Veheragama Ruins – The forest of the Kubira Thero (වෙහෙරගම – කුබීර තෙරුන්ගේ වනය)

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The village of Veheragama lies on the border of the Ampara and Batticaloa districts between Mandur and Dadayamthalawa. The village has been named Veheragama due to the ancient stupa which lies atop a rocky outcrop in this village.

The archaeological remains of Veheragama lie on two rocky surfaces rising 20-30 feet off the ground in the village. The remains of a dilapidated stupa which existed on one rock surface are no more. This ancient stupa had a circumference of about 200 feet and a new stupa has been now built enclosing these ruins.

3 clay pinnacles found on the grounds are now on display. Based on the design, these have been placed in the 7-8th centuries.

Several Sri Pathula Gal ( slabs depicting the footprint of Buddha) can be seen on the site. Sri Pathul Gal was the object of worship at the earliest times before Buddha statues were built. The existence of these slabs provides proof that this hermitage had existed hundreds of years before the Christian era.

Ruins of ancient buildings can be observed scattered around the land. Two balustrades of a building can be seen east of the rock pool (kema) on the temple.  Many stone pillars can be observed scattered at the site with no indication as to what these buildings have been used for. Two lines of square holes leading to the top of the rock indicate the existence of a flight of steps in the past. On one side of the steps is a large stone inscription which reads “Kubira therahe Wane”, the forest of Kubira Thero.

This inscription is considered unique since this is the only ancient inscription found in the country which had granted the ownership of a complete forest (or a forest hermitage) to a monk.  What is found in abundance are the inscriptions donating drip ledge caves to specific priests but not whole forests.

References

  1. Ellāvala Medhānanda, 2005. The Sinhala Buddhist heritage in the East and the North of Shri [i.e. Sri] Lanka. 1st ed. Colombo: Dayawansa Jayakody & Co.

Also See

Map of  Ampara Veheragama Ruins

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The map above also shows other places of interest within a approximately 20 km radius of the current site. Click on any of the markers and the info box to take you to information of these sites

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Travel Directions to Ampara Veheragama Ruins

Route from Ampara to Veheragama Ruins
Distance :  28 km
Travel time : 45 minutes
Driving directions : see on google map

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