Sanchi - rediscovery & restoration

Continued from: Sanchi - expansion & fall

Sanchi was rediscovered in 1818, after 600 years, by General Taylor of the Bengal Cavalry, who came upon the overgrown monuments during a campaign against the Pindharas. He reported them to be in a good state of preservation, an opinion backed by Captain Fell, who visited Sanchi the next year.

Drawings of stupas 1 & 2 by Maisey, which show the damage inflicted on them by British treasure hunters

However, in 1822 Herbert Maddock, the political agent of Bhopal, aided by his zealous assistant Captain Johnson, inflicted considerable damage to the magnificent monuments, looking for treasure.

Eastern gateway and Great Stupa by Murray

Subsequently, several - more serious -  observers recorded plates at Sanchi, sending them to Numismatist and Philologist James Prinsep of the Asiatic Society. Most importantly, in 1837, Captain E. Smith copied and sent Prinsep twenty-five inscriptions and Captain W. Murray sent more drawings. The most important for Prinsep were Smith's copies of the inscriptions.

Facsimile of inscription from Sanchi copied by Captain Smith

Prinsep noticed that they all ended with two letters:He guessed (with the help of an Indian Pundit, who is seldom given any credit) that they represented the word danam (gift) and took their values to be 'D' and 'N'. He used this clue as a key to decipher the Brahmi Script. Prinsep's article in the Asiatic Society journal can be read HERE. 

The ruins, then called the 'Bhilsa Topes' ('Bhilsa' being the mediaeval name of Vidisha, tope being Hindi for a stupa) were further explored, beginning about 1840, by the 'Father of the Indian Archaeological Survey', by Captain (later Major General) Alexander Cunningham. Together with Captain (later General)  Frederick Charles Maisey he managed to recover a great deal of valuable material.  Unfortunately, the primitive techniques they used damaged the monuments further.

Great Stupa in 1906 [original at Victoria & Albert Museum]

The structures were not in good shape, and restoration work was begun in 1881, supervised by Major HH Cole, the Curator. However, work was slow and did not go very far (as may be observed from the 1906 photo of the Great Stupa, above). The credit for the restoration of the Sanchi site should go to Sir John Marshall, the Director General of Archaeological Survey of India, under whom this work was carried out in 1912-1919.

Sanchi hilltop site plan

Altogether over 50 monuments were excavated and conserved. Of these 30 were stupas which, apart from the Great Stupa and Stupas 2 & 3, were quite small, as exemplified by Stupas 28 and 29, seen below.

View from the top: the lesser domes of Stupas 28 & 29 adjacent to Stupa 5, which is hidden behind the trees

Before Marshall came on the scene, however, there had been much looting of the site. Articles such as the beautiful thrice-bent (tivanka) Bodhisattva torso from Temple 45 (9th century, now at the Victoria and Albert Museum) ended up in private collections. Indeed, there was even a proposal to cart off the fences and gateways of the Great Stupa to England!

Figurines of Sariputta and Maha-Mogallana

In 1851, Cunningham found two relic boxes inside Stupa 3, engraved with the names of Sariputta and Maha-Moggallana, the two chief disciples (agra-sravakas) of the Buddha, containing bone-relics. These found their way to London and ended up in the Victoria and Albert Museum. 

In 1939 the Maha Bodhi Society (the Buddhist organisation established by Sir Edwin Arnold and the Sri Lankan Buddhist leader Anagarika Dharmapala) requested their return. In 1947 the relics arrived in India and were entrusted to the  Maha Bodhi Society. After touring India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka (parts of the relics remained in the latter two countries), they were returned in 1952 to Sanchi, where they were enshrined in the newly-built Chetiyagiri Vihara by Prime Minister Shri Jawarhalal Nehru.

Chetiyagiri Vihara

Fortunately, the Indian government has separated the modern Vihara premises from the archaeological site, preventing the inhibition of the latter's pristine splendour (as has taken place, for example in Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka). 

