Deliwala Kota Vehera

Deliwala Kota Vehera (Sinhala: දැලිවල කොට වෙහෙර) is an ancient Stupa located in the village of Deliwala in Kegalle District, Sri Lanka. It is considered one of the earliest Stupas in the country.

History

This temple is believed to have been constructed during the reign of King Devanampiyatissa [(247-207 B.C.) Abeyawardana, 2002]. Bricks with masonry marks in Brahmi Letters and some seal-impressed coins discovered from the site have confirmed that the Deliwala temple has a long history extending to the pre-Christian era (Abeyawardana, 2002).

The temple was destroyed during the period of invasions carried out by Magha (1215–1236 A.D.) of Kalinga (Abeyawardana, 2002). It was restored again during the Buddhist Renaissance in the Kandyan Period (Abeyawardana, 2002).

The Stupa and findings

The colossal Stupa can be identified as the most interesting monument of the temple. It is a Kota Vehera-styled Stupa (a squat Stupa) constructed of solid earth (natural mound of bedrock) thinly faced with brick (Bell, 1904; Borell, 2017; Karunaratne, 1990). As recorded by Bell, the circumference of the Stupa at its base is 213 yards [(194.76 m) Bell, 1904; Karunaratne, 1990].

Between 1972-1978, the Stupa was excavated and conserved by the Archaeological Department (Abeyawardana, 2002). However, some parts of it collapsed in 1998 compelling the Department to carry out further excavations during the latter part of 2000 (Abeyawardana, 2002).

The golden casket

In 1957, five stone caskets were discovered at the level of the top terrace of the Stupa base just below the dome of the Stupa (Borell, 2017). One of them contained a golden casket about 7-8 cm tall in the shape of a miniature Stupa as well as two small reliquaries made of rock crystal (Abeyawardana, 2002; Borell, 2017). The golden casket found special attention among scholars and it helped them to understand the shape of the early Stupas in the country (Abeyawardana, 2002; Ray, 1959). The appearance of the casket is similar to the ancient Indian Stupas such as to the well-known monument at Sanchi (Ray, 1959). As seen in the Sanchi Stupa, the casket from Deliwala has a railing encompassing it at the base (Ray, 1959). Scholars have dated it to the 1st century B.C. if not earlier (Borell, 2017).

Meanwhile, the other four stone caskets contained about 165 small reliquaries made of rock crystal, or other stones of the quartz group, or glass [(possibly) Borell, 2017].

The piece of cloth

In the years 2000-2001, the Department of Archaeology carried out excavations on the eastern side of the Stupa mound and found a reliquary deposit within the dome (Borell, 2017). Reliquaries made of gold, rock crystal, and glass were among the findings and the small bronze replica of a Stupa covered with a cloth embossed with beads was of special interest (Borell, 2017). On the invitation of the Department of Archaeology, Judith Cameron from the University of Canberra, Australia analyzed the cloth and the results revealed it as one of the oldest pieces of cloth in the Asian region (Perera, 2011). Scholars dated the ceramic containers found from this deposit to the 2nd century B.C. (Borell, 2017).

A protected site

The Kota Vehera Stupa situated in Deliwala village in the Divisional Secretary’s Division of Rambukkana is an archaeological protected monument, declared by a government gazette notification published on 8 July 15 October 1948.