Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

3031 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
Ancient · Buddhist · Sri Lanka

Asgiriya Raja Maha Vihara, Gampaha

Gampaha, Western Province · 7.1110°, 79.9896°

Gautama Buddha (Samadhi image; stone Buddha footprint)Anuradhapuracave temple, wattle and daub
Sacred since
89 BCE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
trad. King Valagamba, 1st c. BCE
Anuradhapura

History & significance

A cave temple at Gampaha in the Western Province whose foundation is traced to the reign of King Valagamba (89–77 BCE), with a 5th-century inscription found on its grounds. It keeps a Samadhi Buddha statue and flanking abhaya-mudra images carved in Kandyan-period manner, together with a stone bearing a footprint of the Buddha; the provincial ruler Sakalakala Wallabha patronised it under Parakramabahu VI.

Sthala katha — the traditional account

What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.

The place is said to have taken the name Asgiri from a horse lost there by Prince Uttiya, brother of King Kelani Tissa.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-28 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Anuradhapura