Sigiriya Sri Lanka

Most people who visit Sigiriya talk about Sigiriya Kashyapa’s forts, paintings, and beautiful city designs. But after the time of Kasyapa, only a few people are interested in seeing the Pabbata Vihara complex built by his brother King Mughal using the beautiful landscape of Sigiriya. So it is our belief that you too will want to see this temple when you inquire about it.

History Of Sigiriya

King Kasyapa (477-495 AD) created the kingdom of Sigiriya in his own way in the fifth century. Eight centuries ago, there was a cave complex at the foot of Sigiriya where Buddhist monks grew up. There are several drip-lined caves and inscriptions that reveal this.

King Kasyapa was defeated and killed in a battle with his brother Mughals (495–15). The new ruler Mughals take the kingdom back to Anuradhapura. But he will not allow Sigiriya to be deserted. The Mahavamsa states that Moggallana built the Dalha Vihara and the Datha Kondagna Vihara in Sigiriya and offered them to the monks of the Dhammaruchi and Sagaliya sects. The Mahavamsa also states that King Mughal built the Sigiriya Rock Temple and offered it to the Mahanama Thero at the Deeghasanda Temple (Chapter 39 of the Mahavamsa). We also come across Pabbata Vihara around Pidurangala, Ramakele, Kaludiya Pokuna, Menikdena and Malaasna around Sigiriya.

Sigiriya Pabbata Viharaya

This is a sacred place located in the village of Sigiriya in Inamaluwa Korale. Prof. Prishantha Gunawardena says that two stages of the Sigiriya Pabbata Viharaya can be identified. He notes that the first phase of construction took place in the 5th-6th centuries, and the second phase in the 8th-10th centuries.

The temple incorporates the architectural features of the three phases of Sigiriya.

1. Pre-Kashyapa Cave Temple Complex
2. Buildings during the reign of the kingdom of the Kashyapa era
3. The main buildings of the Pabbata Viharaya built during the Mughal period

Etc. They can be introduced.

This sacred place can be seen in the forest on the right hand side after passing the Sigiriya Water Park towards the Rock Garden. The main features of a Pabbata Vihara such as the Stupa, Bodhi Tree, Statue House and Poya House can be identified in this premises. This temple is located in a beautiful environment full of trees and caves. Even today we see that it is a very good environment for the monks who cultivate buffaloes.

“The main change that took place in the Giriya Pabbata Viharaya was the interest of the architect in applying the outer and inner moats used in the Sigiriya town plan of the Kashyapa period to the later Pabbata Viharaya. Two waterfalls are used inside and out. The brick wall used to separate the inner and outer courtyards is not of a clear design.”

(Sigiriya Hermitage Archaeologist – Prishantha Gunawardena)

Another specialty of this place is that the Pilimageya and the Uposathaghara (Poyageya) belonging to the temple are located in ancient caves with drips

Dagaba

A small dagoba can be seen on a natural high ground in between. There are two entrances to the courtyard of the Dagoba. The courtyard here is small. It is 37 feet 6 inches long and 33 feet wide. The Dagaba is currently only 4 feet high. The walls around the Dagaba are built to protect the nearby natural rock.

Bodhigaraya

The Bodhi Tree where the ancient Bo tree was planted is located on a plain below the Dagaba. Only the square base can be seen today. Its courtyard is 66 feet long and 53 feet wide. A circular granite wall has been built around the Bodhi Tree. H. C. P. Bell excavated the site and reported the details to the Archaeological Survey of 1899, claiming that the ruins were Vatadage.

Surrounded by a circular stone wall with gates on the north and east sides, the ruined building was identified as a Bodhi Tree in 1974. It was excavated and conserved in 1982 by the Central Cultural Fund. It is believed to have been built by King Mughal and is one of the oldest Bodhisattvas in Sri Lanka.

Pilimageya

This is located on the northeastern side of the temple grounds. Cree. BC An inscription in 2nd or 3rd century inscriptions confirms that a nearby drip-lined cave dedicated to monks was later transformed into a statue, with the sleeveless limestone limestone Buddha statue found there (now housed in the Sigiriya Museum). ). The ruins of a brick wall in front of the cave were left behind, and it was revealed that there were three chambers inside the cave and three separate doors to access them. The Buddha statue was found in a large central chamber. Remains of paintings in the cave indicate that the canopy was whitewashed and painted. This is built with two floors. The first floor and the second are separated by granite walls. The cave is 55 feet long and 18 feet wide.

Uposhagaraya

The ruins of the Uposathaghara where the monks perform their rituals are located on the top of the rock near the house. The specialty here is that the building on the rock, which was used as a church hall in the Kashyapa era, is used as a subdivision without constructing a new building. Archaeologists have speculated that a wooden building may have been erected on the rock for use in the discipline.

Recent excavations have confirmed that the ruins of this Pabbata temple date back to AD. Cree from the 5th-6th centuries. ව. It consists of constructions made up to the 12th-13th centuries. It has also been identified that this was one of the earliest monasteries of the Pabbata Vihara type. According to the Mahavamsa excerpts described above, some scholars say that this Pabbata Vihara could have been the Diksanda (Dighasanda) Pirivena built by King Moggallana and given to the Mahanama Thero. However, it is said that during the reign of King Kasyapa, the same king built a temple in the garden near the Sigiriya rock and dedicated the temple and the garden to the north to the monks of the Dhammaruchi sect. present. This garden, now known as the Rock Garden at the foot of the Sigiriya Rock, is located above the ruins of the Pabbata Vihara as well as other ruins that can be identified as belonging to a Buddhist temple in the north.

Other buildings

Apart from the main sacred buildings, it has been identified that the monasteries, baths, almshouses, urinals and toilets where the monks lived were built outside the temple. It has been revealed that 29 of the 30 drip-lined ancient cave temples have been used for monasteries and one cave has been used as an idol house. It is believed that buildings such as the water park and pavilions of the Sigiriya Kingdom may have been used for the bathing of monks and the almshouse.