{"id":103759,"date":"2020-06-20T16:01:38","date_gmt":"2020-06-20T23:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=103759"},"modified":"2020-07-03T15:14:40","modified_gmt":"2020-07-03T22:14:40","slug":"ven-ellawala-medhananda-part-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/06\/20\/ven-ellawala-medhananda-part-9\/","title":{"rendered":"VEN. ELLAWALA MEDHANANDA Part 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

REVISED 20.6.20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven. Ellawala Medhananda\nhas drawn attention to the damage done by \u2018non-Buddhists\u2019 (Hindus and Muslims),\nto the Buddhist monasteries, hermitages and ancient ruins in the north and\neast. Medhananda says that more than five hundred sites with ancient Buddhist\nruins are either destroyed or are being destroyed in the north and east. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Destroying Buddhist ruins in the East started\nlong ago, said Medhananda. Initially, it\nwas done secretly and cleverly. \nNow it has got speeded up and is now done openly on a large scale. At Niyankallugama, the\nruins were shot and destroyed, while Medhananda was there, exploring in 1972. Only Buddhist places face this destruction,\nnot the other religions, observed Medhananda. Buddhists are now\nfacing an \u2018asarana,  ahinsaka, nivata,\nniyalu\u2019 situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ruins in\nJaffna  and elsewhere are  in danger, said Medhananda speaking  in 2009 during Eelam war IV. Medhananda   wanted the \nDepartment of Archaeology to take control of the Buddhist  ruins in the cleared areas of the Vanni. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Mirror\nOnline reported  in June 2010 that\nMedhananda had  said that  more than 50 sites of archeological\nimportance in the Mullaitivu district have been desecrated by the LTTE and used\nas bunkers and fortifications. A total of 1633 sites have been desecrated in\nthe Anuradhapura, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu districts and that they should be\npreserved from further damage. Ellawala Medhananda there requested the\nPresident to take steps to hand over the control of these archeological sites\nto the Department of Archaeology for preservation.  Monuments like moon\nstones and ancient fortresses belonging to 11th century have been severely\naffected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is clear, says this writer (Kamalika\nPieris) that there is   a well planned, externally directed\ncampaign, to convert the north and east of Sri Lanka to a Hindu\/ Muslim\nterritory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda found\nthat ruins he had examined earlier had vanished when he went a second time.\nI found that ruins I had seen in 1966 had disappeared by 1976. What I saw in\n1976 had disappeared by 1986\u201d said Medhananda. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhist sites in\ngood condition in Trincomalee   in 1960\nhad vanished when Medhananda  visited\nthem in 1980. Hindu kovils had been built over many of them.\nWhat we saw in 1964 at Veddikinarimalai had disappeared by 1973.  The\nruins seen earlier at Veheragama have now vanished, said Medhananda in 2013. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galkulama had ruins stretching all the way to\nKiliveddi. An Inscription there showed that its name was Girimahalaka Maha\nvehera and it had been built by Dutugemunu. This place has been completely\ndestroyed, said Medhananda. Its stupa has\nbeen destroyed and bricks scattered for miles . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inscription\nat  Veheragala vihara, near Araganvila showed\nthat  kings had worshipped there. All the\nbuilding, including the stupa have been destroyed, said Medhananda . Veheratenna  which had ruins dated to 5th<\/sup>\ncentury  AD  was heavily destroyed. Kurundammalai\nhad over 100 acre of\nBuddhist ruins including an image house. Sunetra\nwewa(Tirumangala) area  had Buddhist\nruins for 5 acres or so. They have been\ndeliberately destroyed. At Rugam  too, the ruins have been deliberately\ndestroyed. Stone pillars at\nPulukunava were broken into\npieces. This vandalism is not natural it has been done by persons, said\nMedhananda . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayarampala, a\nfew miles north of Karanda oya had many Buddhist ruins. These have been\nvandalized. The Viharakadu region close to Dighavapi has been leveled using\nmachinery. In 1972, they were planning to shoot and\ndestroy the Buddhist ruins at Niyankullukama. At Paravankandam  the ruins including stupa were destroyed in\nApril  2002 to convert the area into  a paddy field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there\nis  the Sri Vardhana Bodhi of Kiliveddi,\nMutur. When Medhananda visited in 1952 he  \nfound a large Bodhi tree, with stone pillars, moon stone, step slabs. He\nsaw them again in 1965. Thereafter Tamils living near Tirumangala\nwewa   moved to Kiliveddi and destroyed its\nBuddhist ruins , including the  moonstone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They built a kovil near the Bodhi, continued\nMedhananda . This kovil was then\nextended close to the Bodhi. The branches of the Bodhi were cut, supposedly for\ntelephone wires. They were cut in such a way that  so that the trunk was affected. When Medhananda  visited in 1977, the tree and the ruins were\ngone.  