Ruwanweliseya in Anuradhapura
'The construction of Ruwanweliseya was prophesied by the great Buddhist missionary Maha Thera Arhath Mahinda, who brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka from India during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa (250-210 BC).
Having heard of the prophesy of Maha Thera Mahinda to the effect
that a great Stupa would be built by a great king at a certain location at
Anurdhapura, King Devanampiya Tissa had an inscription pillar planted at the
said location narrating the prophesy.
A little more than a century later, the inscription pillar was
destined to be found by a fitting hero: King Dutugamunu (101-77 B.C.), who rescued
the Sinhalese Buddhist nation from the Dravidian invader. “The Hero of the
Nation” wasted no time and commenced the construction of Ruwanweliseya also
named Maha Stupa or Ratnapali Stupa or Swarnamali stupa.
Following the declaration of the king that no work at the great
stupa should go unrewarded, a streak of luck dawned on the pious king: a rich
vein of Silver was discovered at a village subsequently renamed Ridigama
meaning Village of Silver in Sinhala. The construction of stupa cost the king 6.4
million coins in wages alone.
At a circumference of 370 feet and a height of 180 feet,
Ruwanweliseya, the third largest stupa of Sri Lanka, is the focal point of the
Maha Vihara, the first monastery of Sri Lanka. It is believed a considerable
amount of relics of Buddha is enshrined in this glorious stupa, built in
replicating the shape of a bubble of water. At the eastern entrance to the
stupa is a statue of King Dutugamaunu. According to the records made by Fa
Hsien, the Chinese Buddhist monk, who toured Sri Lanka in the 5th century CE,
Maha Vihara monastery housed no less than 3000 Buddhist monks.
Since the death of King Dutugamunu, “The Hero of the Nation”,
the great stupa had been renovated by a succession of Sinhalese king till King
Nissanka Malla (1187-1196 AC). By the 19th century, Anurdahapura, once the
greatest monastic city of the world, also named Anurogrammon, by the Greek
cartographer Claudius Ptolemy (90-168 AD) was deserted; Ruwanweliseya was in
ruins.
In the year 1893, a patriotic and pious Buddhist monk called
Naranvita Sumanasara Thera supported by a community of humble villagers in the
region, took upon the Herculean task of reconstructing the great stupa. The
community resulted in forming a society called Ratnamali Chaityawardhana
Society.'
Satellite pictures of
‘Ruwanveli Saeya’:-
