Situated within the sacred UNESCO World Heritage city of Anuradhapura, the Jethawanaramaya Image House is a monumental 8th-century shrine that showcases the island's ancient architectural brilliance through its towering eight-meter-tall stone doorway and the massive lotus pedestal which once supported a gigantic Buddha statue.

Why visit Jethawanaramaya Image House

• Colossal Buddha Image Housing: The building is notable for its massive 8-meter (27-foot) tall monolithic stone door frame, which indicates it once sheltered a colossal standing Buddha image (estimated 37 feet / 11.3 meters high, likely constructed of limestone or similar material).
• Architectural Pioneer (Gedige Style): It is a significant example of the Gedige-type (vaulted) image house, an architectural style that later influenced and was continued in major Polonnaruwa structures like the Thuparama, Lankatilaka, and Tivanka Image Houses.
• Gedige Style Design: The Image House is classified as a Gedige-type (vaulted brick roof) building, featuring a main shrine area and antechamber, with indications of entrances and subsidiary shrines.
• Intact Lotus Pedestal and Reliquary: The site still contains the lotus pedestal (Padmasana) where the massive Buddha statue once stood, as well as the unique twenty-five-chamber stone reliquary (Yantragala) of the shrine.
• Location in a Major Monastery: It is the main image house within the colossal Jetawanarama Stupa monastery complex, making it a key religious structure of the later Anuradhapura Period.