Madu Ganga is a minor watercourse which originates near Uragasmanhandiya in the Galle District of Sri Lanka, before widening into the Madu Ganga Lake at Balapitiya. The river then flows for a further a 4.4 km (2.7 mi) before draining into the Indian Ocean. It is located 88 km (55 mi) south of Colombo and 35 km (22 mi) north of Galle.

The Buddhist Amarapura Nikaya sect had its first upasampada (higher ordination ceremony) on a fleet of boats anchored upon it in 1803. The Buddhist Kothduwa temple is situated on an isolated island in the lake.

Madu Ganga Lake, together with the smaller Randombe Lake, to which it is connected by two narrow channels, forms the Madu Ganga wetland. It's estuary and the many mangrove islets on it constitute a complex coastal wetland ecosystem. It has a high ecological, biological and aesthetic significance, being home to approximately 303 species of plants belonging to 95 families and to 248 species of vertebrate animals. The inhabitants of its islets produce peeled cinnamon and cinnamon oil.

The Madu Ganga Wetland was formally declared in 2003, in terms of the Ramsar Convention.

Moonstone Mines are situated in the coastal village of Meetiyagoda which is just a couple of kilometers from the coast, in between Ambalangoda and Hikkaduwa. The area has been popular for moonstone mining where the mines are muddy holes, 6 meters or 7 meters long. The process involves filtering out the precious stones and polishing them to prepare them for sale. Sri Lankan moonstones are of highest value due to their dark blue reflection. The finest and rarest moonstones have an almost transparent colourless body with a strong blue shine.

Kande Vihara (Sinhalaː කන්දේ විහාරය) is a major Buddhist temple in Kalutara District, Sri Lanka. The temple has got its name 'Kande vihara' (Mountain temple) as it is built on top of a hill located near to Aluthgama town. The temple has been formally recognised by the Government as an archaeological site in Sri Lanka.

History

The temple was founded by Karapagala Dewamitta Thero in 1734,[2] under the guidance of Udugama Chandrasara thero who was then chief incumbent of Galapatha Raja Maha Vihara and a pupil of Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero. Since then the temple was renovated and developed time to time under state patronage that lead the temple to become a major Buddhist shrine in the country. In 1904 the Kshethrarama Pirivena, an educational institution for monks, was attached to the temple as a result of the efforts done by Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thero.[3] The pirivena acts as a center for Buddhist education in the country, is also conducted by the Kande Vihara.

The image house, Stupa and the sacred Bodhi tree with its enclosing octagonal shaped wall are considered as very old monuments in the temple. The Bodhi tree is believed to be more than 300 years old.[4] The large Stupa of the temple which was erected in 1935, has been constructed as enclosing a small sized Stupa, constructed by Udugama Chandrasara Thero in 1783.[5]

In 2002, a foundation stone for a gigantic Samadhi Buddha statue depicting the Bhoomisparsha Mudra was laid in the temple premises and the completed statue was open to the public in 2007, making the temple more popular among the local devotees. The statue is 48.8 m (160 ft)[6] in height and considered as one of tallest sitting Buddha statues in the world.[2]

The Temple

The temple comprises the Stupa, Bodhi Tree, Relic Chamber, Image House, Upulvan Devalaya and the other main Devalas including Kataragama and Pattini Devalaya.[4] Bodhi Tree, preaching hall and the Seema Malaka are situated outside the Vihara premises. The Stupa has been built in bell shape and erected within an octagonal Shelter.

Vows made and tied on the Sacred Bo tree at Kande Viharaya, Aluthgama.

The relic chamber of the temple is believed to be the oldest building in the temple premises.[5] At the entrance of the chamber is sculptured with a stone moonstone and a door frame. Inner walls and the ceiling of the chamber has been adorned with Kandyan Era Frescoes belonging to the latter part of the Kandyan period. The image house of the temple is consist of an inner chamber and an outer chamber. Entrance to the image house is a magnetic looking Thorana with three arch shaped entrances. Inside the inner chamber three Buddha images in the standing, seated and sleeping postures can be seen. The walls and the ceilings of both chambers have been decorated with Jataka tales, moments of the Buddha's journey of life and various types of other murals.

Brief Garden is a landscape garden and former home in Beruwala, Sri Lanka designed by landscape architect and owner Bevis Bawa.[1][2] It is home to the landscape design practice, Brief Garden Designs.

In 1929 Bawa was bequeathed the family rubber plantation by his mother, Bertha Marianne née Schrader (1876–1946). The estate's unique name was derived from the fact it was purchased by his father, Benjamin, with funds from a successful legal brief. Bawa realised that he lacked the self-discipline to operate and maintain a successful plantation and focused instead on developing the estate's garden. The original estate was approximately 81 hectares (200 acres) with Bawa selling off portions of the estate to reduce it to manageable proportions. He continually worked on the garden until his death in 1992.[3] The estate was inherited by his employees, with Doohlan de Silva, currently managing the property.[4]

The entrance to the garden is located through to ornate gateposts, crowned with male and female figures. The gateposts were created by Bawa and Donald Friend, an Australian artist and represent a fusion of Eastern and Western influences.[5] The path then leads to two additional entrances. The first, a black and white door set in a mustard yellow wall, leads to the house via a curved staircase. The second leads down into the garden but screens any views of the house.

