Pilgrimage to the Temple
Entrance
This is the main entrance to Siri Gautama Sambuddharaja Maligawa. You are entering the temple via the stairs decorated with large lion statues. There are ten pillars of statues of Arahants around the stage. This main entrance consists of beautiful wood carvings. On top of it, there are statues of Kakusanda, Konāgama, Kassapa, and Gautama Supreme Buddhas. At the bottom there is a golden statue of a beautiful swan, which signifies the purity of the Dispensation of Gautama Supreme Buddha that brightened the divine and human worlds.
Paintings on the top wall inside the Temple
1st painting: A brave young man swimming in water with his mother on his back trying to cross the great ocean. This incident occurred a eons ago and was the beginning of the Buddha’s journey in the Samsara as the Bodhisatta.
2nd painting: The painting to the left of the first one shows the first declaration of the fixed destination of the Great Bodhisatta as a future Buddha, and this happened when he offered his life to Dipankara Supreme Buddha. The Bodhisatta was a great sage named Sumedha in that life.
3rd painting: This painting to the right side of the 1st one shows the dream of Queen Mahamāyā. That dream was about how the Bodhisatta, representing a white baby elephant, conceived in his mother’s womb. The Bodhisatta’s conception occurred after he accepted the divine beings’ invitation to be born in the human world and attain the enlightenment.
4th painting: This painting hangs on top of the right side art and indicates how Princess Yasodarā telling Prince Rāhula to go ask for the gift for his life from the Supreme Buddha. It also shows Prince Rāhula getting his gift to become a monk.
5th painting: The next painting to the upper left indicates the incident of the Great Bodhisatta Siddhartha Gautama moving into the forest to start his exertion to attain the enlightenment as a great sage after leaving the household life. It also depicts how the horse Kanthaka and the helper Channa gazed at the Bodhisatta, weeping at their master’s departure.
The extraordinary sculptures
1st sculpture: The first sculpture to the left is Santusita Deva, our Great Bodhisatta, in the Tusita Divine world waiting for the right time for him to be born in human world to become the Buddha. Santusita Deva came to this world as a human after checking for the five great conditions after being invited by divine beings.
2nd sculpture: What you see then to the right side is the way the Prince Siddharta Gautama spoke his brave words to the world after walking on lotus flowers after his birth. Queen Mahamāyā is also standing beside the young Bodhisatta looking at her meritorious child.
3rd sculpture: The next sculpture to the right is the god Sakka, a noble disciple of the Buddha. His vehicle is the great divine six-tusked elephant Erāvanha. The god Sakka has a special conch shell in his left hand and is holding his right hand in the blessing posture.
4th sculpture: The next sculpture to the left is of a Brahma with a great figure. His vehicle is a divine swan. He was the main devotee of the Kassapa Buddha. He is also the guardian angel who blessed the Sambuddha Raja Malhigawa.
Sculptures of Arahants
Statue of Arahant Sariputta:This statue is to the right of the main Buddha statue. Arahant Sariputta was declared by the Buddha to be the most wise of all of the Buddha’s monk disciples.
Statue of Arahant Maha Moggallana: To the left of the main Buddha statue is Arahant Moggallana. He was declared to be the monk who was the most skilled at wielding supernatural powers.
Statue of Arahant Maha Kassapa: Maha Kassapa Arahant Thero who was the greatest among monks who cultivated austere ascetic practices (dhutanga). He was highly praised by the Supreme Buddha and divine beings as well.
Statue of Arahant Ananda: Arahant Ananda Thero was the main attendant of the Buddha. He took care of the Buddha with great affection for 25 years.