Ruins at Akithamurippu (Thekkama) Paththini Devalaya

54 years ago2 months ago06 mins

RATE THIS LOCATION : 1 Star

Be the first to rate

අකිතමුරිප්පු (තේක්කම) පත්තිනි දේවාලයේ පැරණි නටබුන් - Ruins at Akithamurippu (Thekkama) Paththini Devalaya — අකිතමුරිප්පු (තේක්කම) පත්තිනි දේවාලයේ පැරණි නටබුන් – Ruins at Akithamurippu (Thekkama) Paththini Devalaya
චායාරූපය : disni nissanka

On the road from Medawachchiya to Mannar, about a kilometer before Madu Church Road, there is the road to a British Hanging Bridge over the Malwathu Oya. After traveling about a kilometer on this road, you will see an Amuna (anicut) across the Yodha Ela (Giant Canal) in a beautiful surrounding. This Amuna is called Thekkama Amuna by the locals but this is not the correct Thekkama Amuna. One kilometer above this, King Dhatusena (459-477) built an amuna across Malwathu Oya at Thekkama and diverted the water to Yodha Ela Canal. This is the real Thekkama Amuna.

In the fifth century, King Dhatusena built a 25-kilometer long canal from Thekkama, about 20 kilometers away from Yodha Wewa reservoir and water from Malwathu Oya was supplied to Yodha Wewa reservoir over this canal. The first 10km of this canal traverse in parallel to Malwathu Oya.

Due to the high speed of the flow in the Yodha Ela canal, the a part of the retainer wall has eroded and water was been diverted back to Malwathu Oya down stream during the British era. A new Amuna was built at this place by the British when it was repaired.

A small temple has been built by Hindus near this Amuna. The main religious objects here are two statues on two semi-circular slabs sunk into the earth. In one of them there is an image of Lord Ganesh cast in cement, and in the other panel is a half-elevated image of a daitey carved on a stone slab. Although Hindus worship this statue as Goddess Pattini, it is identified that this is a carving of Goddess Parvati. This statue has only the upper body. The arms and lower part of the chest are missing. Patthini’s head is adorned with a jatamakuta and the ears, hands and neck is decorated with ornaments.

This statue of Goddess Parvati, which has been dated to the 11th-12th century AD, is believed to be brought to this country during the Chola period or caved here. Rajaraja Chola and Rajendra Chola ruled the country as Chola invaders between 1017-1070 AD and they were Shiva devotees. It is reported that he built Shiva temples in Mannar and Polonnaruwa. Accordingly, this statue may belong to a temple built according to the South Indian Chola tradition.

In front of this panel, there is a Siripathula (sacred footprint of Buddha carving) stone belonging to the early Anuradhapura period. This may have been brought here from a another unidentified Buddhist ruined site in the jungles.

Although in dry zone, this area which these ruins lies at cooling and attractive. The Amuna built by the British, the recently built arch bridge over the Yodha Ela below it and the old iron arch bridge nearby adds to its beauty.

You can also see the old hanging bridge over Malwathu Oya when you walk about 250 meters further passing the Yodha Canal.

Kunchikulam Steel Arch Bridge over Yoda Ela

The new six bay concrete arch bridge over Giants Tank inlet canal built in 2013

References

අසංග, එම්. වී. පී. කේ. සහ නිශාන්ත, අයි. පී. ඇස්., 2018. මන්නාරම දිස්ත්‍රික්කය – පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව. 1වන සංස්කරණය. කොළඹ: රජයේ මුද්‍රණ දෙපාර්තුමේන්තුව,පිටු .31-35.

Map of Akithamurippu (Thekkama) Paththini Devalaya

Please click on the button below to load the Dynamic Google Map (ගූගල් සිතියම් පහලින්)

Show Location (ගූගල් සිතියම)

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

Zoom out the map to see more surrounding locations using the mouse scroll wheel or map controls.

