If you pay to enter the Seema Malaka Buddhist Temple on Biera Lake, which is a must-see, then you can use your ticket to visit the nearby Gangaramaya Temple. We also visited the Aśōkārāma Temple in another part of the city and I've collected pictures of both here to compare the two.
The temples are obviously exotic for me coming from the United States. I enjoy the tranquility of visiting these temples even when there's a large crowd like there was in Kandy's Temple of the Tooth. However, my favorite discovery about them is that one of the central features is often an ancient tree.
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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