Janet's Journal

Angurukaramulla Raja Maha Viharaya, to give it its full name, is the most important Buddhist temple in the predominantly Catholic Negombo. It is situated in Temple Road about 3 km from the town centre.

The imposing entrance to the Shrine Room is through the wide open mouth of a lion above which there is a 6 metre high seated Buddha Statue, the largest in Negombo.

Inside, the Image Room has a large statue of the sleeping Buddha.  The walls and ceiling of the encircling corridor are covered with colourful, ancient murals telling stories of the Buddha’s life and other important stories from Buddhist literature.  

They are explained in the small, coloured guidebook which is included in the Rs1,000 entrance fee.

Next to the temple is the Vatadage a lovely, old two storey building.  

Downstairs there are life sized images and wall paintings of the Sri Lankan kings and queens starting with Vijaya, the first Sinhalese king to Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, the last king of the last Sri Lankan kingdom, Kandy.

You can also climb the external staircase and enter the room enclosing the small stupa

The large, white building near the road is the library, not normally open to visitors.

Huge crowds gather on Poya Days when the Temple and grounds are festooned in white lights.  Stalls spring up near the entrance selling incense sticks, lotus flowers and little bottles of oil for offerings.  In addition, ice creams, little savoury snacks and sweets can also be purchased