Gamppla

Gampola stands on the Mahaweli River in Sri Lanka’s central hills. It became a royal capital in the fourteenth century, when the island’s rulers shifted their seats away from the older northern centres. The nearby temples of Lankatilaka and Gadaladeniya preserve the architecture and religious patronage of the Gampola period.

King Bhuvanekabahu IV established his court at Gampola in the 1340s. Inscriptions at the temples record the work of his minister Senalankadhikara and gifts of land from the king and other patrons. Lankatilaka was built on a rock foundation and combined a Buddha shrine with places of worship for several deities. The Gampola court later gave way to new centres of power, particularly Kotte, but its temples remain among the most striking works of the period.