Sasseruwa - Legend, romance and the Avukana Buddha statue

Kurunegala, the capital of the North Western Province, has a historical name, Hasthishaliyapura (elephant rock city). An ancient capital of Sri Lanka, the city is full of legend, romance and history. Studding the entire Province is a vast complex of ancient rock cave temples, forest monasteries and natural tanks, which date back to the medieval kingdom of Anuradhapura.

The most awe-inspiring is the Buddha statue at Sasseruwa or Reswehera where the first colossus stands majestically amidst the dense jungle in the deep corner of Wannihatpattuwa, bordering Anuradhapura District.

Travelling from Kalawewa and turning in at the Avukana road, we reached Sasseruwa temple after about 45 minutes drive. We proceeded along the gravel road to the temple, which was lined either side by jungle, shrub and lush green paddy fields, dotted here and there with small houses.

Passing a shady tree-lined pathway and a tank full of red lotus blooms, where village children pick flowers to sell to the visitors, we stepped on to the temple premises.

We felt fortunate to visit the little known historic Sasseruwa rock temple at Kudakathnoruwa. The temple is located in an elephant infested area called Meegalewa, on the boundary of the Mahaweli system H, overlooking the mighty Kalawewa reservoir. This rock temple is of immense archaeological importance, considering its historic values.

The Sasseruwa rock cave temple has a history that span 2,100 years, dating back to the period of King Walagambahu. The King was the architect of the temple. The extent of the area is 1,468 acres in a rocky mountain with drip ledged caves. It is famous for the Dethis pala Ruha Bo-tree planted by king Devanampiya Tissa in 237 BC.

This centuries old Bo-tree at the temple spreads its branches around and stands majestically in front of the shrine cave. A 10 feet tall stone wall is erected around the Bo-tree that is a unique feature of the ancient Bodhigara and this is a rare feature in ancient Sri Lankan temple.

Sasseruwa is significant in many ways. One is the main shrine cave containing an image of the 11.7 metres long reclining Buddha statue where the original robe, which covered it, is still visible at certain places.

This is the only Buddha statue of the rock temple where a pilgrim could walk right around it in veneration. These statues are said to have been erected by King Mahasen.

The unique feature of Sasseruwa is 42 feet and four inch tall rock carved Buddha statue which stands majestically on the top of the rock amidst a forest canopy. A flight of steps lead to the rocky outcrop in middle of the mountain,where a standing Buddha image has been carved out of a rock outcrop, resembling the more famous statue at Avukana.

Legend has it that Sasseruwa was the first place chosen to build the Avukana Buddha statue.

King Datusena had a suspicion about the strength of the rock. Then, he asked the sculptor to abandon the site and find a place at Avukana on the bank of Kalawewa to build a Buddha statue. Although the monarch suspected the strength of the rock, the sculptor yet continued with his work. He carved a beautiful Buddha statue at the rock at Sasseruwa. His pupil was sent to work at Avukana.

The rock was found to be good enough to carve a statue and the pupil carved a 43 feet height Avukana Buddha statue overlooking Kalawewa reservoir.

During our visit to Sasseruwa, I began to realise the marvelous craftsmanship of our ancient sculptors and see their stone carvings sitting on a rock slab in front of a magnificent Sasseruwa Buddha statue. There are more than 99 rock caves with drip ledged scattered around the rocky mountain of Sasseruwa, which had provided shelter to Arahat Bhikkus in the past. Today most of these caves are home to wild animals.

When considering the ancient value of the Sasseruwa, its wall paintings in the two cave shrine seem to belong to the Kandyan period. Some of the paintings in the cave are disfigured. There is a small but beautiful shrine room in another cave with beautiful murals of a Makara Thorana decorating its entrance. During the reign of King Weeraprakrama, Narendrasinghe of Kandy had renovated the temple and illustrated several Jathaka stories such as Dahamsoda, Manichora, Wessanthara on the walls of the cave shrine.

The furniture in the temple has immense antique value. I also found a heavy wooden bed, ancient and still intact, made of Ma Wevel said to have been donated to the temple by a carpenter. It was placed in the corner of the shrine room in the cave.

On one side of the shrine cave is a small rock enclosure said to be the Pattini Devale. Here a replica of the Goddess symbol and an anklet can be seen. The door to the Devale is closed on the oil anointing day. Village folks stop all activities at their homes for this ceremony.

They recommence home activities after offering vows at the Devale and cooking milk rice after cleaning the Devale floor with fresh cow dung. There is also a belief among the villages that a cobra had guarded the shrine cave. The villagers say that a 14 foot inch discarded snake outer skin had been found in the rock cave shrine in 1980.

The archaeological department had undertaken construction work in recent past and also renovated some faded wall paintings in the cave shrine. The ancient preaching hall in the temple is also severely damaged due to rain water dripping from the roof.

The present development work of the temple was initiated following the accelerated Mahaweli development program, which commenced in early 1980.

Since Sasseruwa temple belongs to Mahaweli system - H, the whole area had developed and the Sasseruwa temple became a religious site for pilgrims who visit the most famous Avukana Buddha statue, just 12 kms away from Sasseruwa.

A notable activity in this religious site is the Dhamma school, which is attended by around 50 village children . Enthusiastic villagers take part in the activities of the temple and offer their unstinted support to make all efforts a success.

Text and Pictures by Mahil Wijesinghe