Mulgirigala Rock Temple in Sri Lanka

Mulgirigala Rock Temple in Sri Lanka

Mulgirigala rock temple is located in the Hambanthota district, Southern province. There are about 5 Kilometers from Beliatta small town. The temple is on the top of the mountain which is 673 feet high. 

Mulgirigala Rock Temple in Sri Lanka

Mulgirigala as known as Mulkirigala, Muhudugiri, Giruwagala and sammuddha Pabbatha. This place is known as Punchi Sigiriya also because of massive natural rock similar to Sigiriya. There are 533 steps to the summit. It is a very enjoyable climb to this temple because you can watch the beautiful village area around the rock.

Mulgirigala Rock Temple in Sri Lanka

According to In the ancient chronicle Mahawamsa, King Saddhathissa has planned to build a temple in this place in the 3^rd century. But somebody said that sammuddhagiri viharaya was built by king Kawanthissa and it is one of the 64 temples built by him. king kawanthissa was the father of King Dutugemunu.

Mulgirigala Rock Temple in Sri Lanka

There is a stone inscription in this place. There is a pond right in Infront of the Naga Shrine room. The pond is bearing an inscription. It is in the 12th century.  According to it, this place is known as Muhudugiri. This place is known as Samuddhagiri vihara in the Polonnaruwa period. A lot of rulers had helped to build this place at various times in history. King walagamba also helped to build this place. There are 25 caves on this site. 

Walagamba was famous for building cave temples all over the country. So, we can be thinking King Walagamba has lived here at that time. King Dathusena has added a stupa to this temple during 461- 479 Ad.

 Gold Buddha statue

There are many shrine rooms on this site. Bomaluwa viharaya is famous among them. There is the largest reclining Buddha image in that shrine room. There is a pond near the Rajamaha viharaya. At that place, there is a cave with 4 shrine rooms. They named hathara piriven viharaya, Raja maha viharaya , parana viharaya and naga viharaya. There is a gold Buddha statue and a red sandalwood statue in the piriven viharaya. There is a reclining Buddha image in the old shrine room. It is included Kandyan period art.

Mulgirigala the temple is more famous because of its paintings. The story of Jathaka tails is in this painting. Most paintings depict the episodes from the life of the Gautama Buddha and Jathaka stories. This painting shows the art of the Kandyan period. Green and brown are the main colours in these paintings. Vessanthara and thelapaththa Jathakaya are the best painting among the wall paintings.

Paintings on the walls

The king Kirthi Sri Rajasingha has donated two golden statues of Buddha for this temple. Today we can see that donation in the shrine room.Rev. Wtareka Dharmapala, the student of Rev. Velivita saranankara has developed this place in the Kandyan period. He had been the chief incumbent in this temple a long time.

According to the Bodhiwamsa chronicle, this temple is known as Giriba Viharaya. One of the Bo saplings out of 32 germinated from Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, is planted in this place. When you are climb top of the rock you have a panoramic view stretching to the southern coast. If you are planned to take a journey to the southern area you must not lose this place. It gives you an unforgettable memory of your life forever.

 Mulgirigala Rock Temple Map