SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: King Duttha Gamini

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: King Duttha Gamini

Tour the beautiful island of Sri Lanka with Riolta Sri Lanka Holidays, Sri Lanka.

Having defeated the marauding Dravidian invaders from Southern India at the Epic Battle of Sri Lanka, the hero of the nation. Great King Duttha Gamini (Dutugemunu) (161-137 BC) of Ruhuna, devoted himself to religion & good government. Warrior though he was, a pious upbringing at the royal court of King Kawan Tissa & the heroine of the nation Queen Vihara Maha Devi had shaped his mind. When he envisaged his wars & immense sacrifice of life they entailed, he knew no peace, & sought the consolation of religion. He built monuments which to this day bear witness to his munificence & piety-chief among them being a monastery that could compare with palaces, & a dagoba that rivaled in size the very hills.

The Brazen Palace (ruins)The Brazen Palace (Lova Maha Paya), as the monastery was called, was a nine-storied structure roofed with sheets of copper. Each floor had a hundred apartments. In the midst of the building was a gilded hall, & in the centre of the hall a throne of ivory embellished with silver, gold gems & pearls & overshadowed by a white umbrella canopy, the emblem of Sinhalese royalty. All that remains of it today is a group of over a thousand granite monoliths. A more enduring achievement was the Golden Sand Stupa (Ruwan Weli Seya).

The Prophesy The Arhath Mahinda, who had arrived at Mihintale, during the reign of King Devanam Piya Tissa, had proclaimed that the location of Ruwan Weli Seya was a place consecrated by all four Buddhas, & that in time to come a great stupa would be built here to enshrine the relics of Gautama Buddha. Having heard the prophesy, King Devam Piya Tissa was taken up with the idea of proceeding with the ambitious task himself but the Arahat Mahinda had stayed him. Arahat Mahinda foretold that one the descendant of King Devanam Piya Tissa named King Duttha Gamini, six generations, later would be the one to construct the dagaba. Thereupon, King Devanam Piya Tissa erected a stone pillar with the prophecy engraved there on the spot.

Six generations later, on a gold plate hidden in a chest in the palace King Duttha Gamini, found a prophecy that he would build the Golden Sand Stupa (Ruwanweli dagoba) on a site in the Mahamegha Garden designated by Arahat Mahinda to a King Devanam Piya Tissa.

Golden Sand Stupa (Ruwan Weli Seya)

King Duttha Gamini, (King Dutugemunu) ultimately fulfilled this prophesy & built the spectacular stupa referred to in the histories at various times as the Maha Thupa, Hemamali Stupa, Swranamali stupa & Ratnamali stupa. It was built not by forced but by paid labour, having regard to the heavy taxes entailed by the wars against the Tamils. Its foundation stone, iron & copper, reaching down100 feet, have supported their mighty burden to this day. Buried in the heart of the dagaba was the relic–chamber, replete with gem-studded images of gold & silver of the Compassionate one & much wealth besides. Miraculous deposits of silver, copper & jewels occurred al over the island. Accidental Silver to finance the Golden Sand Stupa, the location of the Silver Temple is just one of the numerous instances. Since Duttha Gamini wished to acquire all the merit for work, he decreed that the builders should be paid for the labours as at the building of the Brazen Palace. Heaps of clothing, gold, & food & food were placed at he city gates for this purpose. Great elephants, their feet bound with leather, trod the foundation, the boundary of the mighty shrine was traced by a high official with a turning-staff silver tied to a post of gold. Special ‘fat-coloured” stone imported from India formed the walls of the relic chamber, which was in the upper part of the dome. In this chamber was a Bo-tree with a silver stem & leaves & fruit of gold & jewels, a canopy festooned with pearls, golden Buddhas on thrones, a magnificent couch for the relics, & other riches without number.

Death of the Hero of the Nation

Before the shrine was completed Duttha Gamini fell sick. He sent for his brother Saddha-Tissa, who covered the dagaba with a white cloth & erected a temporary spire of bamboo. The dying king was then carried to a spot from which he could see both the brazen Palace.There, for a while he bowed in worship amidst a crowd of priests. The priest Theraputtabhaya, who had formerly been on of his ten Samson–like commanders, stood near his dying leader. “In times past’, said the king, “I was supported by thee in war; now single-handed must I begin my fight with Death. This enemy I shall not be able to overcome.”

“Maharajah,” replied the priest, “the power of Death cannot overcome unless the enemy Sin is first subdued. Call to mind thy many acts of piety, & comfort shall surely be given thee.”

The secretary was commanded to bring the register of the king’s pious deeds, & to read aloud the long list of viharas & other buildings made by the kings; of the numerous festivals duly observed; of the arrangements made for regular religious preaching; of the garments, food, & gifts bestowed on the priests; & of the hospitals built & endowed for the poor. Gemunu had been indeed, as he himself said, the “slave of the priesthood,”-so much had he done for them.

But the comfort he obtained from the recital of his good deeds was small. ‘All these things.” he said, were given when I was prosperous. The thought of them gives me no relief. Only two offerings made when I was in adversity bring comfort to my mind.”

While, yet gazing at the noble buildings to which he had devoted the last years of his brave & pious life, the hero of the nation died. Crown prince Saliya, son of King Dutugamunu having forfeited to the right to crown by marrying lower caste Asokamala of Lanka, Prince Sadda-Tissa was crowned the king of Sri Lanka.