The Bodhi was totally destroyed and a\nkovil set up.  There are no Buddhist\nruins there now, concluded Medhananda . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nplan to eliminate all signs of an ancient \nBuddhist civilization  was greatly\nhelped by the fact that most of these ruins are not registered  in the Department of Archaeology as\narchaeological monuments. Thottama, Manthottama, Pannala oya and Ambalan oya\nhas archaeological  remains that\nwhich  are not registered, said\nMedhananda . Panama pattu  forest range\nis full of archaeological  ruins. There\nis no protection for any of it,  he said.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe case of archaeological sites for which there are records in the Department,\nanother tactic was  used. The files  vanished, they went missing.  There were 11 cave inscriptions near Kundikudichchi\naru. The  Ampara Kachcheri held the file\non this. This file is now missing, said Medhananda .  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Files\nalso  vanished when new  kovils are  constructed. There was a hill with a stupa, and eleven cave\nshrines to the east of the Pannala oya.  Now\nthere is kovil there, said Medhananda . There had been a file at the Ampara Kachcheri\ndescribing the Buddhist remains of the area, but with the construction of the\nkovil those documents   disappeared,  he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rock inscriptions<\/strong>\nwere specifically targeted. They were \nsought out and deliberately destroyed. Mundikulammale ruins, Ampara had\nrows of caves with inscriptions. <\/strong> These have been extensively  destroyed, said Medhananda . Mahagirilla Savarankeligala had a  unique inscription relating to a \u2018pase\nbudun\u2019. This was recorded by the Department of Archaeology. Medhananda  found the stone containing the inscription  smashed to pieces  and \nthe inscription destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kadolupotana kanda, Eravur had three  inscriptions which showed that this area was\nunder Kavantissa. These inscriptions have been destroyed.   Mundikulam\nmalai site in Ampara, had an inscription, discovered by Medhananda, which\nstated that Vihara Maha Devi lived there after she became a nun. The rock and\nthe inscription had been broken up. An Inscription\nat Dimbulagala cave dated to 2 century BC, was found  mutilated by  Medhananda in 1980. Only two words remained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eeratiperiyakulam   vihara ruins had an inscription   discovered by Parker. This inscription had\ndisappeared, when Medhananda looked for it. Kurundammalai known earlier as Kurathgama had an inscription\ndated to Mahinda III (801-804) which said that the king had come to settle a\nproblem about water. C.W. Nicholas had seen \nthis inscription. <\/strong>When we\nwent it was not to be seen\u201d, announced Medhananda.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Two inscriptions at Lahugala the\nakuru ketu gala inscription   on\nKarapavata vihara, and Galhitiode inscription on Ayapavata vihara were destroyed. Thannimuruppu wewa inscription at\nKurundammalai is now destroyed. Nilaveli\nhad an inscription saying that the vihara was known as Kanikaravelli vihara. The\ninscription has been tarred over. A\nSanskrit Mahayana inscription at Kucceveli Maha vihara was defaced in 1981,\nrecited Medhananda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stupas <\/strong>have been destroyed systematically. The stupa at Nilaveli was\nthere in 1966, it had disappeared by 1978.Medhananda saw a huge stupa, 300\nby 33 feet, on the Trincomalee- Kantalai road, near 246 km post. This has been\ncut in two and bricks scattered all over the teak plantation nearby. Teak has\nbeen planted on top of the stupa, as well, reported Medhananda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilankulam stupa was also   huge  \n150 ft in circum, and 35 in height. This too had been deliberately\ndestroyed and bricks scattered all over. When I saw it in 1978, Sellappa\nNalliah and Inamuttusamy had built a house at the top of the stupa, with toilet\nand well, said Medhananda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/em>The stupa\nnear Kinniya wells vanished after the Ceasefire agreement of 2002. The media reported in 2002 that senior monks\nof Seruwila and Tamankaduwa had said that the bricks unearthed while levelling\na mound near the hotwells at Kinniya belong to Anuradhapura era and the mound\nwas a stupa. This has been levelled to put up a Hindu temple. The monks had\ncomplained to the authorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddha\nstatues<\/strong> were also damaged.<\/strong> Medhananda found a destroyed Buddha\nstatue and moonstone at Oddusuddan.   \nStatues at Mudu Maha vihara, Panama seen in 1990 have disappeared, said\nMedhananda.  