Baghawa Lena (Diva Guhawa) in Sri Pada

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Bhagawa Lena located just below the Sri Pada Peak off a jungle path

Diva Guhava remains the only site among the Solosmasthana (the sixteen sacred Buddhist sites) that has not been properly identified. According to the Mahavamsa, after preaching the Dhamma to the deity Sumana Saman at Sri Pada (Adam’s Peak), the Buddha is said to have spent the day in the Diva Guhava Cave, located on the side of this mountain.

Buddha’s Visit to the Island of Sri Lanka

During his lifetime, the Buddha visited Sri Lanka three times, as recorded in the Mahavamsa, as well as in other ancient texts such as the Pujavaliya, Samantapasadika, and Buthsarana. The sixteen sacred places visited by the Buddha are collectively known as Solosmasthana.

First Visit: In the 9th month after Enlightenment, the Buddha visited Mahiyangana to stop a war between the Yaksha and Naga tribes. The Mahavamsa states that he subdued the Yakshas and sent them to an island called Giri, laying the foundation for Buddhism to flourish in Sri Lanka.
Second Visit: In the fifth year after Enlightenment, the Buddha traveled to Nagadipa to settle a dispute between the Naga kings Chulodara and Mahodara over a jewel-studded throne.
Third Visit: In the eighth year after Enlightenment, the Buddha visited Kelaniya at the invitation of the Naga king Maniakkika, whom he had met during his first visit. The Buddha also visited Samanthakuta (Sri Pada Mountain), the dwelling of Sumana Saman, whom he had first encountered in Mahiyangana.

Identifying Diva Guhava

Among the sixteen Solosmasthana, Diva Guhava is the only site that remains uncertain in its location. Ancient texts describe it as the cave where the Buddha spent the day after placing his footprint on Sri Pada. Scholars and historians have suggested three possible locations for Diva Guhava:

Bagawa Lena: This cave lies about 100 meters below the Sri Pada summit along the Hatton path. It remains hidden in the jungle and is not frequently visited by pilgrims.
Batathota Cave: Located in Erathna, Ratnapura, off the Sri Pada route, this cave is popular among both tourists and pilgrims.
Kuragala Monastery Complex: Some believe Diva Guhava might be within this ancient monastery site.

Historical References

In 1942, Pandita Kirielle Gnanawimala Thero conducted research on historical and prehistoric sites in Sabaragamuwa and mentioned Bhagawa Lena in his book Saparagamuwe Parani Liavili. He described the cave as being eight and a half feet high and twenty-five feet long, with part of it expanded by excavation. According to the Mahavamsa, the Buddha, at the invitation of Sumana Saman, spent the day in this rock cave after placing the Sri Pada footprint.

Inscriptions of Baghawa Lena

King Nissanka Malla (1187–1196) of the Polonnaruwa Kingdom visited Sri Pada in the 9th year of his reign. During this visit, he left behind two inscriptions and a line sketch of himself at a cave near the sacred footprint.

Additionally, an Arabic inscription can also be found close to Nissanka Malla’s inscriptions. This suggests that Sri Pada was not only significant to local rulers and Buddhists but also attracted foreign travelers, including Arab traders or pilgrims.

The smaller inscription (10×9 inches) near the line sketch describes the sketch as King Nissanka Malla visiting Sri Pada.

නිශ්ශං
ක පරාක්‍රමබාහු
හු චක්‍රවර්තී
ස්වාමීන්වහන්
සෙ පදලසදා
වැඳ බැස සිටි
නියා යි
(Gnanawimala, 1942)

The larger inscription is 5’6″x1’10” in size with 14 lines. This describes his rule, receiving of honours, his meritorious deeds, worship of Sri Pada, and re-confirmation of the donations by King Vijayabahu of villages such as Ambagamuwa and Keselgamuwa.

ශ්‍රී විරුද රාජ වීර වෙශ්‍යාභුජඟ නිශ්ශංක ලංකෙ [ශ්වර කාලිඟව] ක්‍රවර්තීන් වහන්සෙ
සිරිලක එක්සත් කොටැ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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. . . . . . . . . බැවින් යුධාශායෙන් . . . . . . . . . . . . . . දඹදිව වැඩි කල්හි . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
හස්ත්‍යශවාදී අය ද සොලී රටින් එවූ පඬුරු ද ගෙනැදෙව කුල මෙ දි තුලාභාර නැගී නන්දෙසෙනා ආ
දිළිඳුන් සිත්පුරා දී නිශ්ශංකෙ ශවරයැ යන දේවාලයක් ද නංවා ලග්දිවූ වැඩ තුන් රජයෙහි නො
එක්තන්හි ද කාලිඟ රට පාඬි රට සොලීරට ද සත්‍ර නංවා නො එක් යාචකයන් . . . . . . . . . . . . . . රන්ව
ළන් රිදී වලන් දන් දී නව වනු නවයැ පුනු පොහොයැ සම නොළ වැ ඩෑ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [පසුව]
ණි රජතමාලායෙන් ද නවරත්නයෙන් ද මළුව සාදා සහ වොටුණු රජ බරණින් සෑදී වැඳ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . පූර්වරාජයන් දවස් අපවත් වූ මෙහි බද පළමු කුසලාන්ව ආ අඹ ගමු කෙ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
තැන් පෙර පරිද්දෙන් සිටුවා මෙතුවාක් තැනට කාත් විසින් උද්ධරණයක් නොකරනු කොට . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ලෙඛයයි
(Gnanawimala, 1942)

Devendra writes, that a short Arabic inscription found on the rock surface of Bhagawa Lena reads “Muhammad, May God bless him, (the father of) Man . . . . . . . “. Mr. G. Yazdani of the Indian Epigraphical Division has ascribed it to about the same period of King Nissanga Malla (Devendra, 1970).

THe sketch of Nissankamalla at Bhagawa Lena in Sri Pada mountain — The sketch of Nissankamalla at Bhagawa Lena in Sri Pada mountain
source : සපරගමු දර්ශන

The inscription by Nissanka Malla regarding his visit to Sri Pada on the Bhagawa Lena located just below the Sri Pada Peak off a jungle path

References

Devendra, S. (1970). Arabic Gravestone from Trincomalee Dockyard. Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, XIV (New Series-(125th Anniversary issue)), 28–38.
Geiger, W. and Bode, M.H. (1912) The Mahavamsa or the Great Chronicle of Ceylon Translated Into English. London: Henry Frowde Oxford University Press, Amen Corner, E.C.
Gnanawimala Thero, K. (1942). සපරගමුවේ පැරණි ලියවිලි. Ginalankara Press.
Gnanawimala Thero, K. (1967). සපරගමු දර්ශන. Shastrodaya Printing Press.

Also See

Solosmasthana – The Sixteen Buddhist Sacred Sites hallowed by Buddha

Map of Baghawa Lena (Diva Guhawa) in Sri Pada Mountain

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Travel Directions to Baghawa Lena (Diva Guhawa) in Sri Pada Mountain

Route from Colombo to Sri Pada (up to Erathna Foot Path)	Route from Colombo to Sri Pada (upto Erathna Foot Path)
Though : Kaduwela – Avissawella – Ginigathena – Nallathanniya Distance : 140 km Travel time : 4 hours. Driving directions : see on google map	Route from Colombo to Sri Pada (up to Nallataniya Foot Path)