Buddhist sites in Anuradhapura

Ruwanweliseya ( Ruwanweli Dagaba)

 

(This rare pic of Ruwanweliseya was taken from the top of Mirisawetiya from ven. Gnanarathana of the Mirisawetiya temple in June 2006).

Creator : The great King Dutugamunu

When : 161-137 BC

Highlights

  • The most venerated of All Buddhist Stupas (Dagaba)of the entire country.

  • Considered to be the greatest among all Stupas in Sri Lanka and thus known as the "Great Stupa" or "Mahastupa".

  • Regarded as containing the LARGEST NUMBER of the sacred relics of the Buddha (believed to have 1/8th of the sacred relics)

  • The current height of the Stupa is at an astounding 338 feet. The original height was 300 feet.

  • The Stupa has a circumference of 370 feet! at its point of creation. The great king used extensive knowledge in structural engineering for its creation

  • The king paid wages for everyone who worked on the Stupa (this was a rare gesture at the time where forced labour was the norm and goes to show the true caliber of the great king)

Historical glimpses

  • The site of the great stupa was decided long before king Dutugemunu. Arahat Mahinda, who brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka has instructed the then king Kavantissa that the site was wished by the Buddha when he was living to be marked for a future great stupa to enshrine the holy relics. When the king himself volunteered to build the stupa, he was told that it was predicted that one of his grandsons, would build the great stupa.

  • When the great king Dutugemunu united Sri lanka, his countryman had underwent tremendous suffering under the south indian invaders. The king did not wish to further bur dan his people with taxes to build the great stupa. But it said that by a miracle, a silver ore was discovered in Ridigama providing king enough wealth to pay for the construction of the Maha Stupa

  • Ruwanweliseya was part of the great Monastery "Maha Vihara" . The other holy places of Mahaviharaya includes the Brazen Palace (Loha Pasada) and Sri Maha Bodhi (as well as many other places.) .

  • The king started work on the stupa on the vesak full moon day of May. He dug the ground to 17.5 feet to ensure a solid foundation. Then he brought round stones by warriors and had them crushed by elephants with feet covered by leather. On top of the stones he laid butter clay. He had bricks laid over the clay and rough plaster on top of that. he then put quartz over the plaster and a mesh of iron on top of that. He then put a fragrance on top of that and spread crystal on top of that. With this description one can only imagine the number of bricks and stone lying under its circumference of over 350 feet.

  • The shape of the Stupa was decided like this .The architect was asked by the king about the shape. He asked for some water which was brought in a golden bowl.It is said when the water was hit from outside, it miraculously became a bubble. The king, surprised and gladdened by this event, decided to make the stupa bubble shaped.

  • The relic chamber is huge and was made of six large slabs made of a special stone called Medakavan, imported specially for this purpose. this special stone has a remarkable illuminating property which will always keep the relic chamber illuminated as daylight.

  • Inside the relic chamber is a Bodhi tree made completely of silver and exquisite jewelry . There is also a pure gold statue of the sitting Buddha. Surrounding the statue there are many gold figures representing events and characters from the Buddha's life story. The walls of the relic chamber are gaily painted with The events from the story of Buddha. At the Museum in Mihintale you can see an example of such a relic chamber with such paintings on the wall.

  • The sacred relics, it says were brought from the "Naga World". Some say that "Naga" actually means a tribe that was in charge of the sacred relics but who knows? it could be another world in this infinite universe.

  • The relic enshrining ceremony of the great stupa had been a mega event with international participation. It is said that delegates were invited from counties such as India Burma,Afghanistan and Arab states.

  • It says that when the King, surrounded by Arahats, entered the chamber with the relics, the relics shot up in to the sky , took the shape of the living Buddha and performed the miracle "Yama maha pelahara". (This is not pure imagination . The power of the sacred relics is clear from the sightings of the Aura (seen by thousands) around Ruwanweliseya (even now, on special pooja days like when there is a special Jasmine flower pooja). For the total skeptic, here is proof. The aura around the Somawathie Dagaba (which contains the right tooth relic)was recently photographed. Click to see pictures and article. As to why the Auras appear above Ruwanweliseya can only be explained by the fact that it contains the largest amount of sacred relics (1/8th ).

  • The king amazed by this even had presented his country to the holy relics for seven days.

  • The king never saw the finish of the great stupa. He is said to have passed away looking at at the unfinished stupa which was cleverly disguised to look as finished by his brother Saddhatissa by putting cloths around the unfinished part. The great chronicle goes to extreme lengths to describe the great king's deathbed scene where he is said to have passed away glad at heart , looking at the great Stupa.

  • A number of kings made various renovations to the stupa at different periods signifying the veneration that the Buddhists had for Ruwanweliseya at for more than 2000 years. The following table describes some of the constructions (Ref. Ancient Anuradhapura by Prof. Anuradha Seneviratna). Notice that for a period of 1000 years or so, almost every king that ruled the country made some sort of contribution to the stupa.

King
Period
 Contribution
Lanjatissa 119-109BC Faced the terraces with limestone blocks
Kallatanaga 109-103 BC Created the sand courtyard (Valimaluwa)
Mahanaga 9-21 Enlarged the sand courtyard and paved it with ornamental stones
Sirinaga 195-214 reconstructed and gilded the umbrella
Dhatusena 459-477 restored and gilded the umbrella and embellished it with precious stone
Mahanaga 573-575 Built the elephant railing and renovated the paintings
Aggabodhi 1 575-608 installed an umbrella of stone
Moggallana 618-623 Renovated the Stupa
Parakaramabahu 1 1153-1186 Restored the stupa to its original height
Nissankamalla 1187-1196 carried out repairs and erected a stone replica of the stupa on the platform

  • The shifting of the kingdom from Anuradhapura and the disintegration of the dry zone civilization made the maintenance of the stupa after 1196 AC, a practical problem and the Dagaba lay in ruins for more than 800 years until the 19th century.

  • A courageous buddhist monk named Naranvita Sumanasara with great difficulty started the restoration of the Stupa in 1893, using contributions given by Buddhists around the country. Later on the "Ratanamali Chaityawardhana Society" continued the work and the pinnacle of the stupa was placed on 17th June 1940.

  • The magnificent gem at the top ("Chuda Manikya") was imported from Burma

What to see

Thanks to all the Sinhala kings who contributed to it, the great Stupa is rich with things to see. Click below for a sightseeing tour

What to see at Ruwanweliseya