A grand Kandyan-style shrine to the god Saman on the edge of Ratnapura, built on the site of a former Portuguese fort and church.

Overview

The Maha Saman Devalaya is one of the largest and most important devalayas (deity shrines) in Sri Lanka, dedicated to Saman, the guardian deity of Adam's Peak. Set on a rise about 3.5 km outside Ratnapura town, its tiered roofs, painted halls and spacious courtyards make it one of the finest examples of Kandyan temple architecture, second in scale only to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. It is the focus of a spectacular annual perahera (procession) that fills Ratnapura with drummers, dancers and elephants.

History

Tradition traces a shrine here back to the Anuradhapura period, but the present temple is linked to a shrine established in the Dambadeniya era around 1270 under King Parakramabahu II. The Portuguese built a fort and a Catholic church on the site around 1618-1620, both of which were destroyed when the Kandyan king Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-1781) recaptured the region and rebuilt the devalaya in the Kandyan style seen today. A carved stone panel depicting a Portuguese soldier survives as a reminder of that colonial episode.