Embekke Temple

Sri Lanka

Embekke is one of three 14th-century temples (the other two are Gadaladeniya and Lankatillaka) that are located one or two miles from each other and just west of Kandy. All three were renovated in Kandyan times. Unlike the two other temples, Embekke's 14th-century founding date belongs to tradition rather than to established fact. At the very least, the present structure must have been built (or rebuilt) in Kandyan times; no wooden construction could have endured from longer ago than that. This photo shows the main shrine's celebrated porch, with its finely-carved wooden columns (following pages). The name of the temple can also be spelled as "Ambekke."