{"id":112165,"date":"2021-02-28T17:06:58","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T00:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=112165"},"modified":"2021-02-28T17:06:58","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T00:06:58","slug":"yupa-in-a-buddhist-stupa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/02\/28\/yupa-in-a-buddhist-stupa\/","title":{"rendered":"Yupa in a Buddhist Stupa"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ama H. Vanniarachchy<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Since\nthe Department of Archaeology began exploration and excavation work in the\nNorthern areas of the island, it has been the talk of the town. There were some\nincidents which stirred up some controversy, starting from arguments about the\nidentity of these ancient monasteries and the true inheritance of them. One\nsuch highly controversial place was Mullaitivu. Despite the archaeological and\nhistorical evidence, there were disputes about the place\u2019s history. Therefore,\nCeylon Today took you on a voyage to the past of Mullaitvu in one of our\nprevious heritage articles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As\na stone element was unearthed at one of the ancient stupas at Mullaitivu,\nthings were steamed up once again. The ancient stupa at Kuruindi Vihara was\nexcavated. Then a stone architectural feature, which is known as a yupa gala\nwas discovered. As soon as it was unearthed, photographs and various\ninterpretations began circling in social media, print media, and the electronic\nmedia. While the monolith could be instantly and clearly identified as a yupa\ngala, certain groups all of a sudden claimed it to be a Siva Linga. As the\nmonolith had eight faces, the term Ashta-Thara was added by these groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siva\nLingas are not uncommon or new to us. We have discovered a considerable number\nof ancient Siva Lingas as well as yoni symbols, which were highly venerated\nsacred objects of the Hindus. Thus, our scholars are not unable to identify a\nSiva Linga if one was discovered. Also all of these discovered Siva Lingas,\nSiva sculptures and all other Hindu veneration objects are well preserved and\nloved by all of us and they are considered a part of \u2018our\u2019 proud heritage by\nSri Lankan scholars and the public. If such an object was discovered, there is\nno reason to not admit it and distort its\u2019 identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover,\na Siva Linga cannot be discovered in the centre of an ancient stupa mound. This\nhas never happened before. Yet we have found a number of yupa stones in ancient\nstupa sites. Today we at Ceylon Today will present to you the story of the\nBuddhist architectural feature yupa gala and its evolution. Well known Sri\nLankan senior archaeologist, Professor emeritus T.G. Kulatunga who has done\nextensive research on the Stupa and Buddhist art and architecture joined us to\nshare his knowledge about the yupa gala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 What\nis a yupa stone?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nyupa stone is an architectural feature of early Buddhist stupas. In the ancient\ntext Manjushriwasthavidya, this is called the Gajasthambha. Gaja-padaka is also\nan ancient name for the yupa stone,\u201d said Prof. Kulatunga.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof.\nKulatunga explained that according to the Divyavadana, once the dome of the\nstupa is built, the yupaya was fixed on it. This was fixed on the top of the\nceiling of the topmost relic chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nyupaya was always an octagon-shaped pillar. The top was curved, the bottom half\nwhich is buried beneath the surface has four sides.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof.\nChandra Wikramagamage in his scholarly work, Stupa, says that the yupaya was an\narchitectural feature of the stupas belonging to the Abhayagiri sect. This is\nbecause we do not see a yupa stone in every stupa in Sri Lanka,\u201d explained\nProf. Kulatunga. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nantiquity of the concept of the yupa stone goes back to pre-Buddhist times in\nIndia. It was an object used for veneration by Vedic Brahmin priests; it was a\nsacrificial pillar. Animals who were supposed to be sacrificed were tied on to\nthis pillar. Therefore, the yupaya was a pillar dedicated to the gods.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although\nscholars believe that the yupa could be having a pre-Buddhist origin in India,\nin his scholarly work The Ceylon Stupa, Prof. Senarath Paranavithana says that\nthere is no evidence to say the Sanchi had a yupaya, nor at stupas in Amravati\nand Nagarjunakonda. Therefore, he says that the yupaya may not have been a\ncommon feature among all Buddhist stupas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 He\nfurther says that an octagon pillar similar to the one we know as yupaya today\nwas placed on the top of the ancient stupas in Java. He also says that yupaya\ncould be the stone pillar known as the Indra-Kilaya by today\u2019s Buddhist monks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Dr.\nRoland Silva in his highly acclaimed work, Thupa, Thupaghara and Thupa-Pasada,\nsays that, Basing himself on a passage in the Divyavadana, Paranavithana uses\nthe term yupa – a Vedic sacrificial pillar – for the stone inside the\ndevathakotuwa, which is also called the danda or chattra-danda, the equivalent\nof which is the yasti.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto Prof. Wickramagamage, the yupa was visible between the chathra and the\nharmika. When the chathra evolved into the koth karalla, the yupaya became the\ndevathakotuwa. In ancient dewathakotuwa there can be seen eight deities who are\nto be known as the ashta-dik-pala. He further states that the yupaya was a\nsymbol of Buddha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\nwas this called in ancient times?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An\ninscription at Vessagiriya mentions the term karawidaka. The inscription is as\nfollows; Mahanaka raja pitanika chethehi karawidaka kotawaya chatha aruwaya\u2026\nwhich means King Ila-Naga (38 – 44 CE) built the koth karalla and the chathras\nof Pitanika Stupa. This is how Prof. Paranavithana translates this. According\nto him, karawidaka means karali,\u201d explained prof. Kulatunga. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\ncannot be accepted. At the terrace of Ruwanweliseya, remains of a yupa stone,\nwas found. It is the bottom half of the pillar. There is an inscription on it\nwhich says that the pillar is a karawidaka tabi. Tabi means tamba or pillar.\nThus, if we compare the Vessagiriya inscription and this, the term karavidaka,\nhints that it means the stone pillar or the yasti which we know as the yupa\nstone today. So we can assume that during that time this stone pillar was known\nas karawidaka,\u201d Prof. Kulatunga enlightened us.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why\ndoes yupa stone have eight sides?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof.\nKulatunga explained to us that various pre-Buddhist deities were adopted into\nthe Buddhist culture and some of them were considered as guardian gods of\nBuddhism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nhave ashtadikpala deities; which means, deities representing each eight\ndirection. So the pillar had eight faces. Each side represents each deity. The\nyupa stone was dedicated to these gods, who were considered as protectors of\nBuddhism and the stupa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nthe yupa stone was not in use…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nStupa style evolved with time. Many of its early architectural features changed\ninto new features. So did the yupa stone,\u201d said Prof. Kulatunga. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthis process of evolution, the upper half of the stupa changed and instead of\nthe yupa gala, devathakotuwa was developed. In the devathakotuwa there are\neight deities facing the eight directions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 When\ndid koth karalla evolve?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based\non archaeological evidence we believe that it was king Kanitta-Thissa (164 \u2013\n192 CE) who was the one who first added a koth karalla to a stupa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our\nassumption is based on an inscription we found at Deegavapi. A golden casket\nwas discovered here and it had a koth karalla and also the name of the king,\u201d\nsaid the professor. We have evidence to believe that small stupas developed\nthe koth karalla, while larger stupas still had yupa stones on them. Later they\nevolved into the dewathakotuwa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other\nevidences of yupa stones<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

