Sambodhi Chaithya

Sambodhi Chaithya Sambodhi Chaithya Sambodhi Chaithya

Sri Lanka is a very religious place with a large number of temples, mainly Buddhist and Hindu ones. While some of them are relatively new and mundane, others have an interesting history or story to tell. Colombo, in particular, has an almost even spread of historic religious sites representing all the religions within the island; Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.

Sambodhi Chaithya is a Buddhist Temple with a very unique and interesting architecture. Located within the harbor of Colombo, it stands on a two diagonally intersecting concrete arches that are 11 stories (33m) tall.

The History

The entire structure was designed in 1956 by a highly reputed local engineer, A.N.S. Kulasinghe. The entire project was initiated as part of the commemoration of 2,500 years since the creation of Buddhism reckoned after the Parinirvana (Passing Away) of Gautama Buddha. Named Sri Sambuddha Jayanthi Chaithya after the event’s name, the temple was designed to be viewable by incoming ships, even during storms and bad weather.

The Architecture

The white stupa is bell-shaped, as opposed to the more commonly used dome-shape in modern Sri Lankan architecture, and placed on a square one-story platform balanced on the center of the arches and supported by four struts. The stupa alone is 47m (154 feet) tall, including the conical spire and jeweled pinnacle on top.

A stupa is called a chaithya when it’s built combined with a preaching hall; in other words if it’s a place where Buddhism is taught

Over het district Colombo

Colombo is de grootste stad en commerciële hoofdstad van Sri Lanka. Het ligt aan de westkust van het eiland en grenst aan Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, de hoofdstad van Sri Lanka. Colombo is een drukke en levendige stad met een mix van modern leven en koloniale gebouwen en ruïnes, en een stadsbevolking van 647.100. De metropoolregio Colombo, gedefinieerd door de districten Colombo, Gampaha en Kalutara, heeft een geschatte bevolking van 5.648.000 en beslaat een oppervlakte van 3.694,20 km². Colombo is een multi-etnische, multiculturele stad. Het is de meest bevolkte stad van Sri Lanka, met 642.163 mensen die binnen de stadsgrenzen wonen. De bevolking van Colombo is een mix van verschillende etnische groepen, voornamelijk Singalezen, Moren en Tamils. Er wonen ook kleine gemeenschappen van mensen met Chinese, Portugese, Nederlandse, Maleisische en Indiase afkomst in de stad, evenals talloze Europese expats. De overgrote meerderheid van de Sri Lankaanse bedrijven heeft hun hoofdkantoor in Colombo. Enkele van de industrieën die er actief zijn, zijn chemie, textiel, glas, cement, lederwaren, meubels en sieraden. In het stadscentrum staat het op één na hoogste gebouw van Zuid-Azië: het World Trade Centre.

Over de Westelijke Provincie

The Western Province is the most densely populated province of Sri Lanka. It is home to the legislative capital Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte as well to Colombo, the nation's administrative and business center. Western Province is divided into 3 main districts called Colombo (642 km²), Gampaha (1,386.6 km²) and Kalutara (1,606 km²) districts. As Sri Lanka's economic hub, all the major local and international corporations have their presence in the city and so do all the major designer and high street retailers, so be ready to indulge in some retail therapy in western province.

Having the highest population in the all the provinces, the almost all the premier educational institutions in the island are located in western province. Universities in the province include the University of Colombo, the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, University of Kelaniya, Open University, Sri Lanka, Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University and University of Moratuwa .Western province has the largest amount of schools in the country, which includes National, Provincial, Private and International schools.

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