Dhowa Rock Temple or Dowa Raja Maha Viharaya ( si, දෝව රජ මහා විහාරය) is a heritage listed

rock temple Rock-cut architecture is the creation of structures, buildings, and sculptures by excavating solid rock where it naturally occurs. Intensely laborious when using ancient tools and methods, rock-cut architecture was presumably combined with quarry ...

in Sri Lanka, located in the central mountains of the

Uva Province Uva Province ( si, ඌව පළාත, Uva Paḷāta, ta, ஊவா மாகாணம், Uvā Mākāṇam) is Sri Lanka's second least populated province, with 1,259,880 people, created in 1896. It consists of two districts: Badulla and M ...

. It is adjacent to Dhowa, a small village situated on the

Badulla Badulla ( si, බදුල්ල, ta, பதுளை) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District. Geography Badulla is ...

Bandarawela Bandarawela ( Sinhala : බණ්ඩාරවෙල, pronounced ; Tamil: பண்டாரவெல) is the second largest town in the Badulla District which is away from Badulla. Bandarawela is away from Colombo and about away from Kand ...

main road (approximately north of Bandarawela). The temple is east of

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

and south of

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

History

The temple is believed to have been constructed by King Valagamba in the in first century BC and is one of many temples built by the king while taking refuge in Uva Province after an army from

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

invaded the Anuradhapura Kingdom. The temple dates back over 2000 years.Caving in Sri Lanka
/ref> On 1 November 1996 was formally recognised by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

as an archaeological protected monument. The designation was declared under the government

Gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspaper ...

number 948.

Attractions

The temple is famous for its large high unfinished

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

image, which is carved into the vertical granite rockface. The image is an example of

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing br ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

Paintings

References

Buddhist temples in Badulla District Archaeological protected monuments in Badulla District {{SriLanka-geo-stub

History

Attractions

Paintings

See also

References