Kucceveli Maha vihara had\nMahayana statues \u2018in pleasing form\u2019 when Medhananda visited in 1966. When   Medhananda visited in 1978 the upper parts\nof most of the statues were destroyed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Buddha statues at Daluggala Raja Maha Vihara was damaged and\nthe pilima head taken as a lip galak. At Ridikanda the statues had been dragged\ndown from the hill and destroyed.  Due to\nall this, the Buddha statue found Paravankandam was removed to the Police\nstation for safety, and is now in Ampara museum, said Medhananda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda    observed that Hindus and Muslims had taken physical\npossession of lands which were sites of Buddhist worship in earlier times. Once\nthey are on the land, they erase the Buddhist remains and prevent Buddhist\ncoming there, observed Medhananda. There was a Sinhala village at Sakkam\nwewa near Pannala oya, called Bodhianga. Now  \nit is no longer Sinhala. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Mottayakanda the Muslims have bulldozed all\nthe Buddhist ruins. Kombanacci,\noriginally Somawathi vihara, in Kiliveddi, Trincomalee, is now a Muslim area\nand one part of the ruins is now a \u2018goat farm of a Mussalman\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ilankaturai, near\nSeruwila,   earlier Lankapatuna, has been\nencroached by non-Buddhists and Hindu kovils have come up. At Nelugala\nbuildings were set on fire by non-Sinhalese, and the Sinhala settlers driven\naway. A Hindu kovil was constructed there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inscriptions showed that Linemalai originally\nhad an aramaya known as Sipavata, hosting many monks. One inscription stated\nthat Mahadatika Mahanaga had donated two channels named Dakapunaka and    Girigamaka and its taxes to the vihara. Another\ninscription indicates that a rate rala from Uva ruled this area. And that Uva\nprovince extended to Pottuvil.  A wewa Inscription\nsaid the wewa was donated by    danu\nsilpa chalu\u201d. Now Linemalai is\nMuslim and Tamil. LTTE chased away the few Sinhalese there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viharagalkanda had a large flat area\nthanitalawa with  huge number of  Buddhist  \nruins . When we visited, a Tamil man was \nliving there, farming \nbananas.  We explored the site ,\nexamined  the ruins and copied the  inscription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we visited Gokanna vihara, Trincomalee\n(Koneswaran) in 1960, we faced much opposition from the Hindus, said\nMedhananda. Medhananda was able to go to Mundikulammale\nruins, Ampara in 1964 and 1999 without any fear. But it is now dangerous for\nSinhalese to go there\u201d he said in 2003.  No Sinhalese can\ngo to Rugam now either.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rugam-Piyalutana\nvihara on Badulla-Batticaloa road has a vihara built by king Yatalatissa. In\n1972 there was a plan to convert 18 \nacres to a wewa and settle non Sinhalese on there. There\nare   Buddhist ruins at Mahaoya,\nVeheragala, and Dambaliyadde gala. In 1972 it was planned to settle non\nSinhalese there. There had\nbeen a planned programmed to hinder Buddhists in Sembumalai, observed\nMedhananda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bhikkhus have tried to save these Buddhist\nruins by setting up avasa on the premises. They were chased away. When monks\ntry to settle, they are harassed and they run away, observed Medhananda. In\nmy view, says this writer, (Kamalika Pieris) this is due to the fact that these\nactions were not known or supported by the Nikayas. It these ventures had been\nsupported by a Nikaya, it would not have been easy to dislodge them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kohukumbure Revata had lived at Dighavapi In a\nsmall hut, under great difficulty. He was killed by a Muslim in 1950. This got\ngreat publicity at the time, said Medhananda.  A monk had once treid to live at Budu patum\nKande. <\/strong>Monks had set up\nan avasa at Girikurumbika vihara, but now there is nothing. A\nmonk had taken up abode at a Lena in Niyaguna kanda vihara Ampara and the\nvillagers looked after him, now he is not there said Medhananda in 2003. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven, Sri Sobitha tried to rebuild the stupa\nBollagama Raja Maha Vihara,Ampara \nin                                           \n1911.     Kekirihene Seelavansa is\nkeeping the temple going today, despite the fact that the vihara has no\nsupport, the  villagers  are too poor, reported Medhananda . A monk has settled at Maha kachcha\nkodiya vihara,  Vavuniya and is\nstruggling to  survive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main strategy used to suppress Buddhism in\nthe north and east, was to promptly substitute Hindu kovils for the destroyed\nBuddhist ruins. Hindu\nkovils have been built over many of the Buddhist shrines, said Medhananda.