Dedigama Kota Vehera (Suthigara Chethiya) Buddhist Temple-Sri Lanka

Address

Dedigama Kota Vehera (Suthigara Chethiya) Buddhist Temple- Dedigama, Kegalle district, Sri Lanka

Diety

Buddha

Introduction

Kota Vehera (also known as Cuthighara/Suthighara Cetiya) is an ancient Stupa located in the village of Dedigama in Kegalle District, Sabaragamuwa province, Sri Lanka. The site can be reached by traveling along the Nelundeniya – Galapitamada road (B540) about 3.2 km distance from the Nelundeniya junction.

Puranic Significance

Dedigama Kota Vehera, also known as Suthigara Chethiya, was built by King Parakramabahu the Great (1153-1186). It was discovered that the Stupa is built on top of another smaller stupa. Both stupas were built around the same time; the smaller Stupa is constructed in the exact location where King Parakramabahu was born. The Stupa was discovered during British rule by F.M. Price, the Government Agent in the Kegalle area (Wikramasinghe, 1990). The diameter of the lager Stupa is 256 feet and 47 feet in height. The top of the Stupa is approx 26,000 square feet flat surface. The Stupa was excavated from the summit of the ruined mound. Several relic chambers with the remnants of wall paintings depicting the figures of humans, animals, flowers, and trees were discovered during these excavations (Wikramasinghe, 1990). Presently, the conserved Stupa is 47 feet in height and has a diameter of about 804 feet. In 1951, two Eth Pahana lamps similar in design were discovered from the upper relic chamber of Suthighara Stupa at Dedigama (Jayawardana & Peiris, 2009; Udayakumari, 2016). The lamp has been made out of bronze and predominantly represents a figure of an elephant (hollow cast) carrying two mahouts on its shoulder. These two reliquaries which are made of gold were discovered from the Kota Vehera Stupa. The larger reliquary is 8.7 cm in height and represents a miniature Stupa of Amalaka fruit shape. A small crystal reliquary containing the relics in a gold capsule was found enshrined within this large reliquary. The Hathares Kotuwa (the square enclosure) and the Koth Kerella over the dome part represent the Stupa. The small reliquary which also has a shape similar to the larger reliquary is representative of the early medieval Stupa form of Sri Lanka.