Sirimangalapura Gedige Archaeological Site

According to the Sunetrawewa Site Report (dated 4 June 1976) by Trincomalee Archaeological Officer, this site contains the ruins of a Siva Devalaya of the 9-10th centuries A.D. constructed over the rubble of a destroyed Buddhist temple (Mathew, 1983).

As the Sri Lankan chronicles revealed, a military invasion began on Anuradhapura in 993 A.D. when a large Chola army was sent to Sri Lanka by South Indian King Raja Raja I (c. 985-1014 A.D.). In 1017 A.D., during the reign of Rajendra Chola I (c.1014-1044 A.D.), the Anuradhapura Kingdom completely fell under the rule of the Chola Empire when the invaders took the last king of Anuradhapura, King Mahinda V (982-1017 A.D.) as a captive to India (see: Fort Hammenhiel Inscriptions). They ruled the country for 53 years until King Vijayabahu I (1055-1110 A.D.) defeated them and re-established the Sinhalese lineage in 1070 A.D. 

During this period (993-1070), the Cholas built Hindu Temples inside and outside the Polonnaruwa Citadel for the worship of deities such as Siva, Vishnu, Ganesha and Kali (Pushparatnam, 2021). The ruined temple at Sirimangalapura is supposed to be one such Sivan temple built by Cholas over the ruins of an ancient Buddhist temple.

The impact of the Chola rule on Sri Lankan culture is clearly visible in the monumental and sculptural art of the Polonnaruwa Period. The remaining structure at the Sirimangalapura Gedige site shows it had been constructed with granite stones and bricks with the adoption of the Choḻa art tradition (Pushparatnam, 2021). All portions of the temple are in a state of ruin except the Antaralaya in front of the Karpakirakam [(ante-chamber to the inner sanctuary) Pushparatnam, 2021]. The temple walls are approximately 5 ft. in length, breadth and height and have been built using bricks whereas their rooftops were built with granite stones (Pushparatnam, 2021). The carved granite pillars, bricks, sanctum, and Tamil inscriptions found among the ruins are evidence of the fact that this temple had been bigger than the Siva Devalaya No. 2 in Polonnaruwa (Pushparatnam, 2021).

The entrance of the present remaining structure is built using granite stone pillars and is approximately 3 and 1/2 ft. in width and 4 ft. in height (Pushparatnam, 2021). A square-shaped well built using granite stones has been found at the site.

The site also contains some artefacts unique to Buddhist shrines (Mathew, 1983). On the ground, at the entrance to the sanctum was a carved Sandakada Pahana (moonstone) belonging to the 8-9 centuries A.D. (Mathew, 1983). A carved lotus pedestal which had been used as the base of a Buddhist statue in the standing posture is also found kept beside the entrance of the sanctum (Mathew, 1983). A part of a Muragala stone which is usually found in pairs on either side of the steps leading to the door or the entrance of Buddhist edifices has also been identified at the site.