Munneswaram

Munneswaram Temple 建筑群由五座寺庙组成,包括一座佛教寺庙。献给湿婆的中央寺庙是最负盛名和最大的寺庙,在印度教徒中很受欢迎。其他神庙专门供奉甘尼萨、艾亚纳亚克和卡利。卡利神庙深受佛教徒和罗马天主教徒的欢迎。这座重要的佛教寺庙是斯里兰卡重要的印度教寺庙,斯里兰卡是一个以佛教为主的国家。它至少从公元1000年就存在了,尽管周围的传说说这座寺庙将其与罗摩衍那及其英雄之王拉玛联系起来。这座寺庙是献给湿婆的五座古老神庙之一。19世纪后,该建筑群中所有寺庙的大多数信徒都属于占多数的僧伽罗佛教民族;除Ayyanayake和佛教寺庙外,这些寺庙由泰米尔人管理。这座寺庙位于蒙内斯瓦拉姆,这是一个僧伽罗人和泰米尔人混居的村庄,位于该地区的普塔拉姆区。这座圣殿两次被葡萄牙人摧毁,后者将财产移交给了耶稣会士。尽管耶稣会士在圣殿基础上建造了一座天主教教堂,但当地的僧伽罗人和泰米尔人两次都重建了圣殿。由于18世纪末以后的宗教和人口变化,周围的大多数村庄和城镇与寺庙的管理和维护没有直接关系,但马拉丹库拉玛和乌达普等村庄与组织主庙节有关。

寺庙里庆祝的主要节日包括纳瓦拉特里和西瓦拉特里。前者是为期九天的节日,旨在纪念主持的女神,而后者是为纪念湿婆神而举行的通宵活动。除了这两个印度教节日外,这座寺庙还有自己的节日,即蒙内斯瓦拉姆节,这是一个为期四周的活动,有印度教徒、佛教徒、天主教徒和穆斯林参加。

根据人类学家理查德·贡布里奇和加纳纳特·奥贝耶塞克雷的说法,对卡利的崇拜是通过南印度到达斯里兰卡的。尽管在公元12世纪之前,卡利神社可能是泰米尔印度教寺庙的一部分,但至少在公元12世纪,僧伽罗佛教徒开始将卡利视为乡村恶魔。蒙内斯瓦拉姆是已知的第一座拥有卡利神社的印度教寺庙,深受僧伽罗佛教徒的欢迎。

卡利登陆奇劳镇并居住在蒙内斯瓦拉姆的神话使这座寺庙成为了以诅咒和巫术为目的的热门去处。在1970年代初,大多数僧伽罗游客来这里是为了巫术,但到了20世纪90年代,超过一半的人为了普遍的崇拜目的参观了这座寺庙,这表明了神灵从邪恶的半神向女神母亲的转变。自1960年代以来,许多供奉卡利的僧伽罗佛教圣地在岛上如雨后春笋般涌现,尤其是在城市地区。它们由僧伽罗外行人和女性管理,她们是发呆专家,在被神灵附身的同时,充当神灵与奉献者之间的中介。

About Puttalam District

Puttalam is a town in Puttalam District,Sri Lanka. Situated at the apex of the Coconut triangle, Puttalam is the second largest Coconut producer of the country. And Tabbowa, a fertile land for agriculture records highest paddy production per acre.Puttalam is the main salt producer of the country. Holland fort at Kalpitiya, St. Anne's Church in Thalawila Munneshwaram Kovil in Chilaw and Mohideen Jumma Mosque (known as Grand Mosque) in Puttalam underline the historical importance of this region.

About Western Province

North Western Province is a province of Sri Lanka. The districts of Kurunegala and Puttalam formulate North Western or Wayamba. Its capital is Kurunegala, which has a population of 28,571. The province is known mainly for its numerous coconut plantations. Other main towns in this province are Chilaw (24,712) and Puttalam (45,661), which are both small fishing towns. The majority of the population of Wayamba province is of Sinhalese ethnicity. There is also a substantial Sri Lankan Moor minority around Puttalam and Sri Lankan Tamils in Udappu and Munneswaram. Fishing, prawn farming and rubber tree plantations are other prominent industries of the region. The province has an area of 7,888 km² and a population of 2,184,136 (2005 calculation).

Wayamba is the third largest paddy producing area in Sri Lanka .Wayamba has a highly developed agricultural economy, growing a variety of fruits and vegetables, flowering plants, spices, oil-seeds in addition to the traditional plantation crops such as Coconut, Rubber and Rice. Rich soils and varied climate give Wayamba a potential for growing of virtually any crop.

In Wayamba or North western province, home for ancient Buddhist rock temples, magnificent citadels Panduwasnuwara, Dambadeniya, Yapahuwa and Kurunegala. Impressive remains of those citadels, palaces, Buddhist temples and monasteries provide exciting sight seeing to the visitors.