Kadadhora viharaya



  Kotmale Reservoir is a well known reservoir we all know. Construction of the Kotmale Reservoir was completed in 1985. To create this reservoir, 57 villages in the area will be completely submerged. Also, 54 Buddhist places of worship including temples in these 57 villages have been submerged during the construction of the reservoir.


The Kadadora Viharaya is one of the most important temples in the area where the Kotmale Reservoir has dried up. There was a lot of talk about this with the emergence of ruins due to the drying up of the Kotmale Reservoir. A large number of devotees come to see this.


When the reservoir dries up, one can see the Buddha statue, the flower seat, several deities and the ruins of the Dragon Pantheon at the entrance to the temple. It is said that the area was flooded in the past.



Thus, the main reason for the construction of the Kotmale Reservoir under the Mahaweli Scheme is to generate 201 MW of electricity to the National Power Grid. Work on the Kotmale Reservoir in this area commenced in 1979 under the Accelerated Program. Accordingly, the work was completed and opened in 1985.


Apart from the Kadadora Viharaya, other temples such as the Othalawa Temple and the Thispane Chaitya (Meddegama Temple) were also added to the Kotmale Reservoir during the construction of this reservoir. The Mahaweli Stupa was built by Gamini Dissanayake on March 20, 1983 to commemorate all the places of worship that were submerged due to the Kotmale Reservoir. If you are going to Kotmale, do not miss this place .





An excerpt.  Photography is owned by the photographer