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Embekke Devalaya is situated near other two great temples such as Lankatilaka and Gadaladeniya in Daulagala, 8 km from Kandy. The vahalkada or the entrance porch of the devale also has 16 wooden pillars with some of the finest wood carvings, including a carving of a “mother and child”.
The roof of the shrine is of great significance. The roof without a central beam, holds together 26 rafters of the roof by means of Madol Kurupuwa, a giant wooden pin, a fine example of medieval carpentry. The ingenious example of classic carpentry resembles spokes in the wheel of a cart. The giant pin is carved too with traditional designs.
Embekke Devale is the finest living example of architecture and art in wood in Sri Lanka. Embekke Devale
It’s treasure trove of. Almost every inch of the wooden structures are decorated with elaborate carvings: rafters, beams columns, brackets, door-ways, doors and windows. Nothing is spared.
Among the best masterpieces on the capital pillars are the hansa puttuwa (entwined swans) double headed eagles, and entwined rope designs, mother breast-feeding child, soldier fighting on horseback, female dancing figures, wrestlers, women emanating from a vein, bird with human figure, combination of elephant-bull and combination of elephant-lion.The main chambers of Embekke Devale are main sanctum, digge the dancing hall and the drummers’ hall.
Embekke Devale-Woodcarvings.
The main sanctum
The main sanctum having high roofs runs with the traditional design of Devale shrines of the Kandyan period. The roof itself has singular features. The rafters are slanting from above towards the incoming visitor and are caught together and kept in position by a “madol kurupawa”, a kind of giant catch-pin the like of which we do not have elsewhere.
Digge
The digge set up with 32 square-shaped pillars is 53 feet long and 26 feet wide. Most of these intricately carved wooden pillars have stone pillars as their base. The digge is decorated with no less than 128 designs and 256 floral designs, 64 lotus designs on pekada or brackeys, 30 on beams and 36 on cross-bars totaling 514 in all.
Drummers’ hall
The Hewisi Mandapaya Drummers’ hall is of high-pitched roof wood carvings on its ornate pillars. An abandoned Royal Audience Hall at Gampola was the source of some of the woodworks at the Drummers’ hall.
"Dear Cyril, Thanks for taking care of the Dr.Sethukavalar and his wife very well. They were indeed very happy for all the care you have shown during your tour. They were very impressed of your patience and kindness. I look forward to see you soon and maintain this good relationship we have developed in a short period of time. We will not hesitate a second to recommend you to all our friends who would like to visit Sri Lanka. Taking this opportunity of wishing you all the best. Thanks fo..." HARIDAS KANDASAMY
"Dear Cyril, Thank you very much for wonderful holiday. Your attention to detail and care of your clients is extraordinary. We certainly hope to cross paths again and we will recommonding you to all of our friends and to family too. Many thanks again. Paul nad Machelle Brisbane, Australia. Visited during 10/10/2012 - 26/10/2012" Mr. Paul and Mrs. Machelle from Australia
"We found Cyril on-line and after checking with lots of other guides we decided he is the one for us, that decision was the best one we did for our trip From the beginning, in our emails, Cyril listen to us and was very helpful, he gave us information and helped us to create the best trip for us.We had 10 days trip, for our honeymoon, to many parts of Sri-Lanka. the country is amazing, green, nice people and good food.Cyril was a great driver and even greater guide, he has so much knowledge and e..." Coral and Oded from Israel
"(10 days). Before the trip I did a lot of research here on the site and other sites on the tour options and after checking in we decided to go with a guide attached. Choice in was not easy and I started Travels "correspondence with more than ten guides to staying with the" chosen ". No doubt it was an excellent choice! Before Asbury on our guide, I wanted to note that after the visit, I understand the importance of taking guide (driver) suite. Roads and driving in Sri Lanka ..." Corey
" Dear Cyril, We are fortunate to have you as a friend here in Sri Lanka. You are extremly Knowledgeable and more than ever - having an attitude of helpful nature and the willingness to solve issues on hand whilst on our tour around Sri Lanka. As I have said to you we will reccommend you to all our friends who wish to tour in Sri Lanka. My family Karen, Kalvin and Andre also liked your company and wish you and your family well. God bless you all and we will keep in touch, for sur..." Alwyn Santhumayor & family
"Dear Cyril, We want to thank you so much for making our trip so unforgetable and delightful. We received your name from our friends lives in Geneva who travelled with you in January 2009 and they gave you such a high recommendation that we decided to conbtact you for our two weeks trip this year. Although we have been to Sri Lanka a few times already. We have never found such an excellent driver and guide. It has been a great pleasure to visit Colombo with you and then to Koggala for two day tr..." Mr.Gabor Kato & Mrs.Ann Kato
"We are an older couple celebrating a lot of years of marriage (and hiking) in Sri Lanka in February this year, for two weeks, and three days in the Maldives. Although we love to drive, we chose to go with a driver-guide, after planning the trip completely independently. (It turned out he might help us in the planning and selection of hotels, we own). The main advantage is reaching the sites, some of which are tired, refreshed after someone else used to bad roads, with bad signage - If you are i..." Sam
"Hello, We had 2 weeks exploring Sri Lanka and for most of that time Cyril drove for usto various towns, sites of interest. Cyril wsa a very pleasant chauffeur. Always prompt and greeted us with a smile. He was well informed about the sites we visited and pointed out many interesting historical buildings en-route. We had a great 2 weeks in Sri Lanka and Cyril's plesant and helpful nature contributed to this briliant holiday. Thank Cyril Sara and Steve from Birmingham, England" Sara and Steve
"We had a great time on last 10 days in on our honeymoon in beautiful Sri Lanka. Thank you very much for the stories, the explanations, driving, tips, care and always with a smile. Big thanks for you Cyril. We had an amazing honeymoon in this beautiful island! and you are the best guide and friend that we could have here!!! We will sure tell our friends and family about the trip and you!!! We will stay in touch and may be one day meet you again. Oded & Carol Israel 10 Oct 2014" Naim & Coral Fisher from Israel
"Cyril was absolutly Fantastic,Veryhelpful, Patient and extremly knowledgable. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend and travel with him again. Whole tour was well organized and perfectly done. Kate Williams and family from UK 04th January 2015" Kate Williams UK
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