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I visited\nSembumalai in 1978, the Buddha statue seen earlier was missing. Many ruins were\npurposely damaged and a Hindu kovil has been established. The Poosari\u2019s\nstatements that it was built in 1938 cannot be accepted as the materials used\nfor the kovil were   new. There\nis a kovil at Palamottai with a notice giving its \u2018history\u2019 in Tamil.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been\nknee jerk reactions in Colombo, to this kovil building. the media  reported in 2002  that \nAll Ceylon Buddhist women\u2019s Congress, \nNational council of Buddhist women and Success, Colombo jointly appeal\nto the President, PM and Minister for Buddha sasana to immediately order an\ninvestigation into the alleged destruction of the ancient Samudragiri vihara in\nIlankathurai. Our information is that this temple has been torn down and its\nstone pillars used to build a new Hindu kovil, they reported. However,\nMedhananda observed in 2003 that stupa and pilimage at Samudragiri\nvihara, Lankapatuna has been destroyed and the kovil set up. Samudragiri will\nbe completely destroyed very soon, he predicted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kokkadicholai\nhad ruins which showed that there has been an aramaya there, earlier. Guard\nstones, parts of stupa could be seen.  Villagers\nhad told Medhananda when he visited in 1968 that there had been an inscription\ntoo.  Kokkadicholai is now completely\nTamil, said Medhananda. They\nhave encroached over most of the 22 acres. Ruins\nhave been destroyed.  A kovil, named\nKanakone Ishwara Kovil, has been built over the aramaya. The evidence is still\nthere.  The   Kovil started small and is now enlarged.\nThere is a Pullaiyar kovil too, concluded Medhananda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rahatgala had        30 acres of Buddhist ruins including an ancient two\nstoried building.   It is today known as Shanthamalai,\nit has two kovils. <\/em>The huge stone ansana and asanaghara at Viharagalkanda\nhas been deposited there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stupa and    arama of Okanda vihara were in good\ncondition in 1978.They have now disappeared. \nThere is now a Murugan kovil there, said Medhananda. Taravakulam, \nBatticaloa  district, had a  Buddhist \nvihara which is now converted to Hindu kovil. Sangamon\nkanda   was a Buddhist religious\nsite,  with two  cave inscriptions  . Now it is a Siva kovil, Medhananda\ncontinued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are three sets of ruins  between Nelugala and Toppigala. Hindu statues\nhave been set up in them and  Toppigala\nalso now has a Hindu kovil. Nelugala  was once Ruhuna\u2019s Piyangalu vihara. The\nBuddhist evidence has been destroyed and a kovil set up, added Medhananda . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LTTE \nhad put  up a Hindu kovil At Oddusuddan. LTTE had also built a kovil at Nilaveli by\n1981. Vishnu devale was  coming up in 2003  at Dharmavardanarama in Nikawewa area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some kovils the Buddhist link is visible.\nAt Tirumangala the kovil had a\nBuddha statue.   Kantakonishwaran\nkovil near Vellavali, built on a   huge, ancient\nBuddhist monastery, has used the ruins as \naltars. the  huge stone ansana and asanaghara at vihara\ngal kanda   had been taken to santamalai\nwhere a hindu kovil had been set up on the Buddhist site. At Kandakudichchi aru  where \nthe stupa was replaced by a kovil, one  mal asana gala was   placed before the Hindu statue  and the other was used as a step.  Villagers\nin Veheragoda, Ampara,  said that the\nstone door frame belonging to the stupa had been taken away to a kovil at\nMandur. ( Continued)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appendix.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Lavatories\nhave been built amidst valuable ruins in the North. <\/li>
  • At Dighavapi a bulldozer had gone \u2018by\nmistake\u2019 through the temple. <\/li>
  • Four siripatul from Pulukunawa Maha\nvihara have been taken away as miris gal. <\/li>
  • Kalladi puda bima, Seruwila was\ndiscovered and protected by the armed forces during the Eelam war. <\/li>
  • Veheragama has 145 families of which 20 are Tamil. Veheragama has\na Raja Maha Vihara   Stupa can be dated to 6-7 AD. Ruins in these areas are being deliberately\ndestroyed. Baddegama Chandavimala is  the\nviharadhipati since 1971, said Medhananda in 2013.  He is managing with difficulty. He has\nstarted a daham pasala. <\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    KAMALIKA PIERIS REVISED 20.6.20 Ven. Ellawala Medhananda has drawn attention to the damage done by \u2018non-Buddhists\u2019 (Hindus and Muslims), to the Buddhist monasteries, hermitages and ancient ruins in the north and east. Medhananda says that more than five hundred sites with ancient Buddhist ruins are either destroyed or are being destroyed in the north and […]<\/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-103759","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\/103759","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=103759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103759\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}