Madirigiriya Vatadage

Fourteen miles north of Minneriya lies Madirigiriya, the firmer Mandalagiri, a monastery dating from the second century. Granite columns which we now see are replacements, perhaps by Aggabodhi IV (AD 658-674), of earlier pillars of wood. Wood or stone, the pillars were the supports of a roof for the dagaba which stood in the middle. Hence the name vatadage – the house of the dagaba.

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