This is another ancient temple in Kuruwita in which the sacred tooth relic had been hidden from Portogese in a grinding stone. The stone is still protected safely inside the temple after more than 500 years. The vicinity surrounding the temple had been invaded by human habitats and most of the temple had been rebuilt. However, the majesty of the bygone era is still remains in the architecture.
This is another ancient cave situated in Rathnapura district not far from Batadombalena. This cave is known as Batathotalena and Bagawalena too. This is a sacred place where devotees coming all across the country to worship and get blessings. It is also one of the sixteen most sacred places (solosmasthana) in Sri Lanka. If you are going in a vehicle, you have to park it on the vehicle park at the bottom of the mountain in which the cave located. You will have to take a steep path to go up and it is not so difficult as the steps are built on most of the journey up. There are various types of vendors on either side of the path begging you to buy something from them. You don't have to worry about them as you can buy anything you want on the way back. Why carry an extra weight on an uphill journey?? At the time when we visit there, a construction was on progress to build up a resting house for the monks. As a contribution, you can take a can of concrete stones up. We suggest you to take one (or two if you can) up. It's a great deed and good measure to check your fitness level!
As you enter the cave, first thing you feel is the dampness inside the air and the floor. It is due to the water coming down from the top of the cave. The water is collected on to a pond in which a statue of a huge frog is built in the middle.
There is a set of people who act as guardians of the cave temple and when you go inside, you will be able to listen to a lecture in Sinhalese about the history of the cave. An excerpt of his lecture is as follows.
"When the lord Buddha had visited Sri Lanka on Kelaniya, he also paid his blessings on the Adam's peak, mostly known as Sri Padaya. On the way back, to subside his fatigue, he rested himself with another 500 monks in this cave. He did it in the noon time and hence the name derived as Divaguhawa (the cave of the noon).
After that, King Nissankamalla from the Polonnaruwa era had built a Buddha statue here and after some time, this cave has been lost in the jungle without a human touch. According to a myth, at the era of king Nissankamalla, there had been a visit of a king Lambakarna from India and he was accompanied by an Anthahpuraya ( a group of wives for the king). There was one wife who was so fond of king Nissankamalla and when the other wives got to know this, they bad mouthed to the king against this woman. The king had killed her and later she had born as a demon and lived in this cave preventing from anyone entering the cave premises.
After that, in 15th October 1995, most venerable Balangoda Ananda Maithree thera had discovered this place, covered in a thick jungle. Another myth says at the time of discovery, there had been problems from demons and some supernatural forces. Also on the pond below, there were thousands of frogs forming a barrier to enter into this place. Later, the thera had built a statue of a large frog and performed an alms giving for 100 monks and 50 Silmanis and then only the evil forces ceased. As a tribute to Balangoda Ananda Maithree Thera, there is a statue of himself inside. "
There is a Ghantara ( a huge bell) and the sri pada mountain is visible on this vantage point. You may ring the bell similar to the times you have visited the sri pada.
There is a shrine inside the cave and a reclining Buddha statue which belongs to Polonnaruwa era.It has been refurbished several times. The outer walls of the shrine is covered with paintings which belongs to an era under which Sri Lanka has been under English invasion. This is what I observed by looking at the paintings specially the one below. It has an inscription saying Buddha Warsha 2450 which says year 1906 which was under British ruling. Therefore, this cave had been discovered for some period of time between Polonnaruwa era and the present.
