Ridimaliyadda Nagadeepa Vihare

This temple is located in the Uraniya village in the Badulla Bimtenni Korale of Rideemaliyadda District Secretariat Division of the Badulla District in  the Uva Province.

This temple which according to folklore could boast of a rich  heritage. It had acuquired the name Nagadeepa from two anecdotes. One anecdote has it that a Thera coming from Nagadeepa is said to have lived here and secondly the Buddha is said to have set foot on  this place in one of his three visits to the Island.  .

Its antiquity coud be traced to the 6-7 c. A.D. from the characters of an inscription discovered from the site. However pillar inscriptions and slab inscriptions dating to 9-10c A.D. had  been found in the temple premises. Accounts of King Dutugmunu coming down the generations mentions of  his  armies on their advance to Mahiyanganaya  from Magama had passed a place called Uraniya.

The ruins of a Dagoba of the bubble shape and an image house locatd on its front  is found in the site. Ancient bricks, stone pillars and building construed to be a Devale had been discovered as well. In the past a temple complex may have existed in this place. The Archaeological Department has declared the Uraniya Nagadeepa Vihare as a protected monument.