Gomarankadawala Mailawewa Archaeological Site

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ගෝමරන්කඩවල මයිලවැව පුරාවිද්‍යා භූමිය - Gomarankadawala Mailawewa Archaeological Site — Gomarankadawala Mailawewa Archaeological Site
Photo : නැගෙනහිර උරුමයක අරුමය

Hidden amid the paddy fields of Gomarankadawala lies the forgotten Mayilawewa Archaeological Site, where a 2,000-year-old stupa once safeguarded a golden relic casket and inscribed Sannasa. Today, its crumbling walls and scattered ruins whisper stories of devotion, craftsmanship, and ancient Buddhist life in Trincomalee.

The ruined stupa of Mailawewa lies on the bund of the Mailawewa Reservior, within the Mailawewa Grama Niladhari Division of the Gomarankadawala Divisional Secretariat in the Trincomalee District. Once conserved by the Department of Archaeology, the monument has since fallen into neglect, now covered with wild overgrowth. The relic chamber (garbha) has developed visible cracks, and sections of the northern face have collapsed, with bricks scattered around the site. Standing at about 3.9 meters (156 inches) in height, the stupa rests on a low brick platform roughly 30 centimeters (1 foot) high and retains its distinct bubble-shaped (bubbulākāra) form.

Encircling the stupa is a square brick wall (prākāraya), portions of which, particularly on the northern side, have suffered damage with bricks missing in several places. Between the wall and the stupa lies the maluwa (paved courtyard), accessible via three steps near the entrance. On the right side of the entrance, leaning against the enclosure wall, stands a pillar bearing a Tamil inscription. Measuring about 1.37 meters (54 inches) in height and 43 centimeters (17 inches) in width, the pillar contains sixteen lines of clearly visible text. However, as noted in The Social History of Sri Lanka Revealed by Inscriptions by M. A. Wimalasena, this inscription has not yet been translated or published.

To the west of the stupa lies a rectangular stone slab measuring 1.19 meters (47 inches) in length and 64 centimeters (25 inches) in width, though one corner is broken. Nearby, several fragmented stones and broken pillars can be seen beneath a tree, while a yūpagala (votive pillar) lies a short distance away. The yūpagala, once 2.24 meters (88 inches) long, is now broken into two pieces resting side by side.

According to the Department of Archaeology, this site has been officially designated Mailawewa Archaeological Site No. 2. In addition to the stupa, its enclosure wall, and the Tamil pillar inscription, the stone remnants scattered around the site are believed to be the ruins of a Tampita Vihara—a temple built upon stone pillars, typical of monastic architecture from the later Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods.

by : Lakmal K. Baduge ‎

The Mailawewa Stupa, conserved by the Department of Archaeology in 1979, forms part of an important but lesser-known archaeological site in the Trincomalee District. According to the 1979 archaeological report, the stupa stood approximately 7.6 meters (25 feet) high and showed no evidence of having been disturbed by treasure hunters. The southern brick wall measured around 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) in height and 5.8 meters (19 feet) in width. On the western side of the stupa, a Tamil inscription engraved on a stone slab measuring 1.68 meters (5.5 feet) in length was found. This inscription, written in a style distinct from that of the Velikara inscription in Polonnaruwa, consists of fifteen lines of text. Nearby, the fallen yūpa (votive pillar) of the stupa was also discovered.

In addition, twenty stone pillars, each about 3.7 meters (12 feet) high, were unearthed to the west of the stupa, suggesting the presence of an ancient building, possibly a Tampita Vihara or a shrine. Close to this structure, archaeologists uncovered a beautifully crafted stone flower altar (mal pūjāsanaya), measuring 1.2 meters (3 feet 11 inches) in length and 0.64 meters (2 feet 1 inch) in width, which was likely used for floral offerings.

Further excavations conducted in 1984 at the old Mailawewa Stupa yielded an extraordinary discovery—a small golden relic casket (ran karaṅḍuwa). The casket, measuring approximately 5 centimeters in height and 4.3 centimeters in diameter, contained a thin gold sheet inscribed with a Sannasa (royal grant/document). This golden Sannasa, about 12 centimeters long and 2 centimeters wide, bore the following Pali text (Sumitta & Nanayakkara, 2022):

Mailawewa Gold Inscription inside the Gold Relic Casket

Namō Tassa Bhagavatō Arahatō Sammā Sambuddhassa
Iti pi sō bhagavā arahaṁ sammā sambuddhō vijjācaraṇa
sampannō sugatō lōkavidū anuttarō purisadamma sārathi satthā dēvamanussānaṁ buddhō bhagavāti.

නමො තසස භගවතො අරහතො සමමා සම්බුධොහ
ඉතිපිසො භගවා අරහං සම්මා සම්බුදධො විජජාචරණ
සම්පනෙනා සුගතො ලොකවිදු අනුතතරො පුරිස දම්මසාරථි සතථා දෙවමනුසසානං බුදෙධා භගවාති.

This sacred verse translates as follows:

Honour to that Blessed One, the Arahant, the Fully Enlightened One. For these reasons is that Blessed One Arahant (Worthy), Fully Enlightened, endowed with higher knowledge and conduct, the Fortunate One, Knower of the world, the Leader of men to be tamed, the Teacher of gods and men, the Buddha, the Blessed One (Sumitta & Nanayakkara, 2022).

එම භාග්‍යවත් අරහත් සම්මා සම්බුදුන් වහන්සේට නමස්කාරය වේවා. ඒ භාග්‍යවතුන් වහන්සේ මේ කරුණු නිසා අරහං, සම්මා සම්බුද්ධ, විජ්ජාචරණ සම්පන්න, සුගත, ලෝකවිදු, අනුත්තර පුරිස දම්මසාරති, සත්තා දේව මනුස්සා, බුද්ධෝ, භගවා නම් වන සේක (Sumitta & Nanayakkara, 2022).

References

De Silva, R. and Karunaratne, W., n.d. Administration report of the archaeological commissioner for the year 1979. 1st ed. Colombo: Department of the Government Printing, p.17-19.
Sumitta, K. and Nanayakkara, R.K. (2022) ‘ශ‍්‍රී ලංකාවේ ධාතු කරඬු ලිපි පිළිබඳ විචාරාත්මක අධ්‍යයනයක්’, භූපති :ශාස්ත්‍රීය සඟරාව , 1(1), pp. 37–57.
නැගෙනහිර උරුමයක අරුමය

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