Guides in shalwar khameez & dupatta

Visitors are shown around the site by pulchritudinous women guides, dressed in monochromatic but not displeasing attire. For a touch of colour, one should look at the local visitors from Bhopal and Vidisha, in their sarees, shalwar khameezes (pajamas), lehenga cholis (long skirts & blouses) and dupattas (scarves).

Visitors: sarees, shalwar khameezes, and (girl in orange) lehenga choli & dupatta; the little boy wears a Nehru waistcoat with his shalwar khameez.

The site offers breathtaking vistas of the Malwa countryside, particularly from the upper pradakshina patha of the Great stupa. The view of the landscape from near the Western gateway is HERE.

The Archaeological Museum, run by the Archaeological Survey of India, is at the foot of the hill, between the station and the archaeological site. It holds many of the items excavated from Sanchi and other nearby sites, including material returned from Britain.

Barrier free

In co-operation with the Bhopal-based voluntary organisation Arushi, the Archaeological Survey of India has made the site the first in India to be barrier-free for physically challenged people. The stupas have been made wheelchair-accessible, special tactile walkways have been constructed for easy access and manoeuvrability, information plaques and signs in braille have been made available, along with beepers and a Braille map, while toilets and canteen areas which cater to the otherwise-abled have been provided. Most importantly, the guides and other staff have been trained and sensitised to deal with physically challenged tourists, including those in wheelchairs and with visual impairments.

The people speak a local dialect, but standard Hindi is understood. Because of tourists from Sri Lanka, Sinhala and English are also widely spoken, and it is possible to get by in these languages as well.

Sanchi - map of location

Sanchi can be visited with ease from Bhopal, which is well connected by air (domestically, from  Ahmedabad, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai & Raipur) and rail as well as road. There are road and rail links from Vidisha. Regular bus services connect Sanchi with Vidisha, Raisen, Bhopal, Sagar, Indore and Gwalior. 

There are few places to stay in Sanchi: the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Board's Gateway Retreat hotel (**½, bookable on-line) and its Gateway Cafeteria (also bookable on-line), the Krishna Hotel and the New Jaiswal Lodge. There is also a Public Works Department 'circuit house', but this must be booked through the Raisen District Collector. 

It was due to the dearth of rooms in Sanchi that the governments of Sri Lanka and Madhya Pradesh co-operated to build the New pilgrims' rest house for the Mahabodhi Society, the Sanchi Vandana Niketana (Sinhala) or Theertha Niketan (Hindi). It includes an image house and sermon rooms for pilgrims. Rooms can be booked by contacting the resident monk.

Mahabodhi Pilgrims' Rest and temple

During the pilgrimage season (Autumn-Winter), rooms are difficult to come by, so it may be easier to stay at Vidisha or even Bhopal (where there are many more hotels) and commute. 

However you may come, or wherever you may stay, Sanchi should not be missed. It is one of the great archaeological sites of the world. Unfortunately it is not sufficiently appreciated. Neither, it should be noted, is the rest of incredible Madhya Pradesh which, while resplendent with ancient sites, beautiful vistas and nature reserves (Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories were set in 'Seeonee' and the Mowgli Pench Sanctuary is located there)  receives only a fraction of the more than 5 million visitors to India each year.

Sanchi - expansion & fall

Continued from Caityagiri Vihara, Sanchi

Monastery 51

Sanchi has seven monastery buildings in total. The first appears to have been Monastery 51, which might have been commissioned by Queen Devi. Its thick walls were built with flat bricks, while charred wood remnants indicate that the superstructure was of wood. About 33 metres (108 feet) square, it consisted of a central open courtyard  enclosed by a verandah and flanked cells (kuti) for the monks to live in. Apart from the 22 cells, it also contained common rooms. It is situated west of the Western gateway of the Great Stupa, just beyond the upper tank.

By way of comparison, according to the Bible, Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem was 60 cubits (27 metres) long and 20 cubits (9 metres) wide, less than a third the size of this monastery.