–\nTwo massive yupa stones at Abayagiriya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

–\nMihindu Seya – a casket was found by Prof. Paranavithana in 1951. This has a\nyupaya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

–\nDaliwalakota Vehera – hundreds of caskets were found here. They all have\nyupayas. These were found by then Commissioner of Archaeology Dr.\nGodakumbura <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof.\nParanavithana says that the remains of yupas found at Abhayagiri and Mirisveti\nare massive in size and that they would have weighed more than twenty tons at\ntheir fullest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart\nfrom these examples there are yupa stones at Lahugala, Manikdena, Yatala, and\nmany other ancient Buddhist stupa sites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri\nLanka is a country that practiced religious harmony for more than 15 centuries.\nThese are not just words. Archaeological and historical evidence proves this.\nYet, due to some unfortunate recent incidents and well-planned political\nstunts, starting from the shrewd British rule, ethnic and religious harmony of\nthe island is destroyed. \u2018Divide and Rule\u2019 was their strategy. And we were\nfools to fall into their traps. We still are in it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fighting\nover the identity of cultural heritage is also a result of games played by\npoliticians for their own good. Once the dispute between the two main\nethnicities of the island is over, once understanding and harmony bonds these\ntwo communities, politicians and their manipulators will be deprived of their\npower. Therefore, it is the responsibility of us to act wisely. Scholars, media\nand the public should act wisely and sensibly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s\nnot allow \u2018them\u2019 to distort our cultural heritage and to nourish \u2018their\u2019\nvicious existence. Let us not fall into prey. Scholars, please step forward and\nshare your knowledge and enlighten the public. Media, be responsible, ethical,\nand wise. Use words carefully as words can be very dangerous. Public, be wise\nand rational.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nconcerted effort to preserve our heritage is a vital link to our cultural,\neducational, aesthetic, inspirational, and economic legacies – all of the\nthings that quite literally make us who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013\nSteve Berry<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Ama H. Vanniarachchy<\/strong> | Published: 2:00 AM Feb 27 2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ama H. Vanniarachchy\u00a0 Since the Department of Archaeology began exploration and excavation work in the Northern areas of the island, it has been the talk of the town. There were some incidents which stirred up some controversy, starting from arguments about the identity of these ancient monasteries and the true inheritance of them. One […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism","category-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112165","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=112165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}