Ritigala is an ancient
Buddhist monastery and mountain in Sri Lanka. The ruins and rock inscriptions
of the monastery date back to 1st century BCE. It is located 43 km away
from the ancient monastic city of Anuradhapura
At 766 m above sea level,
and 600 m above the surrounding plains, Ritigala is the highest mountain
in northern Sri Lanka. The modern name Ritigala is derived from the ancient
name Ariṭṭha Pabbata (Dreadful Mountain), mentioned in the Mahavansa.
Ritigala mountain range consists
of four peaks of which the main and the highest peak at the south of the range
is named Ritigala Kanda. Ritigala mountain range, a 3776-acre (1582 ha) Strict
Nature Reserve, in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka, is managed by the Department of
Wildlife of Sri Lanka together with the Forest Department of Sri Lanka.
Ritigala Kanda rises to an elevation of 2513
feet, higher than the other main tourist attractions of the north central
plains, namely Sigiriya, Dambulla and Mihintale. The significance of this
topographical feature lies in the abrupt sheerness of the massif, its wooded
slopes and wet microclimate at the summit. During the North East monsoon
(December to February), Ritigala experiences the highest rainfall (125 cm)
of entire dry zone.
The wet micro climate at Ritigala is a singular
occurrence in the north central plains, the ancient Sri Lanka’s “Wewe Bandi
Rata” meaning “the land of rainwater reservoirs” in Sinhalese.
The climate at the summit is in
sharp contrast to the climate at the foot; it is cooler in comparison to hot
and dry climate of the region. Its rainfall records the highest in the whole of
dry zone surrounding it by a good margin during the northeast monsoon of dry
zone of the tropical island of Sri Lanka. The mist and cloud cover which
encapsulate the summit during the south-west monsoon of Wet Zone of the island,
results in high vapor condensation, in turn, turning the earth moist when the
plains all around are in drought.
Legends abound on Ritigala. One of mysterious
aspect is the belief of powerful medicinal herbs found near the crest. An herb
called “Sansevi” is believed to have the power of conferring long life and
curing all human pain. According to legend, all vegetation on Ritigala is
protected by Yakkas, the guardian spirits of the mountain. The venerable Prof.
Walpola Sri Rahula Maha Thera (1907–1997), a Professor of History and Religions
at Northwestern University, a Buddhist monk scholar, in his “History of
Buddhism in Ceylon, says "the term “Yaksa” denotes superhuman beings
worthy of respect. It is possible that it was applied, by an extension of
meaning, also to some pre-Buddhist tribe of human beings, aboriginal to
Ceylon".
The legend has it that Prince Pandukhabaya (3rd
century BC) was assisted by Yakkas during his battles against his eight uncles
at the foot of Ritigala. Another legend refers to a duel of two giants, most
possibly Yakkas, named Soma and Jayasena. Soma being killed in the duel,
Jayasena became a legend.
According to popular belief, non-human Lord
Hanuman of supernatural powers, traveled over Ritigala, and, by accident,
dropped a chunk off a mountain of the Himalaya range he was carrying from India
to Lanka for its medicinal herbs. Lord Rama's brother, Prince Lakshmana was
mortally wounded in battle and only a rare herb in the Himalaya could save his
life. The pocket of vegetation of healing herbs and plants at the strange
mini-plateau at the summit of Ritigala, which is distinct from the dry-zone
flora of the lower slopes and surrounding plains at Ritigala, could thus be
accounted for.
Lord Hanuman has visited Lanka on a previous
occasion. That was when he was sent by Lord Rama in search of his consort Sita.
It was King Ravana, a devotee of God Siva, who seized Sita from Parnasali in
India, the holy hut of Lord Rama and brought her to Asok Vana, a beautiful park
at Seetha Eliya (close to Nuwara Eliya or Little England, as the British called
it three millennia later) on the Pusparaga (Dadumonara) in an air chariot,
without touching her. (The peacock logo of Air Lanka, the predecessor of Sri Lankan
Airlines and successor of Air Ceylon, is a stylized version of Rawana’s air
chariot.) Having found the location where Sita was held, Hanuman made use of
Ritigala Kanda as a launching pad to take a leap across to South India.