The Kothduwa temple, or Koth Duwa Raja Maha Viharaya, is a Buddhist temple located on Kothduwa Island on the Madu Ganga in southern Sri Lanka. The island is located in Galle District of the Southern Province approximately 35 km (22 mi) north of Galle and 88 km (55 mi) south of Colombo.[1]

The temple is believed to have once sheltered the sacred relic of the tooth of the Buddha, circa 340 CE.[2] The Bodhi tree on the island was planted from a bud of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi by Deva Pathiraja, minister to King Parakramabahu IV.[3]

Location

The Kothduwa temple, or Koth Duwa Raja Maha Viharaya,is located at Kothduwa Island on the Maduganga river in Balapitiya, Sri Lanka.

The temple and the island on which it is located both lie within the Maduganga Estuary. Kothduwa is one of 15 islands within the estuary. The biodiversity of the wetlands surrounding the temple is exceptional and 111 species of birds and 248 species of vertebrates have been recorded in the area. In 2006, the Department of Wildlife Conservation declared 2,600 hectares of the estuary a wildlife sanctuary.[1] In 2003, 915 hectares of the Maduganga Estuary was declared a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The estuary and the 15 islands within, including Kothduwa became Ramsar Site 1372.[4]

Access to the temple is by boat from Balapitiya, the nearest large town.[5] The temple also operates its own boat for the purposes of running the temple, although it is sometimes used to pick up visitors. Those wishing to be collected by the temple boat should sound the horn and flash the headlights of their vehicle, from the access road on the mainland shore nearest the island.[6]

The Temple today

As of 2006, Kothduwa temple was the residence of five priests, though several young novice monks also study at the temple and greet visitors. Ven. Omanthai Pugngnasara (also known as Ven. Omaththe Punnyasara) is the fourth incumbent of the temple, and has lived there for over 30 years.[6]

The temple at Kothduwa is currently a popular destination with tourists. The resort town and beach of Balapitiya, at the mouth of the Maduganga, is home to several businesses that run tour boats. In peak tourist season, several tour boats a day ferry visitors to island restaurants, through mangrove tunnels, and stop-overs at the temple.[5]

Foreign tourists are not the only visitors to the temple, which is swarmed by up to 1,000 local devotees on poya, a Buddhist holiday in Sri Lanka.[6]

History

In the 4th century CE, King Guhasiva of Kalinga was in possession of a sacred relic, a tooth of Buddha. The cause of political upheaval for hundreds of years, the tooth was believed to impart a divine right to rule, to whoever possessed it.[7] The King, fearing that the object of his Buddhist worship would be forcibly taken from him, secretly sent the tooth away with the Princess Hemamali and her husband, Prince Danthakumara. Disguised as Brahmins and hiding the tooth in Princess Hemamali's hair, legend states that they sailed to Sri Lanka.[8] Accounts of where they landed in Sri Lanka vary, with some recording their port as Trincomalee and others as Welitota, or present-day Balapitiya.[9]

The legend that they landed in Balapitiya, at the mouth of the Maduganga estuary, is recorded in Pali Dalada Vansaya, or Chronicle of the Tooth Relic. The story continues that the couple hid the tooth in a sand shelter at Kothduwa, while tarrying there, before finally giving it to King Sirimeghavanna, the ruler of Sri Lanka at the time.[2]

Many centuries later, after Kothduwa had become separated from the mainland and overgrown with vegetation, it was re-discovered by Deva Pathiraja, a minister to King Parakramabahu IV, who reigned in the 14th century. The Minister planted there on the island one of the 32 sacred buds of Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi.[1][3][5]

During the tumultuous 16th century, when the Sitawaka and Kotte kingdoms vied for power and the Portuguese threatened the shores of Sri Lanka, it is said that the hot-headed prince Veediya Bandara was keeper of the tooth relic,[10] and that he returned it for safekeeping to Kothduwa, where it remained for a short period of time.[1]

Again, the island and the Dethis Maha Bodhi planted there passed into neglect, until businessman Samson Rajapakse took an interest in the area in the 1860s. He had the present temple built around the Bodhi tree.[5] A portrait of Rajapakse now hangs in the main hall of the temple complex.

Bentota is a famous coastal resort town in the south-west portion of Sri Lanka, located 65 kilometers away from Colombo city, featuring a wide variety of tourist attractions in its premises, the important one being the Bentota beach or Ventura beach, which is a long strip of golden sands that lies like a secluded beach island with lush vegetation flanked by turquoise ocean water from either side, with access to all the best facilities including resort accommodation, meditation and spa centers, and restaurants. At Bentota, one of the perfect beach holiday destinations in the country, you enjoy water sports, city tours and visiting other relevant sites around the city.