Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Vihara, Sri Lanka

At Palatadichcheni we left the A4 and headed towards the famous Seruwila Temple passing through a pleasant, peaceful environment abuzz with bird life.

The sight of this more modern temple structure standing tall among the trees took me by surprise! I was looking for an ancient but renovated stupa, so where was it?

Seruwila Temple

 Seruwila temple is one of the holiest temples in Sri Lanka because it is said to contain a relic of the Buddha, his frontal lobe bone. How did it get there? 

Well, in the 2nd century BC, our King Kavantissa - the one who married Cast Away Princess Devi - was in danger of having his kingdom invaded by South Indian kings and needed to solve this problem in a strategically, peaceful way. At that time the northeastern area of the country, which would provide him with a buffer state was ruled by a Prince Siva. King Kavantissa knew he could count on this Prince's loyalty if he could arrange some way of avoiding confrontation. So . . .

Seruwila Temple, Toppur, Sri Lanka

. . . soon the powerful Buddhist monks were letting everyone know that King Kavantissa was in possession of a very holy relic, namely the Buddha's frontal lobe bone, and that it had been destined that he would place it in a stupa to be built at Seru.

Accompanied by his spiritual mentors and army, Kavantissa marched towards Seru while the minor Kings and Princes debated what to do. If they did not receive him in a friendly manner there would be trouble with their own people, after all, he had the most holy relic in his possession and the support of the Sangha and other respected kings.  Their hands were tied. "What to do ?"  as they say in Sri Lanka. The only thing they could do was to welcome him and assist with the building of the stupa. This they did! Problem solved without any confrontation for King Kavantissa.

Shrine, Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Vihara

So, King Kavantissa now had no threats to his kingdom to worry about and in fact became King over a very large area of the country. To reward the kings in the Seru area, he had the wet, marshy area around the temple drained and converted into a lake leaving lands eleven miles around to be dedicated to rice cultivation to support the five hundred monks at the temple. This area was once a huge marshy area and home during certain times of the year to the migratory birds known as seru - teals. It is thought that this is where the name Seruwila originated.

Dagaba, Seruwila Temple

In ancient times, this part of the country was under pressure with invasions by the South Indian Tamil kings and, although it is believed that the Kandyan Kings at least knew of its existence in the 17th Century, it was abandoned, nature finally claiming it. The stupa was rediscovered in the 1920s  by an important monk then restored, with assistance by the Archeological Department.  Since then further restoration has progressed slowly.

ancient guardstone, Seruwila

This moonstone has both horses and elephants in one of the circlets.

Moonstone, Seruwila Temple

As well as the stupa, other remains have been recovered including the image house, Bo tree shrine, an ancient pond and remains of monasteries.

Bo tree Shrine

Seruwila ruins

Once you walk around the original dagaba, the new temple is again visible through the trees.

New Temple, Seruwila

Modern guardstone, Seruwila

This new temple is still under construction with work on the interior being done.

Modern moonstone, Seruwila

New temple, Seruwila

The walls of this temple are covered with paintings illustrating the teachings an beliefs of  Buddhism. A surprisingly big crowd of worshipers was sitting on the floor, their chanting led by a lay man. While this was going on, work men were climbing ladders above their heads, working on a higher roof level. Not wanting to intrude or disrupt their devotions or work, we tip toed out.

If you are passing this way on the A4 why not detour for a couple of hours to see this lovely place of worship and take in its interesting history?

I'm glad we did!