Buddhist sites in Anuradhapura

Ruwanweliseya ( Ruwanweli Dagaba)

What to see....

The structure of the great stupa...

• The Stupa is located in the middle of the paved stone courtyard.

• At the very bottom you see the "Weli Konda" that you see only in big Dagabas

(The "welikonda" at the very bottom of the Dagaba)

• Then you see the three "pesava" rings. A "pesava" ring is a moulded plinth at the base of the Dagaba.The three pesava rings are on on top of the other in decreasing sizes. It is believed that in the ancient times, these pesava rings would have been used to offer flowers and it is believed that there would have been lifts in old days to move pilgrims up to the levels of the pesava rings to offer flowers. The Englishman Smither who did very early study on the stupa before its renovation mentions an elephant wall outside the pesava rings.

(The three pesava rings of Ruwanweliseya)

• On top of the three pesava rings you see the relic chamber.

• On top of the relic chamber you see a square enclosure, which is known as the "Hatharaskotuwa". In ancient times , on top of the Hatharaskotuwa, there was an umbrella (chathra) supported by an octogonal column (Such a chathra can be still seen at the Sanchi stupa in India). Also in the ancient dagabas, the hatharaskotuwa was not a solid cube but was a railed fence of square shape. The different kings putting one chatra on top of another in decreasing sizes would have lead to the eventually replacing the Chatras with a spire called the "Kotkaralle" .

(Hatharaskotuwa)

• There is an area above the Hatharaskotuwa which has statues of gods imbedded. This area is called the "Devathakotuwa".

(Devathakotuwa:with figures of gods)

• On top of the Devathakotuwa, we see the Kothkaralle on top of which there is a precious gem imported from Burma.

(Kothkaralla, with the precious gem on top)