Driving Directions to Akithamurippu (Thekkama) Paththini Devalaya

From Medavachchi to the ancient ruins of Akitamurippu (Tekkama) Pattini Temple.

Via : Mannar Road
Total Distance : 47 Kms
Travel Time : 50 Minutes
Travel Time : Around 30 Minutes
Driving Directions : View on Google Map

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

IPKF Memorial in Palali Sri Lanka (පලාලි ඉන්දියානු සාම සාධක හමුදා ස්මාරකය)
The IPKF memorial at Palaly remembers 33 Indian soldiers of the 10 Indian Para Comando unit including Lieutenant Colonel Arun Kumar Chhabra who laid their lives for the sake of the territorial integrity of their friendly neighbouring country. […]
IPKF Memorial in Colombo Sri Lanka (කොළඹ ඉන්දියානු සාම සාධක හමුදා ස්මාරකය)
The IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) Memorial constructed by the Sri Lanka Navy located in Jana Kala Kendraya premises near the parliament complex, commemorates the soldiers of the Indian Peace Keeping Force who lost their lives during Operation Pawan, which was part of the efforts to intervene in the Sri Lankan Civil War. The monument was built in 2008, one year before it decisively defeated the LTTE. […]
Elephant Pass War Memorial (අලිමංකඩ යුද ස්මාරකය)
The Elephant Pass War Memorial consists of a monument and surrounding landscaped grounds. The monument typically features inscriptions, plaques, and symbols commemorating the fallen soldiers and their contributions. It serves as a place of reflection and remembrance for visitors, including veterans, families of the fallen, and members of the public. […]
Ratnapura Clock Tower and World War Memorial (රත්නපුර ඔරලෝසු කනුව හා ලෝක සංග්‍රාම යුද්ධ ස්මාරකය)
At the centre of Ratnapura Town lies the clock tower which was built as a monument for the fallen servicemen from Ratnapura District during World War I. The clock tower was commissioned at the end of the war in 1920 by the Local War Memorial Committee and was unveiled on 03rd June 1922. […]
Kurunegala Clock Tower and World War Memorial (කුරුණෑගල ඔරලෝසු කනුව හා ලෝක සංග්‍රාම යුද්ධ ස්මාරකය)
The clock tower found in the centre of Kurunegala town was built as a memorial for the fallen heroes from Northwestern Province in the First World War in 1922. Eleven names are listed on the Kurunegala Clock Tower who lost their lives during World War I and three of the names are Ceylonese. […]
World War Memorial in Army Training School in Diyatalawa (දියතලාව කඳවුරේ ලෝක සංග්‍රාමයේ යුද්ධ ස්මාරකය)
This cenotaph war memorial to commemorate war heroes in the 1st World War is situated in a military camp at the Army Volunteer Forces Training School in Diyatalawa. This memorial has been constructed to commemorate 78 military personnel of the Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps who died in the 1st World War. […]
Cenotaph War Memorial in Colombo (කොළඹ ලෝක යුද්ධ ස්මාරකය)
The Cenotaph War Memorial at the Public Library near the Vihara Maha Devi Park in Colombo is considered the main World War Memorial in Sri Lanka. It consists of a cenotaph and a memorial wall around it. The original memorial was commissioned by the War Memorial Committee after the conclusion of World War I in 1920. […]
Padukka First World War Peace Memorial (පාදුක්ක පළමු ලෝක යුද්ධයේ සාම ස්මාරකය)
At the centre of the Padukka town roundabout lies an old street lamp on a pedestal made of wrought iron painted in silver colour. Every day thousands pass this roundabout without even glancing at this monument at this curious lamp. […]
Boer Prisoners of War Memorial in Diyathalawa (දියතලාව බෝයර් යුද සිරකරුවන්ගේ ස්මාරකය)
In 1913, just before World War I, the South African Government built this obelisk memorial on the Diyatalawa grounds to commemorate the 140 Boer prisoners who died at the prisoner-of-war of Diyathalawa. On three sides of it, marble slabs with leaded lettering display a full list of all these Boer prisoners-of-war who lost their lives in captivity or on parole. […]
