{"id":103677,"date":"2020-06-18T15:37:36","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T22:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=103677"},"modified":"2020-06-18T15:37:36","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T22:37:36","slug":"ven-ellawala-medhananda-part-8c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/06\/18\/ven-ellawala-medhananda-part-8c\/","title":{"rendered":"VEN. ELLAWALA MEDHANANDA Part 8C"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Ven. Ellawala\nMedhananda has explored the Buddhist ruins in \nthe North Western  Province<\/strong>. The North western\nProvince consists of two districts, Puttalam and Kurunegala. Puttalam which is a\ncoastal  district, contains Wilpattu and\nPomparippu. Medhananda   has visited both\nplaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda found a large monastery complex at\nPomparippu, in ruins. This area is now\nMuslim so we cannot get information, said Medhananda. Muslims do not like to show Buddhist ruins. They\nmade that clear in their conversations with us when we went to explore the\nruins. Medhananda had to stop his Pomparippu exploration and return home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda had\ndone an exploration of Wilpattu with the assistance of Minister S.M.Chandrasena.\nHe stayed at Wilpattu for a week. But could not see even a fraction of what was\nthere. Wilpattu has many Buddhist ruins, said Medhananda.\nWilpattu is full of ruins, every\nhill, every rock, said Medhananda. It is a surprise that even these ruins are\nstill standing\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are ruins near Mullikulam on north bank\nof Moderagam aru. These have not been examined.  Ochchappu kallu had an inscription but\nMedhananda had not been able to look at it. There are ruins also at Rajavanthi\nhatpattuva, Kirimetiya pattuva, Vele vewa, Pichchindiyawa vihara, said Medhananda.\nAccess to these ruins  is only through a\npath from   6th milepost at Puttalam-\nAnuradhapura road.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilindagoda area\nin Wilpattu is rich in archaeological   material.  It has many cave and rock inscriptions. No\nexplorations had been done earlier in the area. Medhananda explored Vilindagoda . Vilindagoda\nwas known originally as Salvana vihara . It\nis now in ruins but Medhananda found an inscription, dated to\nMahinda I (730-3) which said that king\u2019s officers must not enter the temple and\ncreate trouble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda has\nshown that Wilpattu  came directly under\nthe Anuradhapura kings. He has illustrated this with an example from\nSinadigala. Sinadigala is in Vilachchiya korale, in Wilpattu, near Moderagam\naru.. Sinadigala is accessed by going  to\nWilachchiya\nthen across Halmillgalavala through forest to Sinadigala  .The ruins  in Sinadigala  have been destroyed,   but\nthere is a rock inscription .This inscription is not well known. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inscription\nsaid that Vasabha (67-111) had spent  one\nlakh of kahavanu on  the uposathghara at\nDhakkina vihara, Anuradhapura . Arrangements for renovation and for dane to the\nmonks , was also recorded. The\ninscription then said that   king Vasabha\nhad  built Kalapahanaka wewa, now known as Karambakulama, spending\n5000 kahavanu, and donated its water tax to [Dhakkina vihara]. This was a huge wewa, said Medhananda\n. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inscription also refers to Magana\nnagara. Fifty families in Magana had  helped in \nthe wewa\nproject.  Magana \nwas situated between Mantota and Mannar on the coast.   Vattapukallu\ninscription  shows that  Magana nagara was   by the mouth of  Moderagam aru. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda found several Buddhist\nruins in Kurunegala .Wellagala Raja Maha Vihara,\nWariyapola   has a huge reclining Buddha and\nan inscription dated to Ist century AD.  In\nVanni Hatpattu, Medhananda explored Halamba gal len  vihara  and Halbe Raja Maha Vihara  . Medhananda said he was not able to explore\nHalbe Raja Maha Vihara  as thoroughly as\nhe wished. this  should be done, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Ganekanda vihara Polpitigama, also known as\nMandalaramaya,  he found 7 new  inscriptions..  at least two were important and rare said\nMedhananda . <\/em>One inscription\nhad a reference to Gokani grama which must mean Trincomalee. Another  said  \nthat a king gave a lakh for the labour \nneeded for a wall for Tarapa gama to obtain water. It is probably an\namuna, said Medhananda . