Hello my fellow Architecture+Design community lovers,
How are you guys? I hope that this new week will be spent very effectively and efficiently. The past week has been a special time for Sri Lankan Buddhists. The reason for this is that Poson Poya, who introduced Buddhism to Sri Lanka, falls on June 21. Poson Poya Day is also an important day like Vesak Poya Day where our religious masters Buddha was born, attained enlightenment and died. Since the 21st of June was a work holiday for me, I took an opportunity to visit the Sri Sudharshanaramaya located in the village of Kadurduwa, which was the most famous temple in Sri Lanka two decades ago but is now falling apart. But it was clearly seen that the present Viharastha Donor Council is making an effort to restore this historical temple.
This temple used to be entered by climbing up a flight of stairs from the ground floor. But a few years ago, the middle part of the staircase was destroyed by a landslide. So it was closed and had to go up the road on the other side. The last time I entered this historic temple was in 2004. After that I could confirm that many changes have taken place in this temple. It is remarkable that several incidents of Buddha's time have been created with beautiful sculptures that I have not seen before. The birth of Prince Siddhartha before his enlightenment was well depicted. Prince Siddhartha was born in Lumbini Sal Garden in India.
The Stupa built in Kadurduwa Sri Sudarshanarama Vihara is a very old one. Without repainting, its luster had diminished. Stone towers were erected in the vicinity of the temples during the Old Kingdom, and they are still intact today. The small Buddha chamber that was built to worship the stupa was also discolored. The chamber was arranged like a Vesak lantern for lighting the lamps. The chamber is built by joining eight rectangular shapes.
Kadurduwa Sri Sudarshanarama Vihara had a building with chambers for the Hindu deity. In the past, even Hindu devotees visited this temple, but nowadays only Buddhist devotees from the village visit it, it is a matter of regret. There is an opportunity to pay homage to the various Hindu deities that they believe in. Of these, I found the chamber of Lord Shri Ganesh, Lord of Wisdom, interesting.
The most unique feature seen at the Sri Sudarshanama Temple was the area where the Bodhi tree is located, where the devotees worship the second Buddha with great respect. It was truly a beauty unlike any other temple. The entrance gate with a dragon pavilion built around the historic Bodhi tree highlights the antiquity of Sri Lankan Buddhist architecture. On both sides of the entrance there are two Gods who protect this, and the sun and the moon were shown above, indicating that we respect those two natural objects as well.
The area with the Bodhi tree has unique designs and murals depicting different eras of Sri Lanka. A gilded fence surrounded the tree, but outside it I stopped short when I saw several prominently painted pillars. It could be seen that some paintings are close to the Chinese tradition. Below it is a row of paintings with swans and floral decorations on the wall around it. In creating such attractive designs one should have good knowledge about color combination. Even though it is an old temple, it can be imagined that these murals were done recently. Dragon images were displayed on both sides of the entrance gate and even in the opening to the Bodhi tree. Several paintings depicting the natural environment were also created here.
Kadurduwa had created several Buddha statues in the area near the Bodhi tree of the Sri Sudarshanarama temple. It was seen here how the serpent king named Muchalinda gave the Buddha a cover to protect him from the torrential rain that fell on the verge of attaining enlightenment. These sculptures depict events with influences from various parties to defeat the hope of the Buddha, who kept his mind single-minded in the pursuit of enlightenment. Meanwhile, the three young women named Thanha, Rati and Raga came naked before the Buddha and danced and challenged the Buddha to attain enlightenment. A statue was also created showing how Buddha successfully faced all the obstacles and fulfilled his wish.
After visiting the area with the Bodhi tree and after the observation, I continued to walk further and saw a building still under construction. A few sculptures have also been created there, but since they have not been painted, I am not able to tell who they are. As they were discolored, it can be concluded that these creations must have started long ago. However, there is an opportunity to increase the historical value by further highlighting the ancient Buddhist architectural elements. It can also be seen that some of the designs are similar to past Indian shapes.
As I mentioned in the beginning, the steps to enter the temple were hit by a landslide in the middle, so it was covered and a tunnel temple was started to be built. It is still under construction and I believe will be prominently displayed when the work is completed. The old stairs leading to the upper area where the largest Buddha image was also destroyed by the landslide.
There are two ways to reach Kadurduwa Sri Sudarshanarayama Historical Temple. If you are coming from Colombo, take the Southern Expressway from the Pinnaduwa entrance and after three kilometers, turn left at the traffic lights and drive three hundred meters. Or you can reach Galle after going four kilometers on the Akuressa road. At the end, we had the chance to see the big Buddha statue on the top of the mountain. There is a lack of distinctiveness due to the melting and peeling of the verna. But the reflection given to the lower regions by this Buddha image brings pride.
