Medirigiriya Vatadage:

Model for vatadages in Sri Lanka

Medirigiriya Vatadage, the best stupa house to be discovered from the country to date, is situated 25 km from Polonnaruwa. The structure located in beautiful surroundings, has a history dating back to pre-Christian times.

The first reference to this site in the chronicles was made during the reign of King Kanittha Tissa (192-194 AD)

 of the Anuradhapura era. Later, many kings contributed to this complex, and finally, after the invasion of Maga, the site was abandoned when the Sinhalese, unable to bear the torture under foreign rule, migrated to southern parts.

Former Archaeological Commissioner H.C.P. Bell later discovered this site in 1897, in the middle of a thick jungle; he immediately realised the importance of the site and called it an architectural jewel.

Initially, the restoration work was mainly carried out by Muslim labourers as Buddhist labourers did not want to work at a Buddhist temple for money, which they deemed a sin.

The restoration work was finally completed in 1945 and the site opened to the public, providing a glimpse of what the temple would have looked like over 1,000 years ago. In 1937, 664 acres of land was reserved for this archaeological site due to the large number of ruins found from the area.

However, the area started undergoing a rapid population increase, with people migrating there from various parts of the country. They gradually started destroying and removing these invaluable ruins for sale, as well as to remove any signs of ruins so that they could encroach and capture the land. Today, only 250 acres remain of the original 600 acres, and from that area also, only 6.5 acres have been identified as the temple premises and visited by pilgrims.

The ruins which filled the landscape around the Vatadage are no longer there, said U.M. Sirisena Wimalaweera, the caretaker of the site who is employed by the Department of Archaeology. The Vatadage was a unique architectural building, completely housing a stupa. These buildings are believed to have been constructed at the very early periods, as the stupas built during the later period were quite small.

The Vatadage at Medirigiriya is built on a small rock. Its entrance is on the northern side. At the bottom of the staircase is a massive stone frame. This is 9x9 feet tall and 4x9 feet in breadth (width).

After climbing 27 stone steps, you come to a resting area. Then, there are four more steps to reach the stupa house.

Around the stupa house is a stone wall which is about one metre in height. On the four sides are four beautifully carved Buddha statues in the seating position. In the centre had stood the stupa, but it is in ruins today. This stupa house had enshrined three Bodhisattva statues, but only two remain today.

The roof of the stupa house has been built on three concentric (with the same centre) circles of stone pillars, most of which can still be seen in their original state. The innermost circle of 16 pillars is 17 feet in height; the other two circles are 16 and 9 feet in height and 20 and 32 in numbers respectively.

In addition to the main stupa house, there are remains of three image houses and a stupa in this area.A stone used as the covering of a toilet pit can be found on the right side near the main entrance. A water pipe that had brought water to the toilet can also be seen at the premises.

Pichcha-mal Viharaya

This building housing more images is located away from the Vatadage in the area locally known as the Pichcha-

mal Viharaya. It is 20x20 feet in size and there are five images of the Buddha, three standing and two seated.

The special feature of these seated Buddha statues is that one statue bears a slight smiling expression. It is a very rare kind of statue in Sri Lanka.

According to Wimalaweera, these statues represent the different moods of the Buddha each day. Every morning when the Buddha wakes up, He looks for people who are in need. When He finds such people, He feels sad, and the Buddha statues we see everywhere reflect that mood.

The statue with the smiling expression represents the Buddha's mood on days when there are no people in need. "These statues are rare, because the days He hadn't helped anyone in need are rare," he added.

Ponds

There are two ponds in the area. These would probably have been used by the bhikkhus who lived in these temples. According to Wimalaweera, one of the ponds at the site never dries up even during a drought. Also, the waterway that brings water to this pond has still not been discovered.

The hospital

There are remains of an advanced hospital in the same area. This is built as two squares. The outer square has 33 stone pillars and the inner square has 20 pillars. There have been three entrances to the building. There are indications that the rooms have had doors.

Seventy five per cent of this hospital had been reserved to cater to bhikkhus, while the rest had served civilians. The beheth oruwa (medicinal boat), which had been discovered here, has now been housed for safety at one of the image houses, by Dr. Senerath Paranavitana.

When this site was eventually discovered, it was covered by a thick forest. So, he had wanted to ensure the safety of the medicinal boat, said Wimalaweera. This boat is made out of a hard rock so that the medicine would not be absorbed into the rock. The cavity is built to fit a human of any size.

by Janani Amarasekara