A couple of years since our last visit, we were heading back to Kurunegala, a historical kingdom in the North Western (Wayamba) Province. It is always an adventure to head to Kurunegala itself and the suburb, especially, if you like to travel using your own transport. It is a great way to get a glimpse of the historical sites which are scattered on the rocky boulders in the region.
However, this time around, we had a specific purpose – to visit a lesser-known site, the Rava-Ela Maligathenna archaeological site in the Rava-Ela village. I had always wanted to see the ruins of ancient Buddhist sites hidden in the forest canopies in thick jungles, neglected and unknown to the outside world.
So, my wife and I jumped at the opportunity when my relative, a Forest Officer of the Forest Conservation Department’s Divisional Forest Office, Kurunegala, Jagath Sirisena, who travelled the length and breadth of the region, offered to organise a trip. He took us to the site which he had visited during one of his official trips to the area some time back.
A stone meditative passage
However, our destination was Rava-Ela Maligathenna. The word, Maligathenna, evokes a sense of popularity. There are a few sites called Maligathanne with archaeological or historical importance in Sri Lanka. Maybe we hear much about this name because of one famous Maligathenna rock cave temple in Yakkala close to Gampaha in the Western Province. The Maligathenna related to our current visit is in the jungles of Rawa-Ela which has been an ancient forest monastery complex covering 45 acres.
It was late evening and the rays of the sun filtered through the huge trees and mountain ranges of Ma-Eliya. First, we arrived in Polpitigama, a small township, travelling on Kurunegala-Ibbagamuwa-Kumbukgette-Madagalla highway. We turn right from the Egodagama junction and proceeded another three kilometres on a narrow gravel road to reach the Rava Ela village which is 30 kilometres North of Kurunegala, East of the Ibbagamuwa-Moragollagama Road, a three-hour drive from Colombo.
The Rava-Ela Maligathenna archaeological site nestles in the vicinity of the Rava-Ela village in Polpitigama. From the North, the Egodagama-Thalakolawewa road, to the East, the Batyaya-Kebellawa secondary road, to the West, with the Egodagama-Ma-Eliya forest reserve, the Maligathenna rock boulder lies in the middle of these places, with an endless rock boulder in the backdrop and access is via a foot path rarely travelled by either pilgrims or tourists.
Archaeological monuments
The archaeological artefacts and ruined archaeological monuments in Maligathenna belong to the 7th and 8th Centuries. Pansakulika bhikkhus have dwelt in the place. The rock inscriptions at the site dating back to the 12th Century mention this place as Pathanagala and Piyangala.
The ruins of Rawa-Ela Maligathenna were discovered in 1997 when the surrounding jungle was being cleared for chena cultivation. The Archaeology Department then marked the area strewn with archaeological ruins and began excavation and conservation work.
A part of the granite double-platform enclosure at Maligathenna
With a wide variety of trees, shrubs, insects and other creatures of nature, it was a respite for us too, away from our tight routines in cities. The sylvan surroundings of the archaeological site are also home to archaeological findings. Strewn in different areas of the precincts are remnants of large stone tablets on stone slabs.
Walking around this archaeological site, we came across a few double-platform granite monuments built using solid blocks of stone slabs. These rock buildings had been built on the surface of the rocky boulders. Since there is more heat on the natural rocky surface in the day time, several water canals had also been built around these rocky buildings to avoid constant heat from the harsh sun rays.
One of the most striking ancient architectural features of these ruins is walking pathways, constructed using massive granite slabs around three and four feet in height for the meditative bhikkhus.
Another area on the rocky boulder has two natural rock pools (Gal Kemas), now partly filled with earth, although it would have been quite deep at the time of the ancient sages who meditated here. The rock-cut flight of steps hewn into the natural rock to climb down to the rook pools is now covered with weeds.
Typically, the platforms, aligned East-West with the entrance porch to the East, are bridged by a large monolith. The smaller one of the double-platform structures here was probably divided for bhikkhus’ dwellings.
Rava-Ela was supposedly a retreat of hermits and arahats who, although having attained the piety and holiness, refrained from entering Nirvana to help others walk in the path of virtue.
The seventh-century hermitage is up a rocky hillside. Ancient inscriptions at Maligathenna have revealed meditation halls, stone-faced double-platform structures and ambulatories for a ‘Tapovana’ (forest dwelling) sect of austere bhikkhus called Pansakulika, who observed extreme austerity and lived in rock caves and forested hermitages.
Stone walls
Artefacts found in excavations on display at the office
After visiting the restored meditation rock structures, we walked along the endless pathway to the Eastern side and came across the sylvan surroundings of the hermitage, also home to archaeological findings. Strewn in different areas of the rocky boulder are remnants of large stone slabs which are believed to be the stone walls of the ancient structures constructed on the rock surface. The whole surface of the rock boulder is crisscrossed by stone ruins which were once a glorious hermitage of the meditating bhikkhus.
The restoration of the meditation pathway (Sakman Maluwa) has been completed in 2000 and is said to be the largest of its kind with a length of 50 feet and a width of 25 feet. The path is made of finely connected massive granite slabs with carvings and surrounded by an 80×60 feet granite wall made out of massive granite blocks. The entrance too is made out of large granite blocks.
Ruins of a large number of buildings, ponds, water conduits, plain moonstones and balustrades, all made of stones, belonging to this monastic complex can be seen scattered in a wide area. One of the stone slabs lying on the floor has been measured 10×12 feet which may have been used as a roof of a building.
Apart from these conserved buildings, we glimpsed another unearthed rocky monument on the rocky boulder, which has to be conserved. We also saw numerous stone monuments buried on the ground, some of them are half-buried and covered with weeds. Among the other ruins identified are meditation promenades, urinal toilets double-platform structures and guard stones. Archaeologists say these buildings date back to the 7-8 century BC. All these ruins except on the rocky boulders have been conserved by the Department of Archaeology since 1996.
Movable monuments
Ruins of buildings, ponds, all made of stones, are scattered in a wide area on
the surface of the rocky boulder
The Department of Archaeology has identified and conserved around 39 monuments in this place. They also conserve another 11- movable monuments including numerous guard stones and stone urinal toilet slabs. The officials of the Department of Archaeology are striving to protect the archaeological monuments scattered over 45 acres at the Rava -Ela Maligathenna archaeological site.
Walking around the wooded shade is balm to stressed nerves. Gigantic trees, their barks entwined with three-inch thick vines, add to the feeling of being in the thick of the forest, while the whisper of leaves rustling in the breeze adds to the bird song.
We observed many wonders of nature in the form of rare birds, butterflies, medicinal plants and wild flowers. The best time to be at Rava-Ela is at dawn, before the heat of the day sets in. The stirring sounds of nature awakening to a new day and the crisp coolness are quite invigorating.
