Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo

An epitome of Buddhist Temples and one of the oldest in Sri Lanka

Quick Information

See Map
Best time to visit
Nov - Feb
Ideal Duration
3-4 Days
Visa
On Arrival
Starting from
Rs. 1,980
  • Culture
  • Wildlife
  • Nature

About Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo

Located near the Beira Lake in 61 Sri Jinarathana Road, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Gangaramaya Temple is a mix of Indian and Chinese architecture. Gangaramaya Temple timings are 6 am to 10 pm. A stellar example of Buddhist Temples in Sri Lanka, it was built by Don Bastian, a famous naval merchant in the nineteenth century. Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo was built in honor of Matara Sri Dharmarama Thero. It came to be known by the locals as Pada Thota Gangaramaya Vihara. A truly remarkable place of worship, this serene, but imposing Vihara displays an eclectic mix of architectural styles – Thai, Indian, Sri Lankan, and even Chinese.

One of the famous Buddhist temples in Colombo, it has several segments built into its huge structure. It has a Vihara Mandiraya or temple for worship, a Cetiya or Pagoda, a Seema Malaka or assembly hall, and even a Relic Chamber. This besides, the temple complex holds within its sacred interiors a museum, a library, educational halls, a residential hall, a Pirivena or seminary, and an alms hall. The history of Gangaramaya Temple is not restricted only to Buddhism, but to communal harmony as well.

Annual Perahera

During the Navam Perahera in the Gangaramaya Temple, a grand procession of several elephants adorned with colourful costumes carry the sacred relics to pay homage to Lord Buddha. In the procession, there are also many troupes of traditional performers, drummers, dancers along with hundreds of Buddhist monks walk in the Gangaramaya Navam Perahera. The festival has been celebrated in the month of February for more than four decades in the temple.

Today the temple serves not only as one of the chief centers of Buddhism and esoterism but has a myriad of other functions as well. It is a center of learning, and houses and old age home, an orphanage, and a vocational training center as well. A treasure trove of Buddhist relics and artifacts, the temple has statues of several Buddhist deities towards its rear. Make sure to follow properly the Gangaramaya Temple dress code to respect the local customs.

With astonishing acreage and a sparkling vitality amidst peaceful serenity, this temple is beautiful, to say the least. One could spend hours on end at this brilliant location without so much as realizing that time has passed at all. The spread of Buddhist Dhamma in Ceylon is illustrated clearly here. Also, this temple has helped spread the Dhamma to Staten Island, New York, and Tanzania. Easily accessible and the very symbol of peace amidst the busy capital city, this vihara is well worth the visit.

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Trip guide Abdul was excellent and made our entire trip very smooth and exciting.

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Harsh's 7 days trip to Colombo

Every thing was good except Hotel at Nuwara Eliya. Service & food was not good. I expected a good hotel there also as I have choosen five star category. Vehicle provided should be better than given.All things are more or less ok. Except the trip advisor Chetana Sharma.She is a newone most probably.She does not know anything about payment terms.She insisted payment to be done directly for the balance amount in USD cash.I couldn't understand ?It was better for me to pay Travel triangle in India. Hotel location at Colombo.Ofcorse it was choosen by me.

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Radha's 3 days trip to Colombo

Very good collection of travel agencies and experiences. But the number of agencies who are pro active and responsive in discussing the itinerary are lesser compared to the overall number

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Sivapriya's 5 days trip to Colombo

Srilanka is really a good place to visit. We booked the package through Travco Adventures. It was really a pleasant say. The package was also budget friendly compared to other agencies. The rooms were really good. In one of the places we stayed, our room was allocated nearby the river, we had a real good view. Food was also good in all the places we stayed. A private car was provided to us and it was spacious. However, there are also few cons. 1) Guides will be mostly working with them on contract basis. It's not like they are aware of the full itinerary with respect to places and will be taking us there. We might have to be proactive and tell them these are the places we want to visit, and ensure all the places mentioned in the list is covered. 2) We were told that we would be provided with free sim upon arrival to Srilanka, but the assigned driver was not aware of it, and this lead to a bit of confusion and a delay of around an hour. It would have been good, if all these had been communicated prior. But apart from these, the assigned guide Mr. Thushar Kumar was also really good and was sportive. He was really a kind person and it was nice to chit-chat with him during the journey. He ensured we had a good, relaxing, value for money trip.

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Saravanakumar's 5 days trip to Colombo

Our trip was really good. The srilankan tour agent helped us a lot 'dilini'. A spl thanks to her and the tour guide & driver. The only one which I don't like is the travel triangle agent, I forgot her name. She was super rude and acting like a PM (no time to speak etc etc). I never had this kind of experience with anyone.

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Sarah's 6 days trip to Colombo

Travel Triangle helped us connect with local travel agencies in Sri Lanka which helped us plan our itinerary and trip in a smooth manner

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S's 6 days trip to Colombo

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S Roul New delhi

Moushumi's 6 days trip to Colombo

I would say my overall trip was fine but there is scope of improvement when it comes to itinerary and planning. We could not cover a lot of points irrespective of the fact we started everyday as early as 9am. We barely got any time to shop in Colombo, in fact Lotus tower was the only place we could vidit after our arrival to Colombo and the cab driver didn't let us shop the next day or on our last day when we headed 5-6 hours early to the airport. The hotels were good except for the fact that two of them had no lifts but we had to climb stairs which was not beforehand. In fact the hotel which had a great view in Kandy, I requested the agent if we could stay there instead of going to Nuwara eliya but since it was last minute it was not acceptable. I would give 3 out 5 as there is scope of having better experience. My best memory is the time we spent in the Millennium elephant orphanage where we fed and bathed the elephant and walked with one.

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