Your base for exploring this tourist attraction is the ancient city of Colombo, Sri Lanka. For tourist information about Colombo, go to Colombo Travel Guide. To prepare for a trip to Sri Lanka, read also the Sri Lanka Travel Guide. Looking for budget accommodation there? Use AsiaExplorers Budget Accommodation Guide, the no-frills website to cover your budget accommodation needs.
Asokaramaya Buddhist Temple looks like a rather mediocre temple from the outside. I visited it with a small group of AsiaExplorers members when we were city of Colombo. From the outside it didn't look at all interesting. Since we have so many places still to cover, we sent someone inside to check out whether it is worth our time. He came back excited, and told us to quickly go inside.
The Buddha image in a very ornate setting at the Asokaramaya Buddhist Temple.
What greeted us, when we entered the Asokaramaya is some of the finest wall murals I have ever seen in Sri Lanka. The details, the colours, were exquisite to the minute detail. The result is like nothing I have seen before, for it depicts Sri Lankans as Buddhist, something outside the normal Buddhists which are often Thai, or Burmese, or Tibetan or Chinese.
The Asokaramaya is truly a worthy destination to explore if you ever find yourself in Sri Lanka. Print out this page and show it to a taxi driver!
Asokaramaya Buddhist Temple Photo Gallery
Statues of devotees seem to fly around the floating Buddha.
Not an inch of the ceiling is unadorned.
Even the walls and doorways are fully embellished.
Like angels, these saint-like devotees of the Buddha are afloat on clouds.
The porch entering the Asokaramaya.
A side building.
A stupa on the grounds of the Asokaramaya.
Colombo Travel Guide
Useful tips and information on tourist attractions for planning a trip there.