The Great Stupa rebuilt

About half a century after the demise of Asoka, a Mauryan general, Pusyamitra overthrew his overlords and established the Sunga dynasty. Pusyamitra is said to have persecuted Buddhists and it appears that the great Stupa of Sanchi was damaged at this time. However, the later Sungas rebuilt it and erected Stupas 2 & 3. 

The dome of the Great Stupa was mounted on a high circular drum, with space for a path (pradakshina patha) meant for circumambulation, with access via a double staircase from an outer pradakshina patha at ground level. 

Elevation & plan of the Great stupa

The dome was flattened near the top and crowned with a square platform with railings on top of the stupa (harmika), and three superimposed parasols (a chattravali or chattra).

The Sungas were driven from the area by the Sātavāhanas, an Andhra family who started out as vassals of the Mauryas but declared independence. 

The Sātavāhanas were responsible (c 70 BC - 50 AD) for replacing the wooden fence-like enclosure (vedika - evolved from ancient Vedic villages) and gateways (toranas) with stone balustrades and elaborate stone gateways. An inscription on the Southern gateway reads:

Gift of Ananda, the son of Vasithi, the foreman of the artisans of rajan Siri Satakarni

(Satkarni being a Sātavāhana monarch).

Eastern gateway (torana) and balustrade (vedika)

They also added the gateways and balustrades to the other, Sunga-era stupas. The carvings on the gateways and balustrades were mainly of scenes from the life of the Buddha and from his previous incarnations (the Jatakas). The image of the Buddha himself was absent, but various sacred events were represented by motifs, such as the Dhammacakka (wheel of the Dhamma), the stupa, the Bo-tree, the Buddha's footprint and animals, like the horse named Kantaka, on which he left his home. The elephants on the Eastern gateway, for instance, probably represent the legend of the birth of the Buddha.

Detail of Eastern gateway (torana)

The carvings were mostly gifts by prominent citizens, who appear to have requested their favourite Buddhist scenes, and the artisans who executed them drew from the ordinary daily life of the period. As a result, the gateways and balustrades provide us with an insight into contemporary mundane existence,  including such minutiae as clothing, jewellery, tools, utensils and weapons. 

Guardian of the gate on Eastern gateway

For instance, the image of a guardian of the gate (dvarapala) in the panel below shows a soldier armed with a spear and a sword-scabbard. The spear has a broad head, with sharp sides for hacking with, as described in Kautilya's Arthasastra. The man is adorned with bangles and a niska or ornamental collar, and wears a dhoti, one end draped over his arm like the end of a Roman toga; evidently, he was quite the man-about-town.

Steppe dynasties, the Guptas and the Gurjaras
The Sātavāhanas were displaced by the Sakas (the Western Satraps), who conquered the area in the 1st century AD,  and later by the Kushans. During the reign of the Kushan King Vasishka (247-265) several inscriptions were made at Sanchi, including one found on the pedestal of a Buddha statue in the debris of Stupa 29.

Vasishka, from a contemporary coin

These descendants of steppe peoples were conquered by the Gupta dynasty. The Guptas embellished Sanchi with temples and statues, including four statues of the Buddha facing the four gateways of the Great stupa.

Buddha statue

By now, the representation of the Buddha by iconic motifs had given way, apparently under the influence of the Indo-Greeks of Gandhara (modern Kandahar). Read more about Buddhist aniconism HERE. It should be noted parenthetically, however, that there is a school of thought which considers that Buddha images antedated this period and that the aniconic theory is wrong. Read about it HERE.

Some history here, involving invasions and alternating dynasties. If you wish to avoid it, skip the three paragraphs below.

The Gupta Empire fell under the onslaught of Hephthalites, called Sveta Huna (White Huns) or Turuksha (Turks) by the Indians. A Huna king, Toramána, established his sovereignty over eastern Malwa about 485 AD. His son, Mihirakula conquered most of North India and established an anti-Buddhist persecution in 515 AD. Fifteen years later, he was defeated, apparently by a coalition of anti-Huna forces led by the Aulikara king Yasodharman, who chased him to Kashmir. A decade later, Yasodharman's death saw the demise of his empire and Guptas again ruled the Malwa kingdom.

