Asgiriya Raja Maha Vihara, Gampaha
ancient Cave temple
Asgiriya Raja Maha Vihara (Sinhala: අස්ගිරිය රජ මහා විහාරය) is an ancient Cave temple situated in Gampaha District, Sri Lanka. The temple is located on top of a hillock on the Gampaha - Minuwangoda road and approximately 2 km (1.2 mi) away from Gampaha town. The temple has been formally recognised by the Government as an archaeological site in Sri Lanka. The designation was declared on 22 November 2002 under the government Gazette number 1264.
Name
It is said that the name of Asgiri was formed after the loss of the horse of Prince Uttiya, the brother of King Kelanitissa, in this area.
History
It is believed that the history of this temple goes back to the reign of King Valagamba (89-77 BC). According to the legends King Valagamba, who fled from Anuradhapura after invasions from South India in 104 BC, stayed in this historical place from time to time. An inscription belonging to the 5th century has been discovered on the temple ground. During the reign of King Parakramabahu VI this Asgiriya Rajamaha Vihara had received the patronage by provincial king Sakalakala Wallabha.
Structures
This cave temple with drip ledges has been constructed with wattle and daub.
“Asgiriya Raja Maha Vihara, Gampaha” enters the record as ancient Cave temple. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Asgiriya, Raja and Maha can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Asgiriya Raja Maha Vihara, Gampaha” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Asgiriya, Raja and Maha provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q19707959. Authority coordinates are 7.111, 79.990. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2002 and 1264.
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This entry incorporates text from “Asgiriya Raja Maha Vihara, Gampaha” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.