Nawagala Raja Maha Viharaya is a Buddhist temple situated in Anuradhapura District, Sri Lanka.
History
This monastic complex is thought to have been built during the early Anuradhapura Period. As per the belief of the locals, this could be one of the 32 temples mentioned in the chronicle Mahavamsa that had been built by Queen Viharamahadevi (2nd century B.C.). The Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating carried out for two brick samples collected from the base of the lower perimeter wall and the exposed brickwork of the upper section of the dilapidated Nawagala Stupa have revealed that they belong to two periods; i) 130±165 A.D. and ii) 860±85 A.D. (Bailiff et al., 2013).
The Stupa
The Stupa at this site is probably the biggest one built in the hinterland of Anuradhapura and it was there in a state of ruins for a long time wholly grown with vegetation. The villagers found this ruined site in the 1940s in the middle of the paddy fields and started to conduct usual Buddhist rituals (Ratnayake, 2018).Excavations
In
2009, the villagers
of Nawagala decided to restore the ancient Stupa in their temple to mark
the end of 26 years of civil war in Sri Lanka (Ratnayake, 2018). With the collaboration of the
Department of Archaeology, the villagers formed a Stupa restoration
society and provided the materials, manpower and other services that are
necessary for the conservation work of the Stupa (Ratnayake, 2018).
Relics
Several relic caskets were found during the first stage of excavation conducted to explore the shape of the Stupa (Ratnayake, 2018). These relics were kept in tiny golden caskets shaped like Stupas and stored in a small glass casket inside a bigger stone casket (Ratnayake, 2018). Although there was a proposal to bring the relics and relic caskets to Colombo National Museum, they were deposited back in the Stupa due to the strong opposition that was arisen from the village community and the priests (Ratnayake, 2018). However, several caskets are presently preserved in the Anuradhapura Archaeological Museum.
References
1) Bailiff, I.K., Lacey, H.R., Coningham,
R.A., Gunawardhana, P., Adikari, G., Davis, C.E., Manuel, M.J. and
Strickland, K.M., 2013. Luminescence dating of brick Stupas: an
application to the hinterland of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Antiquity, 87(335), pp.189-201.
2) Ratnayake, P.B., 2018. Authenticity in the Sri Lankan context: traditional maintenance systems, modern management systems, and present challenges. ICCROM. ISBN 978-92-9077-283-5. pp.141-152.
Location Map
This page was last updated on 1 January 2023