Kappa Kovil (Portuguese Church) Ruins in Mannar (මන්නාරම කප්පා කෝවිල නටබුන්)
The architectural features of this building resemble those of a church. The dilapidated building belongs to the Portuguese Period. There is no roof in the building and the thickness of a wall is about 2m. Specially prepared bricks have been used and the length, width and height of a brick are 1 foot, 8 inches and 2 inches respectively. […]
Ruins of Nagathalvu St Thomas Church in Mannar (මන්නාරම නාගතාලවු ශාන්ත තෝමස් පල්ලිය)
This church is more than 100 years old. It is built using limestone, coral stones and bricks. The roof of the church was destroyed during the period LTTE Terrorists operated in this area. Now walls are dilapidated as well. The length of the church building is 26.2m and the width is 10m. A wall is 60 cm thick. There is a room behind the altar. There are 8 circular-shaped columns which supported the roof in the middle of the church. The church is facing east with 3 doors at the front and 2 from the sides. […]
St. Anne’s Church Thalawila (තලවිල ශාන්ත ආනා දෙව්මැදුර)
No matter what religion you follow, Thalawila St. Anne's Church in is one of the most ancient and wonderful of all Christian shrines in Sri Lanka. […]
Madhu Church at Mannar : Ancient Pattini Devalaya of Madhu (මඩු පල්ලිය)
Madhu is a mystic jungle shrine dedicated to Mother Mary lying on a remote area in Mannar. The church is one of the few churches which is visited by Buddhists as well as Hindus from all over the country. […]
Kochchikade St. Anthony’s Shrine (කොච්චිකඩේ ශාන්ත අන්තෝනි දෙව්මැදුර)
St. Anthony's Church in Kochchikade in Kotahena was established in the 18th century when the Catholicism was a proscribed religion by the Dutch and priests could not exercise their ministry in public. It was one of the churches bombed during the easter attack of 2019. […]
Jaffna Clock Tower (යාපනය ඔරලෝසු කනුව)
Jaffna Clock Tower is a clock tower in the city of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka. The tower was built to commemorate the visit of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales to Sri Lanka in 1875. […]
A Complete Guide to Exploring Jaffna
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province with a rich Tamil Hindu culture which was isolated for the last 30 years due to terrorist activity. […]
Ulpange : Queen’s Bathing Pavilion (උල්පැන් ගේ)
The Ulpange or the Queen’s Bathing Pavilion is situated partly in the waters of the Kandy Lake and the other part on land near the Temple of the Tooth Relic. […]
Kaparamula in Abhayagiri Monastery (අභයගිරි මහා විහාරයේ කපාරාමූලය)
Kaparamula is the oldest Buddhist education center in Abhayagri Monastery and one of the most popular center during the late Anuradhapura period. […]
Mahayana Square Stupa of Anuradhapura Abhayagiri Monastery (අභයගිරි භූමියේ සතරැස් ස්තුපය)
This rare square stupa lies west of Eth Pokuna on the western border of the Abhayagiri Monastery among many other conserved structures and rarely visited by the average pilgrim. […]
Ipalogama Bodhirukkaramaya Tampita Viharaya (ඉපලෝගම බෝධිරුක්ඛාරාමය ටැම්පිට විහාරය)
Ipalogama Bodhirukkaramaya Tampita Viharaya has been reconstructed from scratch when only the eight pillars were left of the viharaya untill few years ago. […]
Warakagoda Veheragoda Stupa Archaeological Site
The Vegeragoda Stupa has been completely conserved recently after exisiting as just a mound of earth for hundreds of years. This stupa is unique due to its construction with only one pesava. […]

References

Map of Akithamurippu (Thekkama) Paththini Devalaya

Driving Directions to Akithamurippu (Thekkama) Paththini Devalaya

Share this:

Like this:

Leave a ReplyCancel reply