Maha Saman Devalaya - Rathnapura

This is the major Devalayas in the Sabaragamuwa province. Annual perahara is also performed as a centuries old tradition. This is situated in Rathnapura, along the Panadura - Rathnapura highway, around 90km from Colombo. We strongly recommend you to go in a weekday because if you go on a weekend, obviously it is crowded and you will have to walk with a throng of devotees who are coming to visit this place from all over the country. Additionally, there is a museum on Devala premises and it is closed on weekends (so we didn't have the chance to go in). 

Devalaya is built on a higher level giving a panoramic view of the premises all around. It is protected with a parapet wall with a thickness of 2 feet and the wall is protected with a roof. 

Inside the Devalaya, you cannot take photographs without special permission from the guards.You will find an amazing stone inside a cabinet, which is keep on growing like a vine!. Since this is a solid rock, it doesn't need any support and it grows in a helical path. There is an ancient gun used to signal the commencement of the Perahara and we got to know it is still working. You will probably find many artifacts in the museum but remember to go in a weekday. 
There are allocated times where the daily Thewawas of the Devalaya is being held. The Kapu Mahaththayas or the guardians of the devalaya are reciting in a unique tone where I didn't here as such in another Devalayas in Sri Lanka. 

In the outside of the Devalaya, there is a place where a stage is made some 20 feet above the ground level. It is used to keep the Karanduwa (from the stage) on top of the leading tusker (ground level) of the devala perahara. 

There is a shrine for Buddha as well. It is situated in juxtapose of two shrubs neatly cut into a shape of an elephant.