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
