Located on the banks the infamous Beira Lake lies the century old Gangarama temple in the heart of Colombo.
Structure and Architecture
Festive Seasons
One of the most Grandeur Festivals celebrated by this temple is the Navam Perahera held on February dating back to 1979 when it first started its celebration. The festival pageant is one of its kind in terms of parades, decorated elephants with costumes and lights, traditional drummers, fire dancers, flute players, traditional performers, the sacred tooth relic and numerous Buddhist monks. The perahara takes place for 2 days especially with well lit and adorned tuskers carrying the Tooth Relic This kaleidoscopic pageant attracts visitors from every corner of the world irrespective of religion and race to join and watch the celebration.
Make Sure you don’t miss out
- The museum: One of attractions of the temple is the museum with artefacts and antiques that resonate the Buddhist culture and spirit. You will come across carvings, ivory and wooden carvings, ancient scripts, Statues of the Buddha, precious and random trinkets and quite surprisingly vintage cars as well.
- The Relic Chamber: This chamber houses the sacred relic of the Buddha. It also holds some of the ancient relics of the disciplines of Buddha received through donations from Bangladesh.
- The Bodhiya: the bow tree that shades the place brings tranquillity and serenity to the place with its rustling leaves.
- Neatly stacked Statues of Buddha
- Replica Of Borobudur: This place is a replica of the largest Buddhist temple in the world situated in Java , Indonesia. The stupas and the Buddha Statues look similar to that of the Borobudur.
- A Friendly Elephant: Do not get to close but you can see it playing with its chains swaying from side to side.
- Beira Lake and Seema Malakaya: This place has been designed by the renowned architect of Sri Lanka, Geoffrey Bawa who is well known for designing several iconic structures in Sri Lanka such as The Parliament, University of Ruhuna and many other hotels as well. This is where the monks assemble located in the middle of the Beira Lake.
Opening Hours: 6 am to 10 pm.
Entrance Fee: Free but donations will be most welcome
Dress Code: as most religious places, visitors are required to dress conservatively i.e. avoid shorts, sleeveless skinnies and head gears as well. A T-Shirt, denims and clothing covering the knees is most appropriate.
Photography: allowed free of cost.
Conclusion
Either being religious or not, the aura of the place emits serene vibe that will make you feel peaceful along with indulging in enjoyable recollection of reminisces of the antique and vintage collections and ancient architectural structure. Make sure not to miss out on all that’s mentioned above and keep your eyes open for more surprises.
When you visit the temple, make sure that you also explore the Beira Lake. To know more about places to visit in Colombo, Click Here to check out our posts.
How to reach
The tower is about 35 Km from the Bandaranaike International Airport and can take an hour to reach during busy hours.
If you are stationed in Colombo, you can travel by bus and for a quick ride, hire a cab or a TukTuk for its much convenient.
Gangaramaya Temple- The splendid temple by the lake Read More »