The Guptas were in turn displaced by the Pushyabhutis, one of whom, Rajyavardhana, captured Malwa in 605 AD. On Rajyavardhana's murder, his brother Harsha came to the throne. Harsha or Harshavardhana was the last of the four great Buddhist emperors, the others being Asoka, the Græco-Bactrian Menander (known as Milinda) and the Kushan Kanishka.

On Harsha's death, his empire broke up, to be taken over by the Gurjara Pratihâra dynasty, one of whom, Nagabhatta I, conquered Malwa. Following several years of struggle, the Pala dynasty of Bengal displaced them in the area. They possibly ruled through the Paramara Kings of Malwa, who succeeded them sometime in the 9th century. The Paramaras held Malwa until the 12th century. 

Later development & fall
There were several upsurges of building and other creative activity in this era. To the Aulikara-Gupta period (6th century AD) can be dated one upsurge, during which Stupas 5 and 7 were built. Others occurred during the 7th to 8th centuries (after Harsha brought stability) and again about the 10th century. Much of this activity was in the form of rebuilding or embellishing existing monuments.

Temple 18

An exemplary monument is Temple 18, located just south of the Great Stupa. It is a Buddhist chaitya hall, a prayer hall housing a small relic chamber (chaitya is derived from the Sanskrit for 'a pyre' or 'a pile of ashes'. It is built like a classic Buddhist rock-cut hall of worship (chaitya-griha). 

Temple 18 - plan by Maisey

The temple consists of an apse, a central nave and side-aisles, immediately facing the Great Stupa. The temple was originally built on a raised platform in the Maurya or Sunga era. 

In the 7th century AD, the temple was rebuilt; the apse was based on the earlier foundation of the temple. It was surrounded by  a solid masonry wall and looked out on an antechamber formed by several 5.2 metre high square pillars and pilasters over which were mounted architraves, on which was fitted the wooden roof.

The temple was re-modelled in the 10th or 11th century. The floor-level of the apse was raised and carved door jambs were added.

Nothing remains of the small stupa which was at the centre of the apse and which contained relics, some of which were recovered by archaeologists in the 19th century.

While most of India became Hindu, in eastern Malwa Buddhism continued to flourish until the 12th century, up to when the monastery complex existed with the support of Vidisha, rebuilt as Bhilsa in the 9th century.

Reconstruction of the Sanchi ruins (from 'The Architecture of India' by Satish Grover)

After the 13th century, the monastery seems to have been abandoned and knowledge of it was apparently lost. This may have been because of attacks of Turkic Islamic rulers such as Iltutmish, who in  1234-35 led an expedition to Malwa, sacking Ujjain, Bhilsa and Raisen; and Alla-ud-din Khalji who repeated the performance in 1292-93.

Continued: Sanchi - rediscovery & restoration

Caityagiri Vihara, Sanchi

In October 2009 I had the good fortune to visit the Buddhist pilgrimage site of Sanchi in India. The site, although off the beaten track for most pilgrims, has especial importance to Sri Lankans, for reasons made clear (it is hoped) below.

The village of Sanchi is located in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, about 45 kilometres north-east of Bhopal, on the Malwa plateau. It is about 8 km from Vidisha and has a population of about 7,000 whose income is dependant mainly on the tourism generated by the place’s significance in Buddhist history. The tourists are those who come to visit the Vihara (Buddhist Monastery) atop the adjacent, 91 metre-high hill. 

Entrance to the Sanchi monastery complex

This hill was originally known as Vedisagiri (hill of Vidisha) or Caityagiri (hill of the monastery) and later as Bota Sri-Parvata. The monastery was known as Kakanava or Kakanaya in the 2nd century BC: this might be derived from an inscription on a pillar, Kakanaye bhagavato pamanalathi,  which either meant 'may the Buddha's blessings radiate always' or 'the Buddha's staff at Kakanaya' - the scribe may have been punning!

