Magul Maha Viharaya : Where a royal wedding took place

It was the time when King Kawanthissa ruled the Kingdom of Ruhuna. One day, the king's people were standing on the beach, when they saw an object floating on the sea. It glistened under the rays of the sun and was coming towards the shore.

When it got closer, they were surprised to see that it was a golden canoe carrying a beautiful princess. They informed the king about this, but unfortunately, the boat had gone past them when the king reached the beach. "Ko Kumari?"(Where is the princess?) he inquired.

The boat had been swept away by a strong current towards the village which is known as Komarigama today (coined from the words 'Ko Kumari') in Arugam Bay. The canoe had not been able to anchor at Kirinde due to its rocky environment. King Kawanthissa's people informed him that this princess was known as Princess Devi, and was the daughter of King Kelanithissa of 'Maya Rata'. She had been offered as a sacrifice to appease the sea-gods, as the sea waters threatened to drown villagers.

It was known to be the first tsunami which occurred in Sri Lanka.

Somehow, King Kawanthissa met the princess who was eventually saved, and married her, in keeping with the traditional customs. Then, she became Queen Vihara Maha Devi. That's how this well-known event happened. Today, we are going to enlighten you about a place where evidence of this marriage between King Kawanthissa and Princess Devi is believed to still remain. It is Magul Maha Viharaya, which is situated in Lahugala along the Wellawaya-Monaragala Road, after passing Siyambalanduwa. This is also known as Ruhunu Maha Viharaya.

According to official sources, Princess Devi's canoe had been washed ashore at Arugam Bay, and not at Kirinde, as most people believe. The entire vihara complex had been known to cover an extent of around 10,000 acres, where the ruins of a palace, moonstone, monastery, bo-maluwa, stupas and ponds are located.

The history of this temple dates back to the time of King Dathusena, who ruled Anuradhapura from 516 AD to 526 AD. According to the pillar inscription at the premises, the founder of the vihara is King Dathusena. The language and script have been dated to the 14th century.

A stone wall, which is three to four feet in height, gives it the appearance of a fortress, built to protect the premises from an outside attack. At the entrance, there is a moonstone with a unique carving. A row of elephants and creepers followed by a row of lotuses is the unique feature of this moonstone. This is believed to be the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka.

There are rock pillars as well, which are similar to those at Lovamaha Prasada in Anuradhapura. Ruins of a dagoba, which is 30 feet in height, is also found at the site. There are three rows of steps leading to the dagaba on three sides, and on the left side is the Bodhigara and also a rock inscription protected by an iron railing. The magul poruwa of the royal couple is still found at the temple.

The wedding ceremony is not the only fascinating thing about the Magul Maha Viharaya. There are related stories as well that make the temple more and more attractive. During the writer's visit to the temple, the Thera who lives there explained to us how they found the well, which they are using now.

"Before we found the well, we and the villagers had to walk around 4km to get water", said the Thera. One day, when the head priest, who was living here at that time, was sleeping, someone had come in a dream and told him, " there's a well in this place, dig that up".

So, the villagers and the priests had started digging the place mentioned by the man who came in the dream. At last, they found a stone. They didn't even have to break it.

They just pulled it and kept it aside. The sight had been so divine. There was crystal clear water in a well-built well.

"The villagers were overjoyed", said the Thera. What they believe is, when there was an attack by the Cholas (Indian king), people who had lived here might have closed the well and gone for safety.

The beauty of the ancient sculptures found at Lahugala shows the skill of the stone carvers of Anuradhapura. Their work is essentially Sri Lankan; with the Indian art of sculpture being adapted to suit the thinking of the Sinhala people.

Janani Amarasekara