Ruwanweliseya Stupa

Ruwanweliseya :

Great stupa named after goddess Swarnamali

Lost in deep thought Goddess Swarnamali sat comfortably in her palace chair on the tree. King Dutugemunu and the crowd had been pleading for hours now. The king wanted to build a stupa at the premises where her tree palace was situated.

He also had promised to name the stupa after her. Everything seemed to be promising, why should she obstruct a good cause? She thought and then nodded to the king, “Alright your majesty! I agree. I will leave the premises to give you room to build a wonderful stupa.”

The folktale related to the construction of the Ruwanweliseya stupa in Anuradhapura, says Swarnamali, left the premises, but promised to ensure the work went on uninterrupted Pandit. W.D. Amaradeva has also explained the incident in one of his songs. Laying the foundation stone on a Vesak Full Moon Poya Day in the 2nd century B.C, the construction work of the stupa went on amid Pirith chanting of bhikkhus. Unfortunately, the king did not live to see the completion of the stupa.

However, the king’s brother Saddathissa had cleverly made up the stupa as a completed one using white cloth. While reminiscing the meritorious deeds he had done, the king breathed his last looking at the Ruwanweliseya. The 300 feet high stupa is one of the highest monuments in the world with a circumference of 950 feet.

Ruwanweliseya is the third highest Stupa in the country. The first is Abhayagiri, the second is Jethavanarama, Out of them, only Ruwanweliseya has been renovated. The most important part of the stupa, the relic chamber, is huge compared to other stupas the king imported a special stone called ‘Medakavan’ to make the six large slabs of the chamber. Medakavan is a luminous stone. A silver Bodhi tree and exquisite jewellery were enshrined in the stupa along with a pure gold Buddha statue.

The tall vahalkada

There are also some gold figures surrounding the statue, they depict the characters from the Buddha’s era.

Even the walls of the chamber are decorated with paintings that portray the stories related to Buddha’s life. The Museum of Mihintale has a model of the relic chamber. According to ancient writings, these relics were brought from the Naga world.

Nagas were a tribe that lived in the past. Historians say that they were in charge of the relics. Relic enshrining ceremony of the stupa had been a majestic event with delegates participating from India, Burma, Afghanistan and Arab states.

Just like at Somawathiya chethiya in Polonnaruwa, thousands of devotees had seen an aura from the relic chamber of the stupa on certain days when Jasmine flowers were offered. The stupa contains the largest amount of the relics in the world, according to legend.

Various kings of the past had renovated the stupa at different periods However, the shifting of the kingdom from Anuradhapura and the disintegration of the dry zone civilisation had made the maintenance of the stupa a practical problem, The dagaba was in ruins for more than 800 years until the 19th century.

A courageous Bhikku named Ven. Naranvita Sumanasara Thera started the restoration of the stupa in 1893, using generous contributions of Buddhists. Later on, the “Ratnamali Chaityawardhana Society” continued the work and the pinnacle of the stupa was placed on June 17, 1940. Today, Ruwanweliseya has regained its prestige as one of the foremost religious places venerated by Buddhists here and abroad.

Buddha Statue	A reliquary