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

Ridi Viharaya

Ridigama, Kurunegala District, North Western Province · 7.5500°, 80.4833°

Gautama Buddha (9 m recumbent Buddha and a gilded Anuradhapura-era image; also an Avalokiteshvara)Anuradhapura (Dutthagamani); Kandyan revivalCave temple with a Polonnaruwa-type gedige and Kandyan work
Sacred since
161 BCE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
2nd c. BCE (Dutthagamani); revived 18th c.
Anuradhapura (Dutthagamani); Kandyan revival

History & significance

The 'silver temple' of Ridigama, founded in the second century BCE under Dutthagamani at the place where the silver ore that funded the Ruwanwelisaya is said to have been found. Its Rajatha Lena cave holds a nine-metre recumbent Buddha and a gilded Anuradhapura-period image, and the complex was revived in the eighteenth century by Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy.

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.

Merchants who had offered jackfruit to arhat monks were led to a seam of silver ore here, which provided the metal Dutthagamani needed to complete the Ruwanwelisaya stupa.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-28 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Anuradhapura (Dutthagamani); Kandyan revival