Buttala Enchanting and inspiring

Story and pictures by Mahil Wijesinghe

Buttala, nestling across the A4 highway in the Moneragala district in the Uva Province is adorned with many tourist attractions. Among them, the most popular is the awe-inspiring colossal Buddha statue of Maligawila. It is considered one of the highest stone-sculptured ancient Buddha statues in the country.

Around 250 kilometres from Colombo, the area has at least fifteen places of interest. It is Uva, rich in natural resources and beauty - water bodies and waterfalls, park lands, forests and valleys. The ruins of ancient temple complexes and their chaityas, are spread around in several acres where modern temples have sprung up.

Buttala, now blossomed into a town, is home to sprawling lands filled with lush green paddy fields. Apart from the archaeological site of Maligawila, there are exotic attractions of historical and spiritual endowment. All around Buttala we find spots of historical significance, such as Yudaganawa, Dematamal Vihara and Habassa.

Pilgrims

Beginning our journey, first, we arrived at the archaeological site of Yudaganawa, travelling on the Wellawaya-Buttala highway. We turned left before reaching Buttala town and proceeded another two kilometres on a narrow road. We glimpsed busloads of pilgrims ‘Vandana Nada’ already thronging the site despite the harsh weather.

It was morning and rays of the sun filtered through the skeletal branches of huge mara trees. Since the sun is somewhat harsh in the area, we walked underneath the trees about 200 metres to reach the site. A colossal stupa loomed over us, around fifty feet in height, with a miniature Budu Ge (shrine room) located in front of the stupa which houses the Buddha statue and the wall paintings belonging to the Kandyan period. This massive stupa was erected to mark the battlefield where the two brothers, Prince Saddatissa and Prince Dutugemunu had fought and made peace with each other.

The battlefield is known as, Yudaganawa, and the gigantic stupa was named Yudaganawa Chaitya. Some historians believe that an already existing chaitya was reconstructed and named Yudaganawa Chaitya.

Massive

The stupa is so massive that it was difficult to frame it in the camera with a normal lens and we needed a fisheye lens to capture the whole chaitya. Some believe it is bigger than the Abayagiriya Chaitya in terms of circumference. Abayagiriya is considered the largest ancient stupa in Sri Lanka.

Despite the legends, archaeologists believe the Yudaganawa Chaitya was first built by King Parakramababahu the Great, in memory of his mother Queen Ratnavali who was cremated here. They expound the theory that Yudaganawa Chaitya, which looks unfinished, is in fact, complete. They say, in the year this Chaitya was built, a few other stupas were also built in the same style, namely, the Damila Thupa in Polonnaruwa and the Kotta Vehera in Dadigama.

In the vicinity of the Yudaganawa Chaitya is the Yudaganawa Wewa. It is believed that the clay needed to make bricks for the Chaitya was dug from this wewa. According to historic chronicles, the Wewa had been built by King Mahanaga in 300 BC. It is most picturesque. In the centre is a huge rock surrounded by huge trees, home to numerous birds.

Our next stop was the enchanting Dematamal Viharaya, seven kilometres from Buttala, between Buttala and Okkampititya. One should not miss the brick built chaitya at Dematamal Vihara. The temple precinct has many white frangipani trees laden with blossoms.

It is a chaitya of historical significance, set amid lush green paddy fields. It is supposed to be the place where Prince Saddatissa took refuge, when he fled after losing a battle for the throne with his brother Prince Dutugemunu. The Queen mother, Vihara Maha Devi, saddened by the animosity between her two sons pleaded with them to make amends. The legend goes that when Prince Dutugemunu inquired from the Bhikkus where his brother was, the Bhikkus told him he was not on the bed. He was in fact, under the bed, according to legend.

Here you see a unique brick built brownish coloured chaitya, renovated in the recent past and built on a higher elevation. A new image house has been constructed over the same foundation of the ancient shrine room which contains an ancient Buddha statue, about ten feet in height. Venturing further, we came across numerous ruins, reminding us that this was once a place of great significance.

Restored

Tranquil Maligawila is only about 20 minute drive from Okkampitiya along a narrow carpeted road. This is the site of the massive Maligawila Buddha statue similar to the Avukana Buddha and said to be one of the tallest, free standing Buddhist statues in Sri Lanka.

The magnificent statue in this shrine has been sculptured out of crystalline limestone found in the area. The height of the statue is about 38 feet, and the lotus pedestal is four feet high.

Thus, the total height of the statue is 42 feet. This 7th century colossal statue dominates a 40 acre land and was the centre of a huge temple complex. The statue is believed to have been commissioned by King Aggabodhi III.

Slumped to the ground in three pieces when former President R. Premadasa first saw it, it was restored to its former glory in 1991.

Its face was repaired by Ven. Mapalagama Vipulasara Thera and declared open to the public the same year. Recently, a modern roof has been erected over the statue discouraging photographers who try to shoot the statue in natural setting.

Nearby is the 34 foot gigantic Dambegoda Bodhisatva statue of Avalokiteswara. It was broken into a hundred pieces. Some parts of it were found through excavations. Parts of a Pilimage (shrine room) with beautiful terracotta carvings too have been found here. The Dambegoda Avalokiteswara and image houses are believed to have been built by King Dappula I in the 7th century.

This area is known as Kanaagama because there was a hospital for the blind here, in ancient times, the word kanaa being a colloquial Sinhala term for a blind person. The blind still worship here in the hope of restoring their sight. Now, it has become a popular site as there is an influx of pilgrims and visitors en route to Kataragama. The vehicle park has been developed with stalls and rows of boutiques teeming with activity.

If you are bold and adventurous, you could venture towards the edge of Yala Block-IV bordering Kubukkan Oya. You might like to drive off the beaten track with a 4x4 across chena cultivations and come across some magnificent ruined archaeological sites, such as, Habassa and Galtemmandiya. You might encounter wild elephants when visiting Habassa, so that it’s advisable to take a villager as guide, to the site located 15 Km from Maligawila.

Inside a long drip-ledged cave is the recumbent Buddha statue, 25 feet long. It belongs to the 9th century AD in the Anuradhapura period. The statue has been heartlessly desecrated by treasure hunters.

All these areas are mainly wooded park lands and jungle, and as you drive on, peacocks gaze at you without alarm, crescent hawk eagles take quick flights, little green bee-eaters swish past, while monkeys swing on the trees and mongoose do a dash across the road.

Before you leave, having dusted off the fatigue and eaten a delicious piece of watermelon from a chena, you could take a refreshing dip in the Kubukkan Oya as a finale.