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One inscription  was \nvery long . it recorded a     donation\nof paddy fields and  kahavanu in the time\nof king  Bhatika(sic). Also a donation of\nmoney to Sudamma chetiya. It is rarely that stupa get names, commented\nMedhananda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda also found two cave inscriptions at\nGanekanda. one  cave has been donated\nby  the head and deputy head of a\ntrading  concern( velenda samagamak). Another\ndonor was an intelligence or secret service man. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda has also visited Rangirimada Raja\nMaha Vihara,  Hiriyala, Kebel lena\nvihara, Hiriyala, Rangiri len senasuna, Hiriyala,  Naindanava vihara, Polpitigama, Budumuttawa\nRaja Maha Vihara,   Nikaveratiya and\nSadun giri magam pura Raja Maha Vihara . \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Ellawala\nMedhananda has explored Buddhist ruins in   \nNorth Central Province. <\/strong>Henanigala, near Dehiyattakandiya had caves, stupa, and row of steps cut\ninto rock. Veherapokuna\nin Maduru oya valley, and places close by such as Kadupahara ella, Daminavela,  Henanigala, Kudavila  had ruins. \nSiripalena, Siluminiseya, Devagala in Maduru oya  valley have unseen ruins, said Medhananda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda also\nexplored Katupotha kande lena,  Mihintale, Sinhapura\nRaja Maha Vihara ruins at\nno 10,12 , 13 Yaya , Nadiya\ngala Raja Maha Vihara     and Ehetuwewa pansak kanda ruins. Serupitiya ruins were  not examined till Medhananda did so.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Sabaragamuwa\nprovince <\/strong>, Medhananda explored Galpaye Bambaragala  aranya \nruins, Veneragodella. This was very tricky to explore, said Medhananda .\nit was Dangerous and one  could get\ninjured. Wellagala Raja Maha Vihara   at\nWariyapola   had a huge reclining Buddha\nand an inscription  dated to  1st<\/sup>  century AD. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda has explored some  Buddhist ruins in Uva Province<\/strong>. Medhananda \ndiscovered a second Nagadipa vihara in Badulla.  To get there, \ninstructed Medhananda , go 14 miles from Mahiyagana, on Bibile\n\u2013Mahiyangana road, past Gaduguduwawa and Agna ulpatha, then 3 miles past the\nulpatha, there is a  narrow path to Nagadipa\nwewa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is huge stupa  at Moneragala\nVeherayaya ruins.  Also \nhundred more stupa,  destroyed by\nfortune hunters. No one has explored here, said Medhananda . Medhananda found archaeological  sites on \nthe line of hills, Sitakanda, Maragala kanda,  Obbegoda kanda, Sri pana kanda. At Sri pana\nkanda, he found cave temples,  cave, inscriptions\nand  ruins of stupa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hills \nin the belt between  Karanda oya\nand Gal oya is full of viharas. Every \npaddy field,  or    empty land is full of archaeological  remains, inscriptions,  and so on, he said. They were still discovering the ruins at\nKolladeniya, Medhananda observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda also\nexplored Bingoda Raja Maha Vihara,   Wellassa. \nSuduveli mankada ha gal hira mankade vihara,   Moneragala, Seethkanda aranya senasana,\nMoneragala, Konduvattavana ruins, originally Kandewatta wana    and  Devala hida village, inginiyagala. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he went to\nlook at Bingoda Raja Maha Vihara, Wellassa Medhananda  took along the A level students of Dharmaduta\nVidyalaya, Badulla.  When he went to\nexplore Velellugoda kanda archaeological site he took teachers and pupils from\nKarandana Maha Vidyalaya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Southern\nprovince<\/strong>, Medhananda looked at Bilivana \nvihara in Hambantota,  known also\nas   Karambagala senasuna  . This vihara had caves \u2018all over\u2019. One cave could\naccommodate 400. In another cave there was a \nseat. Medhananda   found 5\nnew  inscriptions  there. One inscription was a cave donation by\nking Sirimeghavanna. ( continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Ven. Ellawala Medhananda has explored the Buddhist ruins in  the North Western  Province. The North western Province consists of two districts, Puttalam and Kurunegala. Puttalam which is a coastal  district, contains Wilpattu and Pomparippu. Medhananda   has visited both places. Medhananda found a large monastery complex at Pomparippu, in ruins. This area is now […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}