Situated at the heart of the Badulla town, Muthiyanganaya is one of the temples belonging to Solosmasthana. The Supreme Buddha visited this place on the invitation of God Indaka after visiting Kelaniya.
Significance of Muthiyanganaya
- Our Supreme Buddha arrived at this meritorious land of Muthiyanganaya on his third visit to Sri Lanka on the Vesak Full Moon Poya day. The place shown in the picture is well-known in Sri Lanka as the Muthiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya.
- The sweat of the supreme Buddha transformed into pearls here and the great Stupa was built by depositing these relics of pearls. This great stupa also enshrines the hair relics of our Supreme Buddha.
- In this meritorious place, you can also see one of the eight Bodhi saplings planted. Furthermore, 60 lay people became Arahants in this place, when Arahant Maliyadeva preached Jajakka sutta.
Things to See in Muthiyanganaya
- Thorana: This thorana (pandol) stands near the temple’s entrance. It has six levels, with Makara (dragon) visible on the second.
- Makara thorana: This has been built at the entrance to the main image house
- Image houses: There are two image houses – main and center. The ancient appearance of these two buildings vanished due to refurbishment in the 1960s and 1970s
- The stupa: The present stupa was constructed with a height of 65 feet and diameter of 270 feet on the ruins of an ancient one in 1956.
- Bo trees: There are four Bo trees (Bodhi) remaining in the temple. One is named after Maliyadeva Thera, a disciple believed to be the last one who had attained the state of Arahant in Sri Lanka. Another Bo tree is called Ananda Bodiya as it had been brought from Jetavana monastery in Savasti in India where a Bo tree with the same name still remains. Another Bo tree which remains on this site has been considered as it originated from Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi and was planted by King Devanampiya Tissa.
Stanza to Worship Muthiyanganaya
විරාජිතං බුද්ධ ගුණෙන සබ්බදා
සුරක්ඛිතං ඉන්දක දේව තේජසා
ජයංගණං සීහල දීප වාසිනං
මුතිංගණං ථූප වරං නමාමිVirājitaṃ Buddha guṇena sabbadā
Surakkhitaṃ indaka deva tejasā
Jayaṃgaṇaṃ sīhala dīpa vāsinaṃ
Mutiṅgaṇaṃ thūpa varaṃ namāmi
Directions to Muthiyanganaya
About 5 hours from Colombo (356 km) via Southern expressway.
Open all day
Contact Information: Phone: 0552 222 313
