Under water when it rains and out of it during the drought – the majestic, ancient temple, the Kadadora Vihara, submerged in the Kotmale Gamini Dissanayake Reservoir, has a legion of fans.
It is a surreal sight to behold. Visitors flocking to the reservoir bed at Kotmale to see the half-visible temple during the drought, wander through the crumbling yet elegant temple with its antique architecture.
I clicked these enduring images of humanity displaying gratitude which are perfect examples of how life goes on with nostalgic memories of one’s past, during my photographic stints in the reservoir bed of Kotmale on several occasions. Now visitors are not allowed to glimpse the ruins of the temple due to its crumbling walls and an Army camp is said to have been established on the road to the location.
Kotmale is an important historical place in the central highlands known as Malaya Rata on the ancient map of Sri Lanka where Prince Gemunu, who later became King Dutugemunu made his mark, fleeing from the Ruhunu Rata to the Malaya Rata.
Later on, this historically important region became the land of the Sinhala kings and peasants. The Sinhala villagers built the Kadadora Vihara in the early part of 1900 in the Kadadora Village near Dehedukadulla on the banks of the Kotmale Oya, which is one of the main tributaries of the Mahaweli Ganga, and one of the historic sites in Kotmale.
They would not have had even in their wildest dreams that the river would, about half a century later, engulf their places of worship. When the Kotmale Dam, a major reservoir under the Mahaweli Development Program, was built across the Kadadora and Tispane hills in 1979, the people of the ancestral villages were relocated and the temple went under water. Since then, the temple structure plays the game of hide and seek – under water when it rains and out of it during the drought season – earning it the name ‘hiding temple.’
Moreover, more than 50 temples were inundated when the Kotmale Reservoir was constructed damming the Tispane and Kadadora hills and a massive chaitya known as the Mahaweli Maha Seya constructed on the summit of the Kadadora Hill overlooking the Kotmale Reservoir to symbolise the submerged religious monuments.
When it surfaces, visitors come in their hundreds and offer flowers and get blessings.
It has become a popular backdrop for selfies. The villagers of the submerged village have not lost their ties with the temple. In the months of March and April, when the water level is low and the stone-built crumbling temple is visible, they gather around gazing at the majestic remains of the decaying statue of the Buddha, harking back to a time when the temple called the faithful to prayer.