Uddhakandara Rajamaha Viharaya

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Tissamaharama Uddhakandara Rajamaha Viharaya

Uddhakandara Rajamaha Viharaya is a new temple in Tissamaharama built on an ancient monastic site going back to the pre-Christian era. The original temple is believed to have been built by regional king Mahanaga, the brother of King Devanmpiyatissa (250-210 BCE) who fled the Anuradhapura kingdom.

This temple is located just off the main Kirinda road, 5.5 kilometres from Tissamaharama town.

According to the Mahavamsa (Chapter XXII, verses 2-9), the queen of King Devanampiyatissa attempted to secure the throne for her son by sending a poisoned mango to Mahanaga, who was in the process of constructing a reservoir. However, in a tragic twist, the queen’s own son, who had accompanied Mahanaga on this visit, consumed the poisoned mango and died. Fearing retribution, Mahanaga fled the kingdom with his wife, followers, and horses, and sought refuge in the region of Rohana. There, he established himself as the ruler and reigned from Mahagama. During his reign, Mahanaga founded Nagamaha Viharaya and several other temples, including Uddhakandaraka Viharaya.(Mahanama et al., 1912)

In the temple are two small caves bearing drip ledges and inscriptions using Brahmi characters, dated to 250 BCE. This site has been highly disturbed by the incumbent monks of the present temple in the process of construction of modern residential and ritual edifices.

In the central area of the site, there are four newly constructed buildings. Adjacent to one of these buildings, currently used as a classroom, lies a natural rock boulder partially exposed on the ground surface. Upon closer inspection, it was observed that an ancient inscription was carved into the boulder. The letters of this inscription have been significantly eroded due to natural weathering, but the remaining traces suggest that the inscription originally contained five lines of text. According to Rev. Denagama Dhammadassi, the chief incumbent of the present temple, the inscription has been previously examined and copied by the Department of Archaeology of Sri Lanka. (Somadeva, 2006, p. 120).

A rock inscription belonging to the 2nd century names this temple Nakaragalaka Vihara. This name can be translated as “the rock monastery of the city”. (Somadeva, 2006, p. 314).

Inscriptions

Paranavitana (1970, p 53) records 2 early Brahmi inscriptions carved on the brow of 2 rock shelters. Both these denote the donation of the cave to the Buddhist clergy.

The cave of lord Suriyagutta
The cave of the Sangha. The cave of Maha-Matta Tissa, [is given] to the Sangha.

(Paranavitana, 1970, p. 53)

At Uddhakandara Rajamaha Viharaya, there is a significant inscription carved into a large rock. An estampage of this inscription was taken in 1935. The surface of the rock covered by the inscription measures 5 feet 3 inches by 1 foot 9 inches. The letters, which are boldly incised with thick strokes, vary in height from 1⅞ inches to 5 inches. However, the rock has suffered considerable weathering over time. The script and language of the inscription are characteristic of the 2nd century.

The inscription records a private donation of a sum of kahapanas, the interest from which was designated to provide non-spirituous drinks to the Sangha during the Ariyavasa celebration at the Nakaragalaka monastery, the name by which the site was known in the early centuries of the Christian era.

The translation of the Inscription is as follows;

“Success ! The minister Sivaya, the son of the minister Pahijaya, residing in Vahabahala granted a (hundred) kahapanas, to the Community of bhikkhus of the monastery of Nakaragalaka, or the eight types of non-spirituous drinks, (to be provided) from the interest of these kahapanas, to the assembly (of monks) who perform the ariyavasa ceremony.” (Paranavitana, 2001, pp. 266–267)

References

Mahanama, Geiger, W., & Bode, M. H. (1912). The Mahavamsa or the Great Chronicle of Ceylon. Translated into English by Wilhelm Geiger. For the Pali Text Society by Henry Frowde.
Paranavitana, S. (1970). Inscriptions of Ceylon : Volume I Containing Cave Inscriptions From 3rd Century B.C. To 1st Century A.C. and Other Inscriptions in the Early Brahmi Script (Vol. 1). Department of Archaeology Ceylon.
Paranavitana, S. (2001). Inscriptions of Ceylon : Volume II Part II Containing Rock and Other Inscriptions From the Reign of Kanitthatissa (164-192, A. D.) to Mahasena (276-303, A . D .): Vol. II-Part II (M. Dias, Ed.). Archaeological Survey Department.
Somadeva, R. (2006). Urban Origins in Southern Sri Lanka (Doctoral thesis in archaeology at Uppsala University). Studies in Global Archaeology, Uppsala.

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