Incidentally, Ritigala is the highest prominence between the central plains of
Sri Lanka and the coast of southern India.in turn.
The ruins of Ritigala monastery are located on
the eastern side of the mountain at the foot of the gorge which separates the
main peak from the northern ridge of the range. The ruins cover an area of 24
hectares (59 acres). The monastery precinct begins at the office of the on-site
branch of Department of Archeology of Sri Lanka close to the foot of the reservoir
named Banda Pokuna. The ancient man-made reservoir is a feat of engineering
with a bund of polygonal plan completing a circumference of 366 meters. The
construction of the reservoir is credited to King Pandukabhaya (437 -367 BC).
The reservoir possibly served a ritual bathing purpose, with visitors bathing
there before entering the monastery.
The order of ritual bathing tank, ruins of
entrance complex and a pedestrian path seem to indicate devotees in large
numbers visiting the monastery. The procession is similar to that of Kataragama
where pilgrims begins with a cleansing bath at Kataragama Manik river and end
with an offering to the God Skanda, the benevolent Hindu deity of Kataragama at
the main shrine.
The edge of the reservoir is followed in a
clockwise direction to arrive at the other bank, and cross the bed of the
stream feeding the reservoir. The steep steps here onwards lead up to a
beautifully constructed pavement, a stone path 1.5 meters wide that meander
upwards through the forest, linking the major buildings of the monastery. The
stone cut path is laid with interlocking four-sided slabs of hewn stone. Three
large circular platforms at intervals along the pavement allow for rest.
There are stone structures named
double-platforms, which are characteristic of Ritigala and other forest
monasteries such as Arankele, Veherabandigala and the western monasteries at
Anuradhapura. Spread over an area of about 120 acres are about 50 such double
platforms.
Raised platforms formed by retaining walls of
massive stones are found in pairs, linked together by a stone bridge. The main
axis of the combined platforms is set exactly east west. The structures were
then most possibly roofed and divided into rooms. These are believed to be used
for solitary practices such as meditation, as well as congregational functions
such as teaching and ceremony. Over a stone bridge lie interlocking ashlars and
the ruins of a monastery hospital, where the medicinal herbs-leaves and
roots-grinding stones and huge stone cut Ayurvedic oil baths can still be seen.
The pavement continues straight ahead to reach
one of the roundabouts. About 20 meters before reaching the roundabout, a path
heads off to the right, leading through enormous tree roots to a lookout,
reached by a stone high above a burbling stream. Further up is another lookout.
Then is found an artificial waterfall contrived by placing a stone slab between
two rocks.
Another 500 meters and two further sunken
courtyards are seen. The first courtyard contains a large double platform
structure, one of the largest stone structures in the entire monastery; one of
the platforms preserves the remains of the pillars which once supported a
building. A few meters beyond lies the second courtyard and another large
double platform.
With the exception of a few broken granite Buddha
statues in a number of caves, Ritigala have none of the traditional icons of
Buddhist temples: no bodhi tree, no stupas. The first Lanka Viharaya (temple)
was founded near Ritigala at the foot of the mountain in the second century BC.
The Aritta Viharaya was founded a century afterwards. Royals proved generous
patrons. In the ninth century AD, King Sena made endowment of the monastery, a
larger complex higher up the slope for a group of Buddhist ascetics called the
Pansukulikas (rag robes) monks who devoted themselves to extreme austerity in
search of supreme enlightenment.
Such was the detachment of these Buddhist ascetics
from the traditional life of Buddhist monks at village temples, their robes
were simply cleaned, washed and repaired rags, mostly shrouds picked up from
cemeteries, in line with one of the thirteen ascetic practices (Dhutanga)
outlined in Buddhism.
The only example of representational carving to
be found at Ritigala is in the form of decorated urinals that consist of urine
cup, drain hole and foot supports. It is believed that these decorated stones
were meant to depict the architectural and ritualistic excesses of the orthodox
monastic chapters to which the Pamsukuilikaa (monks devoted to extreme
austerity) were opposed. It is also argued that the act of urination on
decorated urinal stones was for them a symbolic act of dissociation.
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