'Yudaganaawa' , Butthala, Sri Lanka.

The unfinished Dagoba and the statue of Lord Buddha showing a 'frowning face'.

This Dagoba at Yudaganawa started in the 2nd Century BC would have been larger than the 'Ruwanvelisaaya' of Anuradhapura. It was never completed. The building in front of the Dagoba houses a statue of Lord Buddha showing 'a frowning face', according to a Buddhist monk I met at the site. This place was the site of a famous battle field mentioned in the 'Rajavaliya'.

‘Being angry at these words spoken by his royal father, the Prince(Gamini) fled to Gilimale, and having hid himself there for several days went to Kotmale’.

          ‘Kavantissa reigned 60 years from his coronation and passed {at death} to Tusitapura. On the demise of the King, Prince Tissa came, put his royal father in his coffin and repaired to Digamadulla, taking with him the Kadol elephant and his mother Vihara Mahadevi. Prince Gemunu having heard of his father’s death, left  Kotmale and returned to the city of Magama. Whilst there, he wrote to Prince Tissa asking him to send their mother and the Kadol elephant which was born on the same day as himself; but Tissa sent them not. The request was repeated three times; but still he did not send them. Prince Gemunu then set out to fight, taking his forces, and the two brothers joined battle in Yudaganapitiya. Of his army 30,000 men having fallen, Dutugemunu was defeated in the battle and fled, and Tissa persued after him; but when he saw that the great community of monks had come and barred his way, he returned to Digamadulla.’ A translation from the Sri Lankan Chronicle ‘RAJAVALIYA’ – (The line of Kings).

On a second single man combat Tissue was defeated and was pursued by Gamini. Tissue sought refuge at a Vihare – identified as ‘Demetamal Vihara’ close to Butthala.


Video:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WJl3Sq_aew

A devotee's views of the statue, Maligawila, Sri Lanka.

Statue at Dowa - Badulla - Sri Lanka.

Reputed to have been made in one day by a 'Yodhaya' this statue is found in a temple by a stream on the Badulla - Bandarawela road.

Golden Buddha statue inside a room with walls of mirrors.

Namalanga Raja Maha Vihara, situated past Ibbagamuwa, on the Kurunegala - Dambulla road is a very ancient temple. It has a room with mirrors on its walls. I took this picture there.

Stone-mason at work, Bambaragalle, Sri Lanka.

A scene reminiscent of work in the past few millenia - the way a piece of granite was shaped for the necessary requirement. See the wooden rectangle on the ground used to measure the size of the stone being chipped. I took this picture at Bambaragalle where the colossal Buddha statue is being erected.

Aukana Buddha statue, Sri Lanka.

 

The Aukana Buddha statue, situated close to the beautiful Kalawewa lake. is 12 metres high and is said to be now the tallest old Buddha statue in the world, after the destruction of the Bamiyan statue in Afghanistan. It is 'carved in the round' and is carved in the rare 'Asisa Mudra' - the posture of blessing. This statue was sculpted in the 12th Century AD.There is a story about this statue that a master and pupil had started to carve statues of the Buddha a few miles apart from each other, racing to finish his creation first. On finishing the statue first by the Master Artisan at Aukana, a gong was sounded. This sound was heard by the pupil, who was constructing the second statue at Sassaruwewa. The latter feeling ashamed at his defeat in the contest, had climbed to the top of his nearly completed statue, and jumped down killing himself. The name Aukana according to some was given because the early rays of the rising sun hit the top of the statue - ('Awwa' : Sunlight, 'Kanna' : Eating - S) and it looked as though the statue was eating up the first rays of the rising sun. There were a lot of similarities between the Bamiyan statue and that at Aukana.

The first is a photograph taken in 1938, the second was taken by me in the 1990s

The statue of Lord Buddha at Bahirawakanda, Kandy, Sri Lanka.

The massive statue of Lord Buddha situated on top of the Bahirawakanda hill, is positioned to look at the Dalada Maligawa, in Kandy. I took this photo of the statue across the lake at the childrens park end, using a 10 zoom on my Fuji Finepix.

Buddha statue, Maligawila, Buththala, Sri Lanka.

In 1967 I visited this place in a byway off Buththala in Sri Lanka. This massive Buddha statue made of sandstone was lying on the ground, with the head decapitated. This was the work of people who looked for treasure inside the statue. In the 1980s when I visited this place again the statue had been reinstalled, using mechanical cranes, during the Presidency of Mr.Premadasa. I took these pictures at that time. A few yards opposite this statue there is a very elaborately carved, beautiful image of a Boddhisattwa. This showed the influence of Mahayanism in this area.