Gangaramaya Temple

SRI LANKA, Western Province, Colombo

The temple is located next to the Beira Lake, a landmark of Colombo. It was established in the late 19th century by a famous scholar monk, Hikkaduwe Sri Sumanagala Nayaka Thera. Subsequent expansion led to the construction of the Simamalaka Shrine and a vocational training center.
The temple is a large complex that includes the main hall, Simamalaka Shrine, and a vocational training center, together with several other buildings, such as a residential hall, stupa, library, and museum. The main hall houses a large seated Buddha surrounded by disciples and other figures. The colorful murals on the walls depict themes from the Life of the Buddha. The ceiling contains a large medallion flanked by two smaller medallions, all of which are highly decorated.
The Simamalaka Shrine is an assembly hall designed by Geoffrey Bawa. It is located at the center of three island plinths that hover over Beira Lake and is connected to the rest of the temple by a timber walkway. This walkway has an impression of the Buddha’s footprint made in Myanmar and a small reclining Buddha sculpture. The Simamalaka Shrine sits on a white square base platform flanked by statues of seated Buddhas performing various mudras. The shrine consists of a square pyramidal blue roof resting on an open tapered timber structure. With no solid walls, the pavilion-like facade is composed of a screen of closely-spaced, vertical timber braces that project from the wooden balustrade at an angle to support the overhanging roof. Each screen member is ribbed and intricately crafted. The interior of the hall is square and houses a central seated Buddha statue. The roof, body of the hall and the base platform form a harmonious whole. To the sides of the shrine, there are two other island plinths connected by walkways: one contains a smaller building, while the other has a stupa and a Bodhi tree.