KAMALIKA PIERIS

Ven. Galgamuwe Santhabodhi, who was responsible for the revitalization of Kurundi vihara in Mullaitivu, has also successfully conserved another monastery, Sapumalgaskada at Vavuniya. Like Kurundi, Sapumalgaskada monastery was excavated and conserved, due to the efforts of Ven. Santhabodhi.

Sapumalgaskada archaeological site is situated in the Periyakattikulam forest reserve in Vavuniya District. Sapumalgaskada is the current name given to this site. The original name is unknown.  

Santhabodhi said that after Kurundi, I got known as a person trying to save our heritage. A group built around me who   informed me when they   heard that Buddhist ruins were getting destroyed.

in 2018, when I was at Welioya I got a message from an intelligence officer of the army, who was based in Nedunkerni that  Tamil leaders   based at Marathodi were planning to build a kovil at Sapumalgaskada and the paddy field adjacent was to be taken over by Tamils  . Santhabodhi was also told that new    Tamil villages were to be set up at Nedunkerni, using Tamils brought in from outside.

Santhabodhi recalled I went in search of Sapumalgaskada. I found it with difficulty, after walking for 4 kilometers.    The site was in dense forest. I saw at once that this was an important site and decided that this too should be conserved. I informed the Department of Archaeology that I was prepared to take up the work on Sapumalgaskada, they agreed and ‘I took over.’

Santhabodhi then decided to   move permanently to Sapumalgaskada. On January 1, 2018 he took up residence there, arriving with a sleeping sheet, mobile and a young helper.  They slept in the open air for the first few days as there was no shelter. There was no road to Sapumalgaskada. I made the road, Santhabodhi said.

Santhabodhi was supported in his task by the chief priest of Bogaswewa forest monastery, Ven.Tapowanaye Ariyakitthi. He also   received help from the villagers of Bogaswewa. Sapumalgaskada was 5 kilometers away from the Bogaswewa Sinhala village. It is also 5 km away on the other side, from a Tamil village.

Excavation started on January 1, 2019. Sapumalgaskada was the first stupa to be conserved in Vavuniya. Excavation and restoration was done by the Department of Archaeology with the help of the armed forces. Army provided the bricks and labor for the temples I renovated, said Santhabodhi. A brick making machine was donated and the clay from the nearby ancient wewa was used to manufacture the bricks.

A permit for the forest land area was given to the temple by the Department of Forest Conservation. Gazette of 16 August 2013 declared that the hillock covering the dagoba, the image house, bodhighara, pohoyage, boundary wall and the access road and the complex of ruins in Sapumalgaskada village in the Grama Niladhari Division of Wedivattukallu in Vavuniya North Divisional Secretary’s Division are protected monuments.

However, Santhabodhi recalled that he faced many obstacles in getting the project off the ground. He said that he had to go to Colombo seven, eight times to get something done.

The office at Nedunkerni delayed registering Sapumalgaskada as a Raja Maha vihara, for several months, giving various excuses.  Then Saman Bandusena was appointed as District Secretary, by President Gotabhaya. Bandusena gave the order to register Sapumalgaskada immediately. Santhabodhi recalled that the officer was waiting outside for Santhabodhi to arrive and immediately registered Sapumalgaskada monastery with the Department of Buddha Sasana. 

Sapumalgaskada   ruins were those of a Buddhist monastery belonging to the Anuradhapura period. The ruins are dated to 7^th AD.  It is in Pabbatarama style which was popular during the mid Anuradhapura era.  Archaeologists working at Sapumalgaskada said that there was evidence of metal manufacture and that the monastery has been the centre of a large settlement.

An Attani pillar of the 9-10 A.D was found on the site. The pillar carries a royal order prohibiting tax collectors, local administrators and village officials from entering the site. The inscription is badly worn and the names of the king and temple are not visible. But the existence of an attain pillar shows that this has been a temple of some importance.

The   monastic lay out was easily visible at Sapumalgaskada.  The stupa, pathimaghara , uposathaghara, and bodhighara were readily   indentified.  The stupa was an early one, with chatra, yupa gala and plain moon stone without ornamentation.

  A moat about 25 feet broad had  surrounded the main monastic area of stupa, Bodhighara, image house, and Pohoyageya.  This  moat also shows that  Sapumalgaskada was a temple of  some importance. Sapumalgaskada must have been one of the major temples of its time, in the area said analysts.

Four statues were found during excavation. A Samadhi Buddha statue, 6 ½  feet in height, two bodhisattva statues and one of  Tara. In most ancient Buddha statues, the siras pata is  missing. But In this case, the siras pata was found, broken in two, but complete when put together. The  Buddha statue has the  end of the robe falling in curly folds in front.

Archaeologists dated the Bodhisattva statues to approximately  8 century AD  Tara, a female Bodhisattva was popular in Sri Lanka during the mid to late Anuradhapura Period when the Mahayana influence was at its peak in Sri Lanka, said Ama  Vanniarachchy, writing on Sapumalgaskada .

