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Katuwannawa Asanagharaya |
Katuwannawa Asanagharaya (Sinhala: කටුවන්නාව ආසනඝරය) is one of the Asanaghara Shrines found in Sri Lanka. It is situated adjacent to Katuwannawa Siri Waddanaramaya Viharaya near Deduru Oya Reservoir in Kurunegala District.
Asanaghara Shrines
Asanaghara is a type of ancient Buddhist structure erected to house an Asana (a seat or throne) which symbolizes the Adamantine throne (Vajrasana) of the Buddha on which he attained enlightenment (Perera, 1976). In the early period of Buddhism, Asanas were venerated by Buddhists as a sacred object. Up to date nearly twenty or more such Asanagharas have been discovered at a number of places scattered in various districts of the island (Perera, 1976).
Katuwannawa Asanagharaya
Henry Parker was the first scholar to record the ruins of Asanaghara at Katuwannawa (Parker, 1909). After a lapse of more than half a century since Parker's observations, the Archaeological Survey of Sri Lanka, re-examined the ruins (Perera, 1976).
According to the details given by Parker, Katuwannawa Asanagharaya is a circular building 40 feet in diameter to the outer sides of the 20 octagonal pillars that supported the roof, each being about 14¾ inches thick, and standing 7½ feet out of the ground. Four larger square pillars, with sides of 18 inches, are arranged in a square 10 feet 6 inches across, in the centre of the circle. Inside this central chamber there is a stone flower-altar formed of a single well-cut slab 8 feet 7 inches long and 3 feet 7½ inches wide. A second stone flower-altar 4 feet 10½ inches wide, is fixed to the eastward of the inner room, in the outer circular chamber which surrounds it.
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References
Books, Journal Articles
1) Parker, H., 1909. Ancient Ceylon: An account of the aborigines and of part of the early civilisation. Luzac & Co. London. pp.258-259.
2) Perera, A.D.T.E., 1976. Asanaghara Shrines of Ancient Sri Lanka: Who built them, the Buddhists or pre-historic Yakkhas?. Journal of the Sri Lanka Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 20, pp.31-41.
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Attribution
To Whom
LankaPradeepa.com extends its gratitude to Mr Navod Hemal for providing the necessary photographs required for this article. All the photos are published here with the permission of the author.
