Dambadeniya Sri Wijayasundararamaya

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Dambadeniya kingdom came into existence with the fall of the Polonnaruwa kingdom to Kalinga Maga in the 13th century and a new king Vijayabahu III (also known as Vathhimi Vijayabahu) established his kingdom under the protection of the Dambadeniya Rock in 1232. Along with this shift the Tooth Relic was too moved to Dambadeniya.

It is believed that 2 relic houses were built in this kingdom, one at the top of the Dambadeniya rock where the palace was built and the other in the inner city which is now the Sri Wijayasundararamaya Rajamaha Viharaya.

The Tampita Viharaya at the Sri Wijayasundararamaya is believed to be the ancient relic house of the Dambadeniya kingdom.

All the religious buildings of the temple is built on a higher ground and a flight of granite steps are built towards this terrace. The steps end at a Vahalkada. This is built on four rock pillars with a square roof. The entrance is a large door frame made of granite. It is believed that this was the Eastern Entrance to the inner city of the Dambadeniya Kingdom.

The Tampita Viharaya found on this terrace has been identified as the Relic House, 3 stories high built by King Parakramabahu II (1244 -1279), son of Vijayabahu III. This was converted to a 2 storied Tampita Viharaya by Meegasthanne Adhikaram also known as the Dumbara Maha Nilame during the reign of King Sri Wikrama Rajasinhe (1798 – 1815).

The Tampita Viharaya is built on a raised platform made of stone. This platform is 18 feet 6 inches long and 11 feet 11 inches wide. A 3-foot wide circumambulating path is built around the ground floor image house. The entrance to this image house is through a large wooden door frame built in the Chandrawanka form. Statues of two guardian deities carrying a flower pot stand beside the entrance. A Hansa Pututuwa painting can be seen at the top of the door frame. The paintings around the door frame have lost their archaeological significance due to recent renovations. A seated Buddha statue is found inside the image house. This statue is flanked by 2 standing Buddha statues.

A wooden flight of steps leads to the image house on the second floor. The second floor is built on 14 granite pillars and 12 wooden pillars. The image house is 29 feet long and 19 feet wide. A 2 feet 2 inch wide circumambulating path goes all around the relic house. A wooden balustrade is built around the path. Similar to the ground floor two Nagaraja guardian deities carrying a flower pot stand beside the entrance to the relic house.

A painting of the Meegasthanne Adhikaram and Parakramabahu II can be seen among the murals inside the image house. The subject of the murals in this chamber lean towards the Tooth Relic of Buddha. An exquisite mural of the Dalada Perahera can be also found in this chamber. An elephant leads the procession and the tooth relic is carried on a Palanquin and the king can be seen worshipping it.

In front of the Tampita Viharaya lies a Hevisi Manadapaya built using 10 granite pillars to hold the weight of the roof. This building is 20 feet long and 17 feet 6 inches wide. A short wall was built around the mandapaya at a later time. A plain Balustrade (Korawakgal) and a moonstone lie at the entrance to the Hevisi Manadaya. Two granite stumps with carvings of pots of plenty lie beside the steps.

Two interesting carved granite slabs belonging to the Dambadeniya era can be seen mounted on the walls beside the entrance. Each slab consists of 3 carvings on top of each other. On the first slab, you will see 2 people attacking a solder at the bottom. A seated Buddha in Darmachakra posture is caved on top of it. The topmost slot is carved with 2 people worshipping a linga in the centre. The bottom of the second slab is carved with an Elephant and a man. The elephant is probably attacking the man. The centre carving shows a man being carried by two other people. This could be probably the corpse of the man attacked by the elephant. The topmost carving again a linga on a pedestal with a man worshipping next to it.

In front of the Hevisi Mandapaya lies a small granite platform with carvings of lions on the stumps. It is believed that the Tooth Relic was kept on this platform during its display events.

Another archaeologically valuable structure in this terrace is the Kuludage, the form of a Chethiyagaraya (aka Stupa House, Stupaghara). According to Dr Roland Silva, a specialist in Asian architecture and archaeology, Chethiyagara or the stupa with roofs can be distinctively classified into 3 groups. The best-known type is the Vatadage or the round relic house. A second group consist of stupas with roofs which are not circular which Dr Roland calls Kuludage. The third includes stupas constructed wotjin matural rock shelters, which are called chaitya caves or chetiya lenas. The vatadage can be regarded as the forerunner of the Kuludage, but the latter growth represents a declining phase after the former ceased to be in vogue after the 12th century. It is also possible that the Kuludage evolved as an inexpensive alternate shelter to the small painted stupa, which was normally built under cover.

By the time of the Kandyan kingdom, the the country did not have the resources and the expertise of the ancient forefathers thus a more simple form the valadage called Kuludage was used to cover smaller stupas. These were easier to build and required much less resources.

Since these structures lack a centre column of cross beams to carry the weight of the roof, all the wooden beams of the roof are fixed on to a wooden fixture called Kanimadala at the centre which keeps the beams interlocked in place.

The Stupa and the structure is built on a 4-foot high platform similar to the Tampita Viharaya. The roof over the stupa house is built on six 6-foot 6-inch high granite pillars. Carved wooden beams laid across these pillars hold the roof laid with flat clay tiles. A simple moonstone and a Balustrade carved with elephants lie at the entrance to the stupa house.

A detailed description of the overall “Stupaghara” or “Chethiyaghara” architecture including the Kuludage of Sri Lanka can be found here.

Ruins at Dambadeniya Sri Wijayasundararamaya

The Kuludage (the Chethiya Ghara) whch is built over the sutpa at Dambadeniya Sri Wijayasundararamaya

Bodhi Garaya at Dambadeniya Sri Wijayasundararamaya

Excavated outer boundary of the ancient Dambadeniya Sri Wijayasundararamaya

paintings of Dambadeniya Era underneath the Kandyan Era paintings being exposed at Dambadeniya Sri Wijayasundararamaya

References

SILVA, ROLAND, 2020, MEMOIRS OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CEYLON – VOLUME X – PART II : THUPA, THUPAGHARA AND THUPA PRASADA. 1. Colombo : The Department of Archaeology.
WIJEWARDHANA, KUSUMSIRI, 2009, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ටැම්පිට විහාර. 1. Colombo : Dayawansa Jayakodi.

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