Visitors climbing up the hill

After about the 5th century  AD it was named Kakanadabota (probably meaning 'kakanada monastery'. Two centuries later, the hill was Bota Sri Parvata ('blessed monastery hill'). This became Santi Sri Parvata ('santi' or 'shanthi' meaning 'bright', 'shining' or 'peace', शान्तिः in Sanskrit). Through vulgar usage, Santi became Sanchi - सांची in Hindi.

Asoka & Devi
The Mauryan Emperor Asoka the Great was a convert to Buddhism. Sickened by the casualties (One hundred and fifty thousand were deported, one hundred thousand were killed and many more died from other causes) of his victorious campaign to conquer Kalinga (modern Orissa), he was receptive to the teachings of the Buddha. He then set about propagating Buddhism with all the zeal of the convert.

Prior to rising to the imperium, Asoka was governor of Avanti, one of the 16 Janapadas or settlements of ancient India. He married Devi, the daughter of a merchant-banker (vaishya-setti) of Vidisha, who bore him a son, Mahinda and a daughter, Sanghamitta.

Asoka and Devi, played by actors Shah Rukh Khan & Hrishitaa Bhatt in the swashbuckling, swords-&-sandals Bollywood epic Asoka

Mahinda was later to convert the King of Sri Lanka, Devanampiya Tissa, to Buddhism, while his sister Sanghamitta was to take to the island a sapling of the great sacred Bo Tree at Bodhgaya - which, planted in Anuradhapura, became the Sri Mahabodhi, the oldest recorded tree in the world. Both Mahinda and Sanghamitta are said to have begun their journeys from the monastery at Sanchi, where Asoka had built a dagoba, the earliest representation of a hemispherical stupa in India (earlier stupas appear to have been more phallic).

Socio-economic significance
Sanchi was in a quiet and secluded area suitable for meditation, while not being too far from Vidisha which (apart from being Devi’s birthplace)  was a rich and populous city, having a wealthy community of merchants and bankers capable of supporting such a large monastery. 

Sanchi's position on the main early trade routes [original at V & A website]

Vidisha was strategically close to the confluence of the Betwa and Beas rivers, as well as on the main trading route from the Gangetic plain to Ujjain (Udeni, the capital of Avanti - Ozene to the ancient Greeks) and beyond: to the Deccan in the south and the Arabian Sea ports of Broach (Bharukachcha - Greek Barygaza) and Sopara (Supparaka - Greek Suppara) in the west. It was along these routes that the artistic and cultural influences were exchanged, along with trade goods. 

According to British Archaeologist Julia Shaw, who did an extensive archaeological survey of the area, monks moved into the area armed with a culture of agrarian and urban production (including irrigation systems), enabling local communities to extend their economic support to new monasteries which sprang up in the hinterland of Vidisha; Sanchi may have been a 'strategic base' for missionaries of the new belief system.

Upper tank

The hill itself was the site of a rainwater harvesting system, its slopes forming a natural catchment area. It had three reservoirs or tanks, each above the other; gullies and drains collected rainwater and channelled them into each tank, and water flowed downhill from one tank to the next. The upper tank (a converted quarry), which provided water to the monasteries on the western slope, has been restored.

 The Great Stupa

The Great Stupa & southern gateway

Sanchi might have existed as a Buddhist monastery before Asoka, but he certainly embellished it. He erected Stupa 1, the 'Great Stupa', the main dagoba of the complex at the centre of the hill-top plateau. It was one of 84,000 said to have been built by Asoka to house the relics of the Buddha taken from seven of eight older dagobas.

Great Stupa, drawings done by Maisey in 1851

The Stupa was made with four paths and gateways, to represent a junction of four roads, since a stupa should always be erected at a crossroad. The stupa was surrounded by a wooden fence and had the gateways were of wood. The shape appears to evoke a swastika - a sacred solar symbol and nothing to do at all with anti-Semitism or fascism. 

Swastikas, Nazi & solar (courtesy: Temple Illuminatus website)

Asoka's edict pillar
At its southern end, Asoka erected a pillar, an example of the Seleucid-influenced Græco-Buddhist æsthetic style, with its exquisite proportions and structural balance. It was broken by a local landlord to make a sugar cane press - an early, oriental example of Thatcherism - and only the shaft stands here today.

