Wattarama Sri Arahantha Maliyadeva Rajamaha Viharaya

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Wattarama Sri Arahantha Maliyadeva Rajamaha Viharaya is a temple with a history of over 2300 years lying between Polgahawela and Kegalle. This temple is so named due to its close association with Maliyadeva Thero.

According to the Manoratha Purni Atuwa in Anguththara Nikaya (මනෝරථ පූර්ණී අංගුත්තරනිකාය අටුවාව), Maliyadeva Thero has been last Arhath in ancient Sri Lanka although some dispute this claim.

Maliyadeva Thero had been born to Udapola Bowalapitiye Champaka Bodhiguptha, a decedent of a Kshatriya caste prince who had accompanied Theri Sangamitta to Sri Lanka in 249 BCE. The child had entered the priesthood at the temple in Kurunegala and later came to the current Maliyadeva Rajamaha Viharaya. Here he had attained Arhathhood after gaining in-depth knowledge of the Buddhist teachings at a very young age.

According to Sinhala Bodhiwamsa, “Wattarama Rajamaha Viharaya” was one of the locations where Dethis Pala Bodhi Trees were planted in the 3rd century BC by King Devampiyatissa.

However, according to legend, this temple was built by King Gotabhaya who ruled the Ruhunu kingdom in the 2nd century BC. However, according to Bell’s Kegalle Report, this temple was built by King Gotabhaya (253-266) of the Anuradhapura kingdom. But according to the palm leaf manuscript, “Wattaram Asna” (වට්ටාර‍ම් අස්න) this temple complex has been built by the deity named Viskam (Vishwa Karma) on the request of Maha Brahma who had divided the land to 12 sections and built 12 aramas at the site.

Unfortunately, this temple has been modernized with no regard to the antiquary.  You will find remains of two buildings belonging to the Anuradhapura era today.

Ruins of the ancient Mahamali Paya (මහාමලී පාය) which is said to have been built in the model of Lohamahapaya in Anuradhapura. Instead of 1600 pillars, this has been built using 35 granite pillars. The pillars are 10 feet 6 inches high and 1×1 feet in size. Five rows each 0ccuping seven pillars had held the five storied building.  According to legend, this is a five-story building with the upper floors built of wood.

Close to this ruins of a smaller building  which has been the residence built by king Gotabhaya for Maliyadeva Thero. Escavations carrieds out at this building in 2017 has unearthed rare bronze figures of possibly a guard and a two elephant statue at about a deapth of about 1 meter.

සමිට මලිය දෙව් සැදි තුන් මල්        පාය
මලිය මහා පාය පස් මහලින්        සෑදිය
සමිට මලියදෙව් පිදු ඒ කැප             පාය
එයට බමුණු වඩනා නමකුත්         වේය

In 2012, the Department of Archaeology excavated a mound of earth in a coconut grove belonging to the temple and unearthed a medium-sized stupa. This stupa has been built on an octagonal platform with a brick retaining wall. The stupa and the platform have been completely restored now.  However, the relics of the stupa had been stolen by treasure hunters long before its recent discovery.  According to the display board erected by the archaeology department, this stupa indicates features of the Anuradhapura kingdom era and based on the legend, this possibly would have been built by King Gotabhaya (253-266).

The hexagonal image house at the temple belongs to the Kandyan Era. The entrance to this image house is through an exquisitely carved large wooden door frame and a door. The statues and the paintings in the image house still retain their originality even though the paintings are now in a dilapidated state due to lack of maintenance.

Another image house from the same era is found with a mandapa in front. In front of this building lies an ancient Siri Pathul gala (foot imprint of Buddha) and an ancient pillar inscription. This inscription describes the donation of twenty kalanda of gold to the Sirisangabo Rajamha Vehera for the provision of meals to the priests on the full moon poya day of the month of Medin (March) in the 7th year of King Abaya Salamevan (914-923). It also mentions that if any monk gives food prepared with these funds to any other outside the monastery, he will be expelled from the viharaya.

