Munneswaram Kovil

Munneswaram Temple complex is a collection of five temples, including a Buddhist temple, which is located in Chilaw, Sri Lanka. The central temple dedicated to Shiva is the most prestigious and biggest and is popular amongst Hindus. The other temples are dedicated to Ganesha, Ayyanayake and Kali. The Kali temple is popular with Buddhists and Roman Catholics.

Destruction and Reconstruction

Portuguese destroyed The temple twice. It was them, who handed over the properties to the Jesuits. Although the Jesuits built a Catholic chapel over the temple foundation, local Sinhala and Tamils reconstructed the temple both times. Most surrounding villages and towns are not directly associated with the temple. Because of the administration and maintenance of religious and demographic changes after the late 18th century. But the villages of Maradankulama and Udappu are linked with organizing the main temple festival.

Festivals of Munneswaram

The main festivals celebrated at the temple include Navarathri and Sivarathri. The former is a nine-day long festival in honour of the presiding Goddess, while the latter is an overnight observation in honour of Lord Shiva. In addition to these two Hindu festivals, the temple has a festival of its own, the Munneswaram festival, a four-week-long event attended by Hindus, Buddhists, Catholics, and Muslims.

Myths

A myth that has Kali landing at the town of Chilaw and residing in Munneswaram, has made the temple a popular place of visit for cursing and sorcery purposes. In the early 1970s, the majority of the Sinhalese visitors were there for sorcery purposes. But by the 1990s more than half have been visiting the temple for general veneration purposes, demonstrating the transformation of the deity from a wicked demigod to a Mother Goddess. Since the 1960s, a number of Sinhalese Buddhist shrines dedicated to Kali have sprung up all over the island. Especially in urban areas. These are managed by Sinhala Laymen and women who are trance specialists. They act as intermediaries between the deity and the devotee while being possessed by the deity.

Center of Kali cult

According to anthropologists Richard Gombrich and Gananath Obeyesekere, the cult of Kali reached Sri Lanka via South India. Although Kali shrines may have been part of Tamil Hindu temples before the 12th century CE, the Sinhalese Buddhist population came to revere Kali as a village demon at least by the 12th century CE. The first known Hindu temple with a shrine to Kali to become popular with the Sinhalese Buddhists is Munneswaram