Asoka's pillar

On the pillar was inscribed one of Asoka's famous edicts, which read (the opening lines are illegible):

'... path is prescribed both for the monks and the nuns: As long as (my) sons and great-grandsons (shall reign and) as long as the sun and moon (shall shine), the monk or nun who shall cause divisions in the Sangha should be caused to put on white robes and to reside in a non-residence. It is my desire that the Sangha may be united and of long duration.'

Note: The Sangha is the Buddhist 'clergy'. Read more about it HERE.

Lion-capital of the Asoka pillar

The rest  of Asoka's pillar is now housed in the Sanchi Archaeological Museum, including its capital, famous for its four lions standing back-to-back. This symbol, found atop several Asokan edict-pillars, was later to be adopted as the national emblem of India. 

Indian emblem (courtesy: Government of India website)

 The complete pillar was 12.8 metres high and weighed about 50 tonnes - a considerable load to transport from what is now Uttar Pradesh to Sanchi and then up the hill (even with today's heavy Tata lorries).

Continued: Sanchi - expansion & fall

Dedigama

The ancient Sinhalese chronicle, the Culavamasa tells us that the consort of Manabharana, the crown prince of Sri Lanka,

... bore a son at a moment marked by a lucky constellation. Clear at this moment were all the quarters of the heavens and cool, fragrant, gentle breezes blew. With the trumpeting of the elephants and the neighing of the horses the royal courtyard was filled with resounding din.

This heavenly event took place in a city known as Punkhagama, the capital of the principality of Dakkhinadesa, of which Manabharana was the sub-king (yuvaraja).

The child was named Parakramabahu (Parakkamabahu in Pali). Many years later, about 1153 AD he became king of the whole island as Parakramabahu I (the Great). He then constructed a shrine at the place of his birth, the Suthigara Cetiya (the Chaitya of the house of birth).

Interestingly, when Wilhelm Geiger (the father of Hans, the inventor of the Geiger Counter) was translating the Culawamsa, the location of Punkhagama had not yet been discovered. Geiger Snr tells us in a footnote that 'Parakkamabahu 1 erected a tope there 120 cubits high of which there ought still to be traces'.

Archaeological department board at the Kotavehera

This tope was identified later as the Kotavehera, in the modern village of Dedigama (pronounced tha-thee-gah-muh), and excavations were carried out there in the 1960s. So Punkhagama is most likely Dedigama. Apparently the place-name is derived from Jatigama, an alternative ancient name for the place.

The dagoba is the largest in the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka. Parakramabahu I was a great lover of monumental architecture and bigness generally. He made tanks in the Wet Zone (where they were not really necessary) in order to show off his prowess and in order to recreate the 'Milk Ocean' in a large-scale Mandala, a representation of the Indic Cosmos .

Obviously I am not a great fan of Parakramabahu's - his reputation was as much due to his panegyrist in the Culawamsa as anything he did; although it was possibly his unification of the Mahayana and Theravada Buddhist clergy in a single, state-controlled body which ensured for him a sympathetic press.

Sutighara cetiya from the north-east

Be that as it may, the dagoba is truly impressive. It is 78 metres (256 feet) in diameter and 14.3 metres (47 feet) high. I couldn't get the whole thing onto a single frame, so I had to do a stitch-up of two photos - a bit of a botch-up actually.

The size of the structure is illustrated by this photo of a senior citizen walking around it in the prescribed clock-wise manner. Note the multi-coloured branches of Na (Ironwood) trees in the foreground and the concentric perimeter rings (pesa walalu) at the base of the stupa.

Elderly man circling the dagoba

Not withstanding the size of the dagoba, it is referred to as the Kotavehera (short stupa) , not because of any deficiency in its height, but because it was built without the usual upper structure, the traditional cube-shaped enclosure (hatharæs kotuwa) and pinnacle (koth kærælla). Rather like calling a tall person short because they do not wear a hat.