The temple is also one of the four recipients of the pure gold (damba-ran) Buddha statues which were carried from India by Maliyadeva Thero. These four statues were kept at Wattarama Rajamaha Viharaya, Kothmale Puhulpitiya Rajamaha Viharaya, Hanguranketha Madanwala Rajamaha Viharaya and Padiyapelella Morapaya Rajamaha Viharaya. This statue was stolen some time ago and had been recovered sans some parts from the arms which had been cut away by the plunderers.

You can reach this temple from Polgahawela (5km) through Moragolla and from Kegalle (8km) through Devalagama.

References

  • H.C.P බෙල් (සිංහල පරිවර්තනය කොත්මලේ කේ. බී. ඒ. එඩ්මන්ඩ් ), 2005. ලංකා පුරාවිද්‍යා ගවේෂණය කෑගල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කය පිලිබඳ වාර්තාව (Report On The Kegalle District – 1892 : සිංහල පරිවර්තනය). 1st ed. කොළඹ: පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තුමේන්තුව.
  • මාලිගාකන්දේ විද්‍යෝදය පිරිවෙණේ ගලගම පණ්ඩිත ශරණඩක ස්ථවිර පාදයන් වහන්සේ, 1954. සඟ සරණ (ශුද්ධ කර ලියූ ග්‍රන්ථි පදවිවරණයෙන් යුක්ත). 1st ed. කොළඹ: රත්නාකර පොත් වෙළඳ ශාලාව.
  • විතානාච්චි, චන්දන රෝහණ, 2016. පෞරාණික ස්ථාන හා ස්මාරක : කෑගල්ල දිස්ත්‍රික්කය. 1st ed. කොළඹ: පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව.
  • යටවර, එම්. ඩී. එම්. ඇස්., 2009. කෑගලු කෝරළ පවත : පරණකුරු, කිණිගොඩ සහ ගල්බඩ කෝරළයන්හි ඓතිහාසික, සංස්කෘතික සහ පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක ගවේෂණය. 1st ed. වරකාපොළ: ආරිය ප්‍රකාශකයෝ.
  • නිමේෂ තිවංකර සෙනෙවිපාල, 2013. මලියමහපාය විස්‌තරය අප්‍රකට පුස්‌කොල පිටපතක්‌. [online] දිවයින online edition. Available at: <https://www.divaina.com/2013/01/23/badada03.html> [Accessed 26 December 2020].
  • ඉනෝකා සම­ර­වි­ක්‍රම, 2017. අවසන් මහ රහතුන් වැඩසිටි වට්ටාරම. [online] සිළුමිණ. Available at: <http://www.silumina.lk/2017/05/13/සිත්මල්-යාය/අවසන්-මහ-රහතුන්-වැඩසිටි-වට්ටාරම> [Accessed 26 December 2020].
  • ඔස්වල්ඩ් ගොඩකුඹුර, 2016. අතීත උරුමය යටකොට මොඩ් වුණ වට්ටාරම පුද බිම. [online] දිනමිණ. Available at: <http://www.dinamina.lk/2016/09/23/22742> [Accessed 26 December 2020].

Also See

Map of Wattarama Sri Arahantha Maliyadeva Rajamaha Viharaya

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Travel Directions to Wattarama Sri Arahantha Maliyadeva Rajamaha Viharaya

From Kegalle to Wattarama Sri Arahantha Maliyadeva Rajamaha ViharayaFrom Polgahawela to Wattarama Sri Arahantha Maliyadeva Rajamaha Viharaya
Though : Moragolla
Distance : 5 km
Travel time : 10 mins
Time to Spend : about 15-  minutes
Driving directions : see on Google Map
Though : Devalagama
Distance : 8 km
Travel time : 15 mins
Time to Spend : about 15-30  minutes
Driving directions : see on Google Map

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