Lankatillaka Temple

Sri Lanka

Lankatillaka dates from the same year (1344) as Gadaladeniya, and is located only a mile or two away; both gediges were renovated in Kandyan times. The south face of the temple is seen here; its main entrance faces east (right, in the photo). Decoration on the temple's whitewashed exterior walls includes several projecting elephant forequarters, as well as now-empty niches that originally contained statues of Hindu deities. The temple's original superstructure collapsed in the 19th century; its present upper storeys are a modern restoration. Inside, a central Buddha shrine is surrounded by directional shrines to the Four Protectors (next page).

The name of this temple has an amazing number of alternate spellings: "Lankatilake," "Lankatilaku," "Lankatilleke," "Lankatilaka," "Lankathilake," and doubtless many more.