"Seema Malaka Island Temple" Top 5 Page for this destination Temples Tip by mafi_moya

This temple, floating on the middle of Beira Lake, is one of Sri Lanka's more unusal temples. After the original 19th century version slowly sunk into the water, Sri Lanka's most famous architect Geoffrey Bawa was commissioned to redesign it in 1979. Whereas most Buddhist temples in the country follow strict traditional design this one deliberately set out to be different and unique.

In keeping with the idea of the unusual, much of the financing for the temple was actually given by a local Muslim who had been upset by his local community and decided to get them back by funding a new Buddhist temple instead of a mosque!

The buildings are connected to each other and the mainland by narrow walkways lined with Buddha statues donated from Thailand. Inside the buildings are statues of four Hindu gods. It doesn't have the glaring gold and sensory overload of many other temples, but its more simplistic approach, together with some beautiful scupltures and paintings, is in many ways actually more peaceful, especially being in the middle of the lake.

Address: Beira Lake, Colombo 2