Nalanda Gedige - Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Nalanda Gedige - Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Nalanda Gedige (; ) is an ancient complete stone temple near Matale, Sri Lanka and its original site is considered the geographical centre of Sri Lanka. The building was constructed between the 8th and 10th centuries with dravidian architecture in (Pallava style) and is believed to have been used by Buddhists.Anna Aleksandra Ślączka, Temple consecration rituals in ancient India: text and archaeology - Volume 26 of Brill's Indological. Stone container with twenty-five compartments. Published by BRILL. p. 343J. Harmatta, J.K.Litvak, R.Lonis, T.Obenga, R.Thanmar and Zhou Yiliang, History of Humanity: From the seventh century BC to the seventh century AD- Vol III.Sri Lanka and South-East Asia. Published by UNESCO 1996. p. 100 A pillar inscription of the 9-10th century A.D. that was unearthed from the site revealed Nalanda Gedige was a Buddhist monastery. Recorded in the Sinhala language, it includes a code of regulations made for the temple. Also some scholars describe this building as a dravidian architecture dedicated to a Mahayana cult with pronounced Tantric learning and known as an ancient monument of possible Vajrayana (Tantric) Buddhist affinities.Nandasena Mudiyanse. Mahayana monuments in Ceylon. M. D. Gunasena, 1967, p. 28. Read more on Wikipedia
Source: en.wikipedia.org