Tissamaharamaya Vihara
This temple is in Tissamaharama District Secretariat Division and in the vicinty of the Tissa tank.
Tissamaharama temple is venerated by the Buddhists as one of the sixteen places in Sri Lanka where the Lord Buddha supposed to have visited. In the Mahavamsa this is also known as Silapassa Pirivena and the temple constructed by King Kavantssa. Henry Parker states that the temple had been constructed by King Mahanaga. Mahavamsa states that during the reign of King Ilanaga (35-44 A.D.) the temple had been expanded and renovated, and subsequently it had undergone renevations during the reign of Kings Voharikatissa (214-236 A,D.)and Vijayabahu I (1055-1110A.D.)
This monastery had been identified as Akuja Mahagama and as Akujaka in two inscriptions of the 2nd c A.D. In an inscription of King Mahanama (410-632 A.D.) it had been referred to as ‘Mahagama Rajamahavehera’ and the land at Palitotagama had been donated as a temporality to the monastery. In the Detagamuwa Inscription of King Dappula it was known as Mahavehera. In the Kirinda Inscription of the 10th c. the enshrining of the lower left jawbone of the Buddha in the Dagoba had been mentioned.
The monastery had been recognized as a pre-eminent Buddhist Educational Centre of the southern Sri Lanka from the 3rd c B.C. to the 11 c A.D.
