Kusalankanda Archaeological Ruins

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Kusalankanda Archaeological Ruins in Karadiyanaru, Batticaloa (කුසලාන්කන්ද පුරාවිද්‍යා නටබුන්)

Kusalankanda (also known as Kusalan Kanda, Kusalanamalai, or Kusalana Malai in Tamil) is a striking rocky outcrop located along the Batticaloa–Badulla (A5) Road in the Karadiyanaru area. This site, steeped in history and natural beauty, remains one of the lesser-known archaeological landscapes of the Eastern Province.

To reach Kusalankanda, travelers must journey 29 kilometers from Mahaoya along the Eravur Road to arrive at Karadiyanaru. From the Karadiyanaru Seed Farm, a left turn leads onto a narrow rural path that winds 3 kilometers through lush paddy fields, ending at the base of the rugged rock formation.

Today, Kusalankanda is surrounded by tranquil paddy fields, its rocky peaks rising dramatically above the landscape. Though now silent and overgrown, this rocky outcrop once served as a thriving Buddhist monastery in ancient times. At the summit lies a mound of earth covered in wild vegetation—what was once the main stupa of the monastery, now reduced to scattered bricks and soil.

According to Venerable Ellawala Medhananda Thero, three tiers of rock caves encircle the hill from its base to the summit. The presence of man-made drip ledges clearly indicates that these caves served as the dwellings of meditating monks centuries ago. Seven of the caves still bear drip-ledge inscriptions, while traces of ancient brick walls can be seen within several others, standing as quiet reminders of a sacred monastic life that once flourished here.

All the inscriptions record the donation of the respective cave to the Sangha. One has been read by Henry Parker as

Upaja Naga p(u)te Raja Abaye nama tata-p(u)te Gamini Tisa namate nakarate sudasane sagasa. Born the son (of) Naga (and) by King Abhaya named (his) ‘own son’ (the prince) named Gamani Tissa has prepared the ‘Beautiful’ (cave) of the Community.

This important inscription provides some insight into the lineage of the kings with 3 names, titles and relationships mentioned. Based on the relationships, Parker believed the donor to be King Mahaculi Mahathissa (76-62 BC) and Prof. Paranavithana and Medhananda Thero believed the donor to be King Kavantissa (father of King Dutugemunu) of Magama kingdom in the 3rd century BC. R.A.L.H Gunawardana believes that Uparaja Naga is one of the Dasabatika (Ten Brothers) mentioned in the Bovattegala inscription and an altogether separate lineage.

Festing (1919) who had visited this site leaves the following description of the site:

Left Illuppaiyadichcheuai early in the morning with the D.I.E. and went about 2 miles up the Badulla road, where we turned off into the jungle along a survey line running due west towards Kusalana Malai. I had long wanted to visit this place, but this is the first chance I have had. Some description of it may be given as I do not know of any description elsewhere.
An inscription from one of the caves in the hill is given in Mr. Parker’s Ancient Ceylon (pp. 421 and 445), but Mr Parker himself did not apparently visit the place. I had this inscription recopied for Mr. Bell who suspected that the copy in Ancient Ceylon was faulty, and he proved to be right. Three other inscriptions were found by the Forest Ranger, who copied this inscription, in the jungle close by, but we had no time to explore more than the hill itself
Description of the Hill: We approached the hill from the southeast side, and after a fairly stiff climb reached the first cave where the inscription given in Ancient Ceylon is to be seen. Climbing higher up the rock we came to a night of stone steps cut in the rock and leading to a pokunu. This pokuna is fairly deep and still contained a good deal of water .n spite of the drought. On the southeast side of the pokuna there are the remains of a wall and a quantity of stone slabs on the edge. Higher up the rock above the pokuna there was a half circle of small square socket holes, evidently for a railing. Another hall circle of larger socket holes ran in the opposite direction, but what these were for we could not guess. After further climbing, we reached the top. which is now a narrow grass-covered plateau with a trig-station at the northern end. Here there are the remains of a dagoba, apparently, as well as other buildings. There are traces of a wall on the west side and a number of dressed stones scattered about. We found also an octagonal stone pillar. There is a good view to be had from the top, which must be about 400 feet above the jungle.
The rock hill falls away steeply on the north and northeast sides, but we managed to get to another small cave on the east. It had a drip ledge, but I could not be certain if there was an inscription below it or not. We then had to retrace our steps, as further progress on that side was impossible and coming over the top again and going southeast, we came on three much larger caves fairly close together They all had drip ledges cut in them, but without scaffolding; it was impossible to get up to them and see if there were inscriptions. In one of these caves we both thought that there was an inscription, but it was not possible to make sure. We found traces of recent occupation by porcupines but saw no signs of bears, which was rather surprising, as the place appeared to be an ideal haunt for them. There may possibly be further caves on the north and northeast sides but I do not think it is very likely, as the difficulty of approach is too great.

It is evident that this monastery thrived long before the dawn of the Christian era, enjoying royal patronage during a flourishing period of Buddhism in the region.

On the southeastern slope of Kusalankanda, a line of stone-cut steps leads upward, showing the path once taken by monks and pilgrims. Nearby, the remnants of an ancient wall made of large rock fragments still cling to the hillside. At the summit lies the main stupa, now in ruins, with stone slabs once used as flower altars scattered and overturned across the rocky ground.

A large stone pond can also be seen on the hill, connected by a carefully hewn flight of steps descending toward its edge—an example of the site’s advanced monastic planning.

Tragically, in recent years, a Hindu temple has been built atop the hill, resulting in the destruction or disappearance of almost all ancient artifacts. Only a few stone pillars remain, standing as silent witnesses to a once-great Buddhist monastery. Unless urgent preservation measures are undertaken, these final traces of history may soon vanish forever.

Ancient rock cut steps on Kusalankanda Archaeological Ruins in Karadiyanaru, Batticaloa (කුසලාන්කන්ද පුරාවිද්‍යා නටබුන්)

Ancient stupa now in ruins and covered in plants at Kusalankanda Archaeological Ruins in Karadiyanaru, Batticaloa (කුසලාන්කන්ද පුරාවිද්‍යා නටබුන්)

Ancient stone pillars at Kusalankanda Archaeological Ruins in Karadiyanaru, Batticaloa (කුසලාන්කන්ද පුරාවිද්‍යා නටබුන්)

View from Kusalankanda in Karadiyanaru, Batticaloa (කුසලාන්කන්ද පුරාවිද්‍යා නටබුන්)

References

එල්ලාවල මේධානන්ද හිමි, 2013. ප්‍රාචීන පස්‌ස උත්තර පස්‌ස නැගෙනහිර පළාත හා උතුරු පළාතේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ උරුමය. 5th ed. කොළඹ: දයාවංශ ජයකොඩි සහ සමාගම.
Parker, H., 1909. Ancient Ceylon. 1st ed. London: Luzac, p.445.
‘The State, Kingship and Buddhism in Ancient Sri Lanka’ (no date) in.
Festing, R. A. G. (1919). Kusalana Malai Inscriptions. The Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register, IV : 1918:1919, 113.

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