Sri Maha Bodhiya

December which called as Unduwap is the month when Sangamitta Theraniya came to Sri Lanka with the southern branch of Jaya Sri Maha Bodhiya. Legend says that Sri Lankan civilization was built from that day onwards. Since those old times, this ancient tree has stood in Anuradhapura for millenniums. It has been always worshipped by kings and witnessed many kingdoms fall apart. However, throughout history, on every full moon poya day, thousands of Buddhists around Sri Lanka gather to worship this sacred tree.

Sri Maha Bodiya has been the centre and attraction of many poets and artists. Lots of poets have dedicated songs offerings to this tree, while some have captured its beauty on canvas. Many tourists so often visit Sri Lanka in search of this tree. The Nation took on a journey to pay homage to this ancient tree, on the month of Unduwap, when it was first ever brought to Sri Lanka. In the Mahawansa, it is said that King Devanampiyatissa sent his nephew prince Aritta on the important mission to bring Sangamitta Theri to Sri Lanka to establish a Bhikkuni Sasana in Sri Lanka and also to bring a sapling of the Sacred Jaya Sri maha Bodhi tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment. “According to several ancient historical accounts, many miracles are said to have occurred when a sapling was obtained from the parent Bodhi Tree,” said Waththewewa Dhammananda thero who comes from the village of Madawachchi and has a close connection with the Anuradhapura Sri Maha Bodhiya. The sapling was shipped to Sri Lanka in 249 BC amidst great pageantry.






While Emperor Asoka was present at the port when the ship carrying the sapling left the shore on the other side of the ocean, King Devanampiyathissa was waiting on Sri Lankan soil to welcome its arrival with great honour and respect. Along with the sapling, 18 classes of artisans came to the country to perform various services required for the Maha Bodhi. They were settled in some villages called “Bodi haraka Gam.” Protection of the Maha Bodhi When the Sri Maha Bodhiya bo tree was planted in Anuradhapura at the grounds of the Maha Vihara, it was accorded the veneration similar to the Buddha because the tree is closely linked with his life. Ancient Sinhalese chronicles have recorded various steps taken by Sri Lankan kings to protect the Sri Maha Bodhi and its precincts. The royalty considered it their duty to improve the facilities required to maintain the tree, and attend to its restoration when necessary. Various architectural structures were also constructed around the Bo tree in the centuries that followed, in order to protect it. there are annual rituals which are performed by Buddhists for Sri maha Bodhiya. Several of them are performed to pay tribute to the sacred Sri Maha Bodhiya. The “Aluth Sahal Mangallaya” is performed on January full moon poya day which is known as Duruthu Full Moon Poya day among Sinhalese. The farmers in the surrounding areas offer the first portion of the new harvest of their fields to the Maha Bodhi.





The Nanumura Mangallaya is performed prior to Wesak Full Moon Poya Day whih is in May. The Sacred Tree is decorated with ornaments and milk rice is offered to the Maha Bodhi and to all the “Atamasthana” or the 8 sacred places at Anuradhapura. A “Deva Pooja” is offered to the provincial deities headed by Kalu Devathabandara, the deity protecting the Sri Maha Bodhi tree. The “Karti Mangallaya” is performed in month July during the annual pilgrim season. As Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha which considered to be the symbol of sovereignty, the Sri Maha Bodhiya is said to safeguard the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. “Time and time again, various forces have tried to harm the Siri Maha Bodhiya but it has stood the test of time and has survived for more than 2000 years so far. All the Buddhists in Sri Lanka and around the world, would want the Sri Maha Bodhi to live on for a long period of time in the future as well.

SIGIRIYA

The Royal Palace On The Sky…


This amazing miracle is located in Matale District in the Central Province of Sri Lanka.It is within the cultural triangle, which includes five of the seven world heritage sites in the country. The Sigiriya rock is a hardened magma plug from an extinct volcano. It stands high above the surrounding plain, visible for miles in all directions from the ground level.
This rock is a hardened magma plug from an extinct and long-eroded volcano. It stands high above the surrounding plain, visible for miles in all directions from the ground level. The rock rests on a steep mound which rises abruptly from the flat plain surrounding it. The Sigiriya rock itself rises 370 m above sea level. It is absolutely sheer on all sides, in many places overhanging the base. It is elliptical in plan and has a flat top that slopes gradually.
Sigiri rock consists of an ancient palace built by King Kashyapa during the 5th century AD. The site has the remains of an upper palace sited on the flat top of the rock, a mid-level terrace that includes the Grand Lion Gate and the mirror wall with its frescoes, the lower palace that clings to the slopes below the rock, walls and gardens that extend in a sheltered pocket on the western face of the Sigiriya rock, approached by a spiral stairway, are the famous frescoes.


Epigraphical evidenced refers to the existence of nearly 500 such portraits, but unfortunately only 19 remain today. Beyond the fresco gallery, the pathway circles the sheer face of the rock, and is protected by a 3m high stonewall.
This wall was coated with a mirror-smooth glaze. Over 1000 years ago visitors used this to note their impressions of the women in the gallery below.



The graffiti was Marjory inscribed between the 7th and 11th Century AD. 685 of them have been deciphered and also have been published. The graffiti are a great source for the scholars to study the development of the Sinhala language and script. Steps sigiriya-stairsor some hundreds of metres out from the base of the rock. The climb to the top of the rock is made via 1200 stairs. The first 800-900 are on steep stone stairs like those in this picture.


It is a very steep climb that should be taken without hurry. The stairway takes visitors past caves and hollows, places where guards watched for intruders, a number of carved symbols, and remnants of places where early Buddhist monks (coming after the reign of the King) lived and worshipped. The pleasure garden of the western side of the rock is studded with ponds, islets, promenades and pavilions. Some underground and surface drainage systems have been discovered during excavations. The wall abutting the moat encircling the fortress is one of the most arresting features.vergins. There are also remains of paintings in some of the caves at the foot of the rock. Of special significance is the painting on the roof of the Cobra Hood Cave. The cave with its unique shape dates from the pre-christian era. The painting combines geometrical shapes and motifs with a free and complex rendering of characteristic volute or whorl motifs. It is nothing less than a masterpiece of expressionist painting. This is thus named because of its shape. Its painted ceiling is dated back to the period of King Kasyapa (5th Century AD). It is however believed, that Buddhist monks from as early as the 3rd Century BC used this cave.



Ancient Sri Lankan civilization was however, something of a flash in the pan and within a few hundred years droughts, malaria and bloody succession battles led the cities to be abandoned. The jungle closed in and the buildings fell into ruins. For five hundred years they languished beneath the ebony trees, frequented only by elephants, leopards and the occasional traveler.

Ruwanweli maha seya

This is the great Ruwanweli seya in Anuradhapura of Sri Lanka.

It's known as one of the most precious places in Sri Lanka.

It's made by King Dutugemunu.

Ruwanweli maha seya

This is the great Ruwanweli seya in Anuradhapura of Sri Lanka.

It's known as one of the most precious places in Sri Lanka.

It's made by King Dutugemunu.