Mahaoya Omunugala Archaeological Ruins

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Maha Oya is a well-known small town located just beyond the Padiyatalawa on the Bibila–Batticaloa highway. About 14 kilometers northwest of Maha Oya and 6 kilometers west of the Maduru Oya Reservoir, a massive rock formation known as Omunugala (Omuna) rises from the jungle. At the base of this rock lie the remains of an ancient monastery, likely dating back to the pre-Christian era. Later, this area was also home to a thriving Vedda community, which has since disappeared.

Though the site has not been thoroughly studied, few authors who had visited this site had documented the remains of this once-thriving monastery over the years. One such researcher is Sumanasekara Banda (1986), who described the ancient ruins following his visit in 1985.

Ancient Monastic Remains

After descending a stone staircase, visitors encounter the remains of a small stupa. Two uncarved polished balustrades (korawakgala) are found at this point, and a flight of steps leads to the stupa. Nearby lies a stone-carved flower altar measuring approximately 2.77 meters in length and 1.07 meters in width (9 ft 1 in × 3 ft 6 in), now in a state of disrepair. Adjacent to this is a round stone disc, 0.69 meters in diameter and 0.15 meters thick (2 ft 3 in × 6 in), also carved from a single stone. The disc is adorned with a lotus flower motif.

Various types of bricks, including triangular bricks bonded with mortar, are scattered around the site. Ancient letters identifying each row are engraved on the bricks.

The stupa, now in a dilapidated state, has a diameter of about 12.5 meters (41 ft). As one ascends the mountain from this location, several caves with drip ledges can be found.

Cave Inscriptions and Structures

The first cave encountered is 16.15 meters (53 ft) long, with a drip ledge located 4.72 meters (15.5 ft) above the ground. An inscription is carved into the brow of this ledge.

The second cave measures approximately 39.6 meters (130 ft) in length and 3.96 meters (13 ft) in height. A prominent inscription appears on the brow of its drip ledge, mentioning a place named Upa Tarika Gama (උප තරික ගාම) or Apatanika Gama (අපතනිකගාම). At the rear of this cave is a square BOX carved from solid rock.

The third cave is 10.7 meters (35 ft) long, with a drip ledge situated 4.83 meters (15 ft 10 in) above the ground. Another dilapidated stupa lies inside.

About 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) further uphill, a large cave spanning 45.7 meters (150 ft) is found. Evidence of ancient murals is visible, although most have deteriorated. The few remaining fragments exhibit reddish-brown, greenish-brown, orange, and yellow hues.

This cave is divided into three chambers:

First chamber: Measures 5.18 meters by 3.05 meters (17 ft × 10 ft).
Second chamber (Image House): Measures 16.76 meters in length and 7.47 meters in width (55 ft × 24 ft 6 in), with an interior height of 3.51 meters (11 ft 6 in). Its walls are made from a combination of brick, stone, and clay.
Third chamber: Measures 4.27 meters by 3.05 meters (14 ft × 10 ft).

Within the image house lies a damaged Buddha statue made of brick and plastered with grey clay. The surviving section of the statue is about 4.83 meters (15 ft 10 in) long, missing both the head and feet.

Within a 9-meter (30 ft) radius of this statue, there were two more standing statues and one seated statue. One of the standing statues, made of stone, is missing its limbs and head. The other is completely missing, while only part of the seat remains of the seated statue.

Devale and Symbolic Carvings

At the base of the mountain is a site believed by locals to be a devale, marked by a spring of water emerging from the rock. A large arch is carved into the rock at the source of the spring.

Above this pond, a sizable rock rises. From a distance, the surface appears plain, but a closer look reveals a five-hooded cobra carved into the rock, standing approximately 2.29 meters (7 ft 6 in) high.

Vedda Presence at Omunugala

The first historical record of the Vedda settlement at Omunugala comes from Sir James Emerson Tennent (1860). Around 1838, the government and Wesleyan Methodist missionaries attempted to “civilize” the Veddas by providing housing, farming land, and a school. While this project largely failed, some success was observed in Omuna.

Tennent (1860, pp. 446–447) noted:

“. . . but the good effects of even this temporary experiment were apparent ; not one of the Veddahs returned again to his cave and savage habits, but each built for himself a house of bark, on the plan of the one he had left, and continued to practise the cultivation he had been taught. The other colony at Oomany continues to the present day prosperous and successful; twenty-five families are resident around it; rice and other grains are produced in sufficiency, and coco-nuts are planted near the cottages. The only desertions have been the departures of those in search of employment, who have removed to other villages in quest of it.”

By 1911, however, the situation had deteriorated. Seligmann et al. (1911) reported that the Omuna Vedda community was suffering from malnutrition and had largely intermarried with Sinhalese settlers.

According to Seligmann et al. (1911, pp. 46–47):

“The colony can no longer be called “prosperous and successful,” indeed, we found it in a state of semi-starvation. Before 1838, when these people were induced to settle, there can be little doubt that they were living in a somewhat similar condition to the Sitala Wanniya Veddas of the present day, but since then there has been a considerable infusion of foreign blood, for it has long been the habit of criminals and others desirous of concealment to seek refuge with the village Veddas, who usually receive them kindly and accept them as members of their community. Since the artificial origin of this settlement is known, it cannot be regarded as belonging to the village Veddas, but rather to a colony of degenerate settled Veddas.”

By 1924, Spittel (pp. 80–81) documented that the original Vedda community of Omuna had entirely disappeared, replaced by mixed-heritage descendants.

“Where the Vedda is, there is the inevitable rock. The tie between them is intimate. To the life, animal and tree, on the timbered sides of the rock, the Vedda is beholden for sustenance. The boulder-bound stream gives him water, and there lurk demons watchful for his undoing and tutelary ancestral spirits. Now here is the relation between men and rock closer than at Omuna; for from the heart of the hill flows a spring that does not fail in the cruellest drought. Is it a wonder the place has for ages been favoured of the Veddas? But time the iconoclast breaks the oldest bonds; the half-Veddas there to-day are not of the ancient stock that died out some fifteen years ago.

References

Seligmann, C. G., Seligmann, B. Z., Myers, C. S., & Gunasekara, A. M. (1911). The Veddas. Cambridge University Press.
Spittel, R. L. (1924). Wild Ceylon: Describing in Particular the Lives of the Present-day Veddas (1st ed.). The Colombo Apothecaries.
Sumanasekara Banda, S. J. (1986). ඌවේ දායාද (1st ed.). Sarvodaya Vishwa Lekha.
Tennent, J. (1860). Ceylon: An Account of the Island, Physical, Historical, and Topographical, With Notices of Its Natural History, Antiquities and Productions (4th ed., Vol. 2). Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts.

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