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| Sunday, 13 October 2002 |
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The restoration of Somawathi chetiya : Was there another Chetiya by the same name? by professor Abaya Aryasinghe The political history of the Rohana principality during the time of King Kakavanna Tissa shows no harmonious picture. Contemporary with this king whose capital was Magama, there existed a number of petty rulers in other parts of Rohana. Some of them were hostile to the authority of Magama and some maintained friendly relations. At Kalayani-Kannika (not Kelaniya near Colombo) a prince named Siva was ruling. Abhaya was his brother who married a sister of King Kakavanna Tissa. Her name was Somadevi.
The couple made Girinuvara their centre of administration. For reasons not known to us today King Kakavanna Tissa decided to send his elder son (Duttha) Gamini Abhaya to reside with his brother-in-law. During their stay, the 'Dhatuvamsa' states, a dispute between Abhaya and his guest, Gamini arose over a claim to superiority of their respective families. Unwilling to get involved in this affair Prince Abhaya left his own town for good. He went with his followers to prince Siva who was then ruling at Seru-nuvara. The host accorded a fitting welcome to his friend and requested him to stay with him. Prince Siva was however prudent enough to instal Abhaya in a new settlement without keeping him in his household for a prolonged period of time. Consequently a new settlement for Prince Abhaya was founded. Its centre of Administration was Soma-nuvara named after Soma-devi, consort of Prince Abhaya. There existed yet another settlement known as Lona-nuvara or Sona-nuvara ruled by a prince called Mahanaga. Very little is known about this settlement. Thus within the political division of Rohana there existed six settlements of note under the princes of royal blood. Out of them Magama gradually rose to prominence under the able leadership of King kakavanna Tissa. His diplomacy which projected a vivid vision for the future politics of Rohana aimed at welding together scattered principalities to build up a strong resistance to the Tamil ruler, Elara beyond the banks of the Mahaveli Ganga. At the request of this consort, prince Abhaya built a vihara in a place in proximity to his new town. The selected site for the monastery later became the abode of 60 monks headed by a Veteran Thera who claimed his lineage from Maha-Arittha Thera, Chief Minister of King Devanampiyatissa in his lay life. This veteran monk was Mahinda. According to the 'Dhatuvamsa' this Thera possessed the right canine Tooth Relic of the Buddha. It was this Relic that was enshrined in the Cetiya of the new monastery. The Vihara was named the Somavati Vihara and was dedicated to Mahinda Thera. No information is available to identify either Soma-nuvara or Somavati Cetiya. One vague reference in the 'Dhatuvamsa' however states that this town was located in a pleasing environment near a lake. It is unlikely that the lake meant Seusara (Seruvila) near which Prince Siva's town stood. Notwithstanding the intimate friendship that existed between the two personages Prince Siva must have thought that it was wise to instal Abhaya at a reasonable distance away from his direct attention. He must have visualised the co-existence even among friends residing in close proximity would normally lead to problems. There is another reference to the Somavati Vihara in the 'Dhatuvamsa' which states that the monastery was built in a Sal groove where a Thera called Mahinda lived. This too does not help us to identify the correct location. Soma-nuvara and the Somavati Cetiya would have been located on the east bank of the Mahaveli Ganga as the land on the west bank was under Elara's domination. The present monument taken to be the Somavati Cetiya sits on the west bank of the river. These considerations apparently pose two alternatives, namely, the original cetiya remains yet to be discovered and original course of the river ran to the west of the monument in question. Recent investigations by the Survey Department leads to a hypothesis pointing to possibilities of the river to have slided its original course to the east in the distant past, thus, leaving the cetiya to remain in the strip of land added to the Rajarta by this process. Inscriptions found near the Cetiya presently known as Somavati show that the monument had been given different names indifferent periods. Pajin Nakala Araba Vihara was one such name occurring in an inscription dated to the time of King Mahallaka Naga (134-140 A.D.). An inscription of Kanittha Tissa (164-192 A.D.) names the Cetiya as Mani Agaya Ceta. Attributing new names to monuments when restored or enlarged by later kings are not known. The foregoing considerations do not permit us to establish that the present "Somavati Cetiya" is the reputed Somavati Cetiya in the remote past. Revered site for pilgrims by Dharmasiri Ruwan Pathirana After what is perhaps the most stable and promising ceasefire agreement between the Government and the LTTE, we had the good fortune to go on a pilgrimage and pay obeisance to one of the most historical sites in the country the "Somawati". It is situated amidst the thick jungle, 38 km east of Polonnaruwa where the Mahaweli flows close by and gives it a panoramic view. According to the "Mahawansa", the origin of Somawati goes back to 2nd century BC, and it is said to have been the abode of 500 Arahat Bhikkhus. During that period, a newly-wed royal couple, Princess Somawati and her husband Prince "Giri Abaya", had already selected this location as their new kingdom. In a short period of time, they built a new royal city called, "Somapura". Being devout Buddhists, they constructed a complex of temples and offered it to the Bhikkhus of "Somapura". Responding to a special wish made by the Queen, a new chetiya was built and the right-tooth of the Buddha was enshrined in it, hence "Somawati cetiya" or the pagoda. From then on upto 4th century AD, this sacred city was renovated by Kings Kannitta Tissa, Kurtakanna Tissa, Gamini Abhaya and Amanda Gamini. Afterwards it was abandoned for several centuries for no apparent reasons. The present restoration work of "Somawati" was completed in 1982 under the patronage of late President J. R. Jayewardene. And four years later on May 20, 1987, a group of terrorists attempted an attack on this place killing a priest and six civilians. Once again the place became deserted for 12 long years. The leader of the terrorist group who had tried to remove the pinnacle of the "Cetiya" was killed on the spot when his gun misfired. Now, the "Somawati" cetiya has been restored to its pristine glory. Just a kilometre away from the temple, by the roadside a huge rock can be found. On the rock, six stone inscriptions could be seen and some of them were inscribed out 50 years ago, when an Englishman named "Eric Swan" tried to take a snap shot of a wild jumbo. Not tolerating the presence of a stranger in his domain, the enraged beast killed the englishman at the foot of this rock and the rock was named "Eric Swan gala". At dusk visitors to Somawatiya can view several herds of elephants roaming the forest glades near the temple. Over the years illicit timber fellers have done irreparable damage to the woodlands surrounding Somawati, leaving the land barren. |
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