Sri Lanka is a very religious place with a large number of temples, mainly Buddhist and Hindu ones. While some of them are relatively new and mundane, others have an interesting history or story to tell. Colombo, in particular, has an almost even spread of historic religious sites representing all the religions within the island; Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.
Sambodhi Chaithya is a Buddhist Temple with a very unique and interesting architecture. Located within the harbor of Colombo, it stands on a two diagonally intersecting concrete arches that are 11 stories (33m) tall.
The History
The entire structure was designed in 1956 by a highly reputed local engineer, A.N.S. Kulasinghe. The entire project was initiated as part of the commemoration of 2,500 years since the creation of Buddhism reckoned after the Parinirvana (Passing Away) of Gautama Buddha. Named Sri Sambuddha Jayanthi Chaithya after the event’s name, the temple was designed to be viewable by incoming ships, even during storms and bad weather.
The Architecture
The white stupa is bell-shaped, as opposed to the more commonly used dome-shape in modern Sri Lankan architecture, and placed on a square one-story platform balanced on the center of the arches and supported by four struts. The stupa alone is 47m (154 feet) tall, including the conical spire and jeweled pinnacle on top.
A stupa is called a chaithya when it’s built combined with a preaching hall; in other words if it’s a place where Buddhism is taught
Nearby places
13 places within about 25 km, nearest first.
- Colombo Lighthouseunder 1 km
- St Peters Churchunder 1 km
- Ministry Of Crabunder 1 km
- Old Colombo Dutch Hospitalunder 1 km
- Colombo Fort Hotelsunder 1 km
- Fort Shri Sudarmalaya Buddhist Templeunder 1 km
- Old Colombo Lighthouse and Clock Towerunder 1 km
- The Central Pointunder 1 km
- Colombo Harbour1 km
- Colombo Seaport Entrances1 km
- கொழும்பு கடல்துறைமுகம்1 km
- Colombo Port Cruise Terminal1 km
- Alawathupitiya City12 km
