihara was built on the destination and a Dagoba was built around the spot where Buddha gave his sermon, that is how it was built in the 4th century. The Muthiyangana Stupa is about 65 feet in height and a diameter of 270 feet.

There were 7 Bo trees in the temple premise. By the way they have been moved or vanished. So you will be able to find just 4 of them. They are named Maliyadeva (last arahant who arrived to Sri lanka), Ananda Bodi and the last one was planted by King Devanam Piyatissa as a nascent of Jaya Sri maha Bodhi.

In addition to the history of the temple you will find a beautiful Makara Thorana (Dragon Pandol) at the entrance to the Maha Viharaya. Further you can see 2 image houses in the area. Lastly the area was renovated in 1956. Therefore maintaining the Dagoba and image houses have become difficult. It should be noted that the Muthiyanagana templte becomes fully crowded with Pilgrims and tourists on Poya Days. It’s better if you can wear full white dresses on the way to the temple and respect Lord Buddha.

Even though it is bit away from Ella, we recommend you to visit the temple as it is one of the important landmarks in this Buddhist country.

Wear appropriate cloths as it is a sacred place in Sri Lanka

You can allocate one full day to spend around Badulla and visit the famous Dunhinda Falls too, which is another beautiful waterfall in Sri Lanka.