The splendour of Thantirimale

By Mahil Wijesinghe

The Bodhi in Thantirimale counts nearly 2,300 years and still stands majestically on the top of a rock boulder and is venerated by thousands of pilgrims.

The small but beautiful Dagaba lies on the rocky landscape of Thantirimale. The two Buddha statues carved out of rock gives ancient splendour to Thantirimale. The reclining Buddha statue carved on the northern slope of the rock is 45 feet long and is said to be similar to Gal Vihare but not many details are visible on the figure.

It might be interesting to note how the name Thantirimale originated. According to Wikipedia, when Prince Vijaya arrived Thambapanni (ancient Sri Lanka), he had advised his followers to establish settlements in different areas. According to his advice a minister known as Upathisssa has established a settlement in this area. Thus, this area was once called Upathissa Gama or Upathissa Grama.

According to folklore, Saliya, son of king Dutugemunu, who was expelled from the royal family for marrying Ashokamala, a girl from a lower caste, lived in Thanthirimale for years.

Eventually, the young couple was forgiven and restored to the king’s good graces. Then, the king had given them a gold necklace having a shape of a butterfly known as Thanthiri. It is believed that the name Thanthirimale was derived in relation to that.

Sadly, we saw that the face of the statue had been destroyed by treasure hunters, though it has now been restored. The 2.16 metre high cross-legged statue is in a cave carved out of rock, well-preserved from sun and rain in the Southern side of the rock boulder.

Stone pillars in front of the statue indicate a stone structure or roof made to cover the statue in the past. Beside the statue, there are three unfinished images of deities dimly visible in the rock surface.

Archaeologists believed that these unfinished images indicate that sculptors had abandoned their task unexpectedly perhaps due to sudden enemy invasion.

When we climbed down the rock, we saw a museum housing numerous stone ruins found in the site.

The most important was the Bodhisatva head and guard stones that belong to the 3rd Century. Further below, there is a natural pond filled with lotus blossoms to add beauty to the rock landscape and serve as a bathing pond for Bhikkus and villagers.

The water is fresh and remains so even during the drought. Passing the pond we walked into the forest canopy and found a stone structure called Pothgula, the library of the monastery entirely built on a rock and stone structure served for meditating bhikkhus to live and continue with their rituals.

We saw a few rock caves deep in the forest of Thantirimale and one of these caves had aboriginal paintings which were a sight to behold. We never thought we would record our visit in pictures but lo and behold we took many photographs. The reason the spot was inaccessible was because we imagined that the dense jungle leading to the sacred site of Thantirimale nearly 2,300 years ago where glory, peace and serenity prevailed still existed.

For three decades, Thantirimale being a border village at the edge of the Wilpattu National Park was often deserted due to LTTE terrorists. Then it was a safe heaven for the LTTE which is believed to have come via Thantirimale to attack the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura.

Most of the villagers are farmers who left the area during the troubled times and have now returned to their ancestral lands. Farmers are busy and acres and acres of lush paddy fields are a relaxing sight.

We first visited the Thantirimale sacred site in 2002 after the Cease Fire Agreement was signed.

The landscape has changed and dusty gravel roads have been replaced with carpeted roads and the lifestyle of the villagers has changed in unimaginable fashion. Travelling 45 kilometres on the Anuradhapura-Thantirimale carpeted road, we saw farmers drying maize along the edge of the road under the scorching sun and children with their mothers bathing in village tanks that were covered with lotus flowers blossoming beautifully. The whole landscape was enriched by lush greenery.

As we reached the Thantirimale site I saw a huge rocky boulder spanning the horizon in the plain landscape of the vast Wilpattu jungle. We rushed to the chief bhikkhu’s well- built office and met the chief incumbent of the Thantirimale Raja Maha Vihara, Ven. Thantirimale Chandrarathana Thera, a strapper but a kind-hearted bhikkhu. We took photographs of the temple and its surroundings and he readily gave us information about the place.

The history of Thantirimale dates back to the reign of King Devanampiyatissa. Thantirimale seems to have grown as a large monastery by the end of the Anuradhapura period.

The Mahavansa recorded that Arahath Theri Sangamittha, daughter of King Ashok of India, rested at Thantirimale when they brought the Sacred Bo sapling to Anuradhapura.

Thantirimale was first civilised by a minister of King Vijaya called Upatissa who chose this site surrounded by the Malwatu Oya to build his future city and named it Upatissa Gama. King Vijaya is believed to have met Kuveni in the jungle of Wilpattu where the ruins of a stone mansion belonging to Kuveni can still be seen in the Wilpattu National Park.

History has it that when King Devanampiyatissa first visited Thantirimale, it was known as - Tiwakka Bamunugama, home to a Brahmin known as Tiwakka. The name of this village came from the Brahmin’s name.

It is said that one of the eight offshoots of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi at Anuradhapura was planted at Tiwakka Bamunugama in the third century B C.

Following the vision of the late Ven. Kudakongaskada Wimalaghana Thera, the founding monk of the Thantirimale Raja Maha Vihara, the incumbent bhikkhu, Ven. Thantirimale Chandrarathana Thera works hard to uplift the living conditions of the farming families to restore past glory.