Dondra

Coordinates: 5°55′24.2″N 80°35′22.9″E / 5.923389°N 80.589694°E / 5.923389; 80.589694
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Dondra

  • දෙවිනුවර
  • දෙවුන්දර
  • தேவேந்திரமுனை
UTC+5:30 (Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone
)

Dondra (

Vihara
(Buddhist temple) are located in the vicinity.

Etymology

King Nissankamalla's (1187-1196 A.D.) Dambulla Vihara rock inscription is considered the oldest document that mentions the name Devi-nuwara which means the "City of Gods".[1][2] The Pali form of the name, Deva-nagara appears for the first time in the Mahavamsa with reference to the reign of King Vijayabahu I (1058-1114 A.D.).[1][3] The name Dondra is the anglicized form of the Sinhalese name Devi-nuwara or Devundara.[1]


According to some, the name Dondra is a form of Theivanthurai (God's Port) of Tamil origin.[4]

History

Historically known as Devinuwara temple port town or Devinuwara temple town, Dondra was until the late 16th century a historic

Pallava art[citation needed
].

The central

Vimana and the other gopura towers that dominated the town were covered with plates of gilded brass, gold and copper on their roofs, and the many shrines of the town were bordered with elaborate arches and gates, giving the entire temple complex an appearance of a city to sailors who visited the port to trade and relied on its light reflecting gopura roofs for navigational purposes.[7] Chroniclers, travellers and benefactors of the temples describe the entire town as the property of the temple and inhabited solely by merchants during the medieval period. The temple complex was visited by Ibn Battuta in the 14th century and Zheng He in the 15th century.[8][9]

The temple was destroyed in February 1587 by the

Nandi, excavated in 1998 provide early examples of Pallava Hindu contributions to the island.[citation needed
]

The rebuilt temple to

Perahara
is held for eight days.

Dondra was once the capital of the Sri Lanka.[11]

Gallery

  • Modern Vishnu shrine, Dondra
    Modern Vishnu shrine, Dondra
  • Modern Buddha Statue, Dondra
    Modern Buddha Statue, Dondra
  • Ancient temple arch, Dondra
    Ancient temple arch, Dondra
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dondra.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Paranavitana, Senarath (1953). The shrine of Upulvan at Devundara: Memoirs of the Archaeoloical Survey of Ceylon: Volume VI. Archaeological Department, Colombo. p. 1.
  2. ^ Wickremasinghe, D.M.D.Z. (1912). Epigraphia Zeylanica. Archaeological Survey of Ceylon. p. 132.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0231133234
  4. ^ Proceedings. International Association of Tamil Research, Department of Indian Studies, University of Malaya. 1968. p. 481. In this context, it may be of interest to cite a few place-names in other parts of the Island, with a Tamil origin; in the Western Coast such as Puttalam, Ciläpam (Chilaw), Nirkolumbo (Nikumpalai, Negombo), Kalattarai (Kalutara), Pãnanturai (Pãnadura), Mätarai (Matara), Teivanturai (Dondra)...
  5. OCLC 2975965
    .
  6. ^ Horatio John Suckling. Ceylon: A General Description of the Island, Historical, Physical, Statistical (1994). pp.262
  7. ^ Henry William Cave. (1996). Golden Tips. pp. 466
  8. ^ Battuta Ibn. Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325–1354. p. 260.
  9. ^ Robert D. Kaplan. (2010) Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power
  10. ^ 112th death anniversary of C. H. de Soysa – philanthropist unequalled, Dr. K. N. M. D. Cooray Daily News (Sri Lanka) Retrieved 15 October 2015
  11. ^ Wood, James, ed. (1907). "Dondra Head" . The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne.

External links

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