The beautiful island of Sri Lanka has many wonderful attractions that portray rich beauty and charm of country’s magnificent heritage. In the Cultural Triangle especially one will find an array of majestic monuments that testify to the glories of the past. Ridee Viharaya is one such prominent attraction which serves as a major site of worship in country to this day.
Ridee Viharaya, or the Silver Temple is believed to have been built in the 2nd century BCE. It is a Theravada Buddhist temple which sees a large number of devotees even today.
History of Ridee Viharaya
There is a very interesting story weaved about this temple. The legendary King Dutugemunu built the majestic Ruwanweliseya, which is one of the tallest monuments built before the 20th century. King Dutugemunu was a greatly respected monarch in the country as he defeated Tamil prince Ellalan in the Chola Kingdom. While the king was building Ruwanweliseya, a need for silver to be used as the basement of the stupa arose. A few merchants who traveled from the Central Highlands let the king know about a silver ore located in Ridigama. The elated king found all the silver that he needed for Ruwanweliseya from the site. He then build a temple on the site where the silver ore was located. He commissioned 300 masons, 700 workers as well as his chief artisan Vishwakarma Prathiraja to build it. This temple is what is today known as Ridee Viharaya.
Located around the temple are around 25 caves, which are inhabited by Arahat monks. The temple falls under the Malwatte chapter of the Buddhist temples in country.
Be sure to include this stunning place in your travel itinerary while you are exploring Sri Lanka. Get in touch with Green Holiday Centre if you desire to obtain more information about the majestic ancient temples and monuments in the island.