Tirtha Atlas

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

3031 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
Early medieval · Buddhist · Sri Lanka

Maligatenna Raja Maha Vihara

Gampaha District, Western Province · 7.0669°, 80.0644°

Gautama Buddha (image house, stupa and Bodhi tree, with an old devalaya)AnuradhapuraCave temple
Sacred since
700 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
Anuradhapura period; 8th c. carved doorframe
Anuradhapura

History & significance

A rock and cave temple in the Gampaha District with an image house, stupa, Bodhi tree and an old devalaya; an engraved stone door frame on the site has been assigned to about the 8th century. Its later history reaches into the Kotte kingdom under Don Juan Dharmapala and the Portuguese period.

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.

Folklore holds that King Valagamba sheltered here during invasions and that the Buddha's tooth relic was hidden at the site for a time before being moved on.

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Sources

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