The Senanayake Aramaya is a temple situated on the Main Chilaw Road, at Madampe, Sri Lanka which houses The Sacred Hair Relics of

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 ...

. This temple at Madampe was built by two aristocratic philanthropists Gate Mudaliar L. M. W. Senanayake and D. M. W. Senanayake (among their descendants are Dr Maiya Gunasekera and Mr Keerthi Senanayake). They built the Sambuddha Jayanthi stupa to commemorate the 2500th Buddha Jayanti. The relics of the Buddha and Arahant theras and from many parts of the world were brought to Senanayake Aramaya. The Buddha Jayanti stupa is manmade out of solid

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

and took 10 years for completion. A

sapling In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi was planted in the premises of the Senanayake Aramaya. The Senanayake Aramaya is managed and maintained by the Senanayake Aramaya Trust. In addition to the Hair Relics offered by the living Buddha, to the two brothers Tapassu and Bhalluka, these are the other items enshrined in the stupa: *Sacred Buddha relics obtained from a stupa in the

Swat Valley Swat District (, ps, سوات ولسوالۍ, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. With a population of 2,309,570 per the 2017 national census, Swat is the 15th-largest district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pro ...

. *Sacred Buddha relics obtained from the Dharma Kalavan stupa at Gandhara. *Sacred

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

relics obtained from the

funeral pyre A pyre ( grc, πυρά; ''pyrá'', from , ''pyr'', "fire"), also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the ...

of the Buddha, wrapped in a gold plate. *Two sacred relics of Arhants Majjhima and Kantipura, who participated in the 3rd Council held during the reign of King Asoka. *A few sacred Buddha relics obtained from Mir Pur Khas Stupa, which belongs to the Kanishka period. *Two caskets containing sacred relics.

References

Buddhist temples in Puttalam District {{Buddhism-stub