On the eastern side of the dagoba, just above the second of the pesa walalu at the foot of the dagoba, is a smaller stupa, about 11 metres (36 feet) in diameter. It is said to mark the exact place of Parakramabahu's birth. It is that little pimple on the side of the dagoba, in my stitch-up shot above. The photo below shows it in close-up:

Smaller dagoba

The larger dagoba appears to have been anchored on the lesser. Here is an even closer shot:

Smaller dagoba

Excavations found a koraha (a pot for washing rice in) beneath the smaller dagoba. Not surprisingly, however, it was the larger which yielded the greater treasure. The main reliquary chamber, guarded by multi-headed cobras (like the one at Oorusitano tank), was complemented by 8 others arranged geometrically around it. The artefacts found there were housed in a museum built close by.

The way to the archaeological museum

A break-in occurred there not too many years ago, and the thieves got away with a large number of artefacts, especially some exquisite Buddha statues covered in gold foil. However, less monetarily valuable but priceless historically, the main prize of the collection was left behind. This was the elephant lamp.

Elephant lamp

This elegant oil lamp is one of a pair taken from the heart of the dagoba - the other being at the Colombo Museum. The identical lamps are of the hanging type and each consists an oil receptacle surmounted by an elephant and its mahout. The whole is suspended by the apex of a torana above the elephant, which is affixed to a chain.

Detailed drawing of elephant lamp

The elephant figure stands in the middle of the oil receptacle, which can be filled with oil. There is also a reservoir for the oil in the elephant's belly (marked in white on black in the central figure above). Oil is poured in using the hollow of one of the forelegs as a funnel.

After the lamp is lit, the level of oil in the receptacle goes down. When it goes below the level of the hole in the funnel-foreleg, an ingenious hydrostatic arrangement makes the pachyderm 'urinate' oil until the level of oil returns above the beast's feet. Obviously, the creator of this marvel of physics was something of a piss-artist.

Despite the burglary, many valuable artefacts remain in the museum, not just from Dedigama but from archaeological sites in the Kegalle area generally, including some interesting inscriptions. There is also a representation of the nine reliquary chambers of the Kotavehera, showing what was found where, and photographs of the dig.

You can get to Dedigama by turning to the right off the Colombo-Kandy road at Nelundeniya and driving about 3 kilometres (2 miles).

Dedigama is within easy driving distance of the rest houses at Ambepussa, Hanwella and Kitulgala, as well as the Ambalama hotel in Hanwella.

Menikkadawara

In 2004 I was scouting out the terrain around the lower watershed of the Kelani river, when I (serendipitously) stumbled upon the village of Menikkadawara. To get there one has to drive up the Kandy road and turn left at Nelundeniya and drive for about 10 kilometres (6 miles) - not something a normal person would do too often without purpose. But there is a point to it.

Now a sleepy backwater, too unimportant to be marked on the map, Menikkadawara (pronounced man-ik-udder-were-r-er) was once a very important and strategic place situated in the foothills of the Four Korales (counties). The (not exactly accurate) mediaeval Sinhalese chronicle, the Rajavaliya tells us that two of the sons of the King of Ambulugala (Dharma Parakramabahu IX),

Prince Vijaya Bahu and Prince Raja Sinha built the city of Menikkadawara, and whilst young men, lived in one place and cohabited with one woman...

The first of these princes went on to become King Vijayabahu VII, while the second apparently died in Menikkadawara.

Menikkadawara marked with blue pin

Click here for detailed google satellite map of Menikkadawara

During the latter part of the Portuguese era, the bulk of the colonial forces were encamped here. A rather long-winded Jesuit historian, Rev Fernaõ de Queyroz (Conquista temporal, e espiritual de Ceylao, translated by Father SG Perera, SJ) wrote in about 1688 that

... in the county Beligal, in the village of Manicrauare, 9 leagues from Columbo to the interior, we generally had our arrayal encampment, surrounded by very high mountains, in which one can hardly see an entrance or outlet, and because of its site and other conveniences it was the best that could be chosen, for it is 6 leagues from Candea and lies between the Four and Seven Corlas...

