If you pay to enter the Seema Malaka Buddhist Temple on Biera Lake then you can use your ticket to visit the nearby Gangaramaya Temple which is also interesting. We also visited the Aśōkārāma Temple in another part of the city. I'm told it's a more typical temple. I've collected pictures of both here to compare the two.
Buddhist temples are obviously quite exotic for me coming from the United States. I enjoy the tranquility of visiting these temples. There's a quietness about them even when there's a large crowd like there was in Kandy's Temple of the Tooth which will be blogged about soon. However, my favorite discovery about these temples is that one of the central features is often an ancient tree. There's a nice connection to nature.
Trees at Buddhist temples are deeply symbolic, especially the Bodhi Tree (sacred fig, Ficus religiosa), under which Buddha attained enlightenment, making it a central feature in many temples worldwide, alongside other significant species like the Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), Cypress, and Magnolia (Champaca), which offer protection, longevity, and purity, often preserved for centuries within temple grounds as vital refuges for rare species. (Google)
Gangaramaya Temple
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| a wonderful tree |
Aśōkārāma Temple
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| another wonderful tree |
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