Just to prove that it was not just the English who mispronounced foreign names, the Portuguese called the place Manicravaré or Manicavarê. Queyroz informs us that

Mani-cauarê, and not Manicrauarê as they call it, means 'Come here my precious stone', words with which, they say, the Father or Rajú called to his son.

The Rajú referred to by Queyroz may be Raja Sinha, the second of the two princes with the racy lifestyle referred to in the Rajavaliya above, who died at Menikkadawara.

The embittered Captain Joaõ Ribeiro tells us in 1685 (Fatalidade historica da ilha de Ceilao, translated by PE Peiris) that:

In the Four Corlas, five leagues from Balane and eleven from Columbo, there was a position in the midst of the villages, known as Manicravare; here was stationed our chief army for opposing the King of Candia and for defending the Seven Corlas. It consisted of twelve companies of three hundred and fifty Portuguese Soldados under the command of the Captain Major of the field, and there were also a Sergeant-Major, two adjutants, a Captain of Munitions and a Franciscan monk as chaplain. It was further the residence of the Dissava, an officer corresponding to a military Governor of a province over the natives, who always had in hand three or four thousand Lascarins with their officers, which number could be greatly increased in the event of war.

In 1599 the Portuguese constructed a tranqueira, a wooden stockade. In 1626, this was upgraded. The rectangular fortification was known as the Forte Santa Fe and the Cidadela (Citadel) of Forte Cruz, with the four bastions on each corner being named Saõ Iago, Saõ Boa Ventura, Saõ Jorge and Saõ Pedro by the religion-obsessed Lusitanians.

On the right side of the road is a sign put up by the Department of Archaeology, indicating the fortifications of the Portuguese. HCP Bell, the first Archaeological Commissioner reported that a stone slab bearing the Royal Arms of Portugal was found here. However, all that is left of the fortifications are massive earthwork ramparts, grown over with grass and weeds.

Portuguese earthwork rampart

Ribeiro also mentions that Manicavare (sic) was not entitled to be called by the name fortress, since it was made of a little earth. However the ramparts look quite formidable enough.

Looking along the earthwork rampart (larger photo here)

After the defeat of the Portuguese in 1658, the area was re-occupied by the forces of the King of Kandy. The Lusitanian crusade had targeted Buddhist temples and the Monastery that now exists in the village was built after the re-occupation.

The sermon hall (Dharmasalawa) has had the interstices between the stone columns filled with cement breeze blocks - obviously recent. But how light and utilitarian the structure looks in comparison with the behemoths that are more modern Buddhist temples!

Sermon hall, Menikkadawara Purana Vihara (larger photo here)

The brown strip at the bottom of the outer wall is caused by back-splash from rain pouring off the roof (notice the absence of roof gutters). As you can imagine, rain is quite a factor in the valley of the river Kelani. Queyroz informs us that

... though it rains in the island of Ceylon almost the whole year and sometimes for eight and ten days running, when the rain ceases there is no mud seen in that place because of a kind of stony soil and because the barracks (estancas) are on a height whence the water drains easily making for the fields which surround it.

Evidently it was the consideration of floods which caused the image house of the monastery to be built on a wooden platform mounted on short stone stilts. A temple building built in this architectural form is referred to as a tampita vihara. This one appears originally to have been built with an open verandah all round, which has been filled in with brick.

Image house (buduge), Menikkadawara Purana Vihara (larger photo here)

The image house is illustrated with frescoes of the Buddha and of the Cula Dhammapala Jataka. These probably date from the 18th or 19th centuries.

Image house door and doorway fresco

The ceiling has a beautiful floral design, marred somewhat by the 1930s-style electrical light fittings:

Image house ceiling design

Menikkadawara can be taken in while en route to Kandy from Colombo. Alternatively, for those who want to explore the whole area, there is a rest house at Ambepussa which provides accomodation. Also within easy driving distance of the rest houses at Hanwella and Kitulgala, and the Ambalama hotel in Hanwella.