The ruins extended to about 100 acres.  Kuti used by monks are found all over the forest, also pieces of pottery from cooking pots. There is a wewa  with a biskotuwa. The bund  was in the shape of  butterfly wings and on the map, this  location was named Chamalankulam. Chamalankulam means Samanala wewa .This is  yet another  example of the Tamilisation of Sinhala names.

There was an impressive pada yatra from Anuradhapura to Sapumalgaskada in July 2023 for the enshrining of relics. At a time when you cannot get even 30 monks together, nearly 100 monks attended this pada yatra in response to a small message.” said Santhabodhi.  

Buddhists lined the road to worship the relics.  Devotees provided water, pavada, gilanpasa at the site. We received over 1000 items to place in the relic chamber. We enshrined the relics and closed the dhatu chamber. The stupa was completed by October 2023.  https://youtu.be/WZBB8PGJ29Q and  https://youtu.be/P3qnHj4OdM4

Unlike Kurundi, Sapumalgaskada did not have a main sponsor.The work was funded by  donations from individuals and organizations, such as Civil Defence Force, Vavuniya. These monies were given to the Department of Archaeology    for   Sapumalgaskada

SPUR  from Australia gave  one million. Helabima Oganization  based in the Middle East  donated  another million  and a brick making machine . Mahaweli Authority helped with equipment. There was a limited amount of shramadana too.  A You Tube clip showed devotees forming a chain and passing   bricks to the stupa.

Santhabodhi is emphatic that he received no support from  the government . Santhabodhi had  requested the government to start the excavations. There was no response.  No help from the Yahapalana government at all, he said.  In September  2023  the 24 hour protection provided by the army had been reduced to protection at night. But staff in government offices had  been supportive.  They helped  secretly and  did not want their names mentioned.

Sapumalgaskada monastery did not receive the publicity that Kurundi received since it was not a contested site. But the Buddha statues found at Sapumalgaskada received much   publicity and through this the  public came to know of Sapumalgaskada.. Sapumalgaskada  created its own  website, and issued very informative videos. E.g. https://youtu.be/Y4CRQAMkxho.

You Tube  channels were used to advertise Sapumalgaskada . They were used to persuade  viewers to visit Sapumalgaskada. Directions to get to Sapumalgaskada were given in all  You Tube presentations, also phone number  and bank account. Pilgrims visiting Anuradhapura were asked to come to Sapumalgaskada on the same  journey.

Lankadeepa Online ran an interview where the interviewer praised the scenery as well as the  ruins  and invited devotees to come    to Sapumalgaskada . The You  Tube channel  24 Sri Lanka ” said this is  our heritage, come and see.

The  Anuruddha Ekanayake channel  featured a group who had come from Kuliyapitiya and Negombo, they told Santhabodhi  we have  looked around and observed the work done, please tell us about it. Then they asked, why are you  here. To show that this is our Buddhist civilization replied Santhabodhi . That can be done only through tangible evidence. What we can do to help, the visitors asked. Please visit regularly, said Santhabodhi . This is an unsafe place, if you visit  frequently, this place will become safe. Also please  help with shramadana  and money.

Tamil Separatist Movement opposed  Sapumalgaskada. In November 2020, media reported that TNA  politicians are protesting against the construction of a Buddhist temple at Sapumalgaskada. They claim that the area traditionally belongs to the Tamil people.

TNA’s T. Raviharan says that the area belongs to Tamil people traditionally and it was known as Kachchcalsamalankulam. Tamil people have been given paddy fields and they are cultivating them with water from the Kachchalsamalankulam tank. It is wrong for Buddhist monks to come there to construct a temple in an area which is predominantly Tamil. His party will raise objection in Parliament, he said.

 The chief incumbent of the temple had secured the help of the security forces to make bricks using clay from the shrub jungle area and trees were being felled in nearby jungle to fire the bricks, added  Raviharan.  

In reply,   bhikkhus said Sapumalgaskada area had been identified as a site of archaeological importance and there were ruins of Buddhist shrines, which were some thousands of years old and it was wrong to claim it was not a Buddhist site. The bhikkhus had only revived a temple inside the archaeological site.

Santhabodhi  said that  Tamil Separatist Movement came several times,  kada bindagena ava,  and said that they  have rights to  Sapumalgaskada .  We did not give in to them. We handled it carefully . I did not want this to go to courts like at Kurundi. I worked fast, and  completed  the work. I got the road done and Buddhists started to visit. Now the Tamil Separatists leave us alone.

Santhabodhi stated that he was active at Sapumalgaskada as he wanted to conserve the Buddhist ruins in Vavuniya and Mullaitivu to show that  there was   a Buddhist heritage there. This  area was once Buddhist. To show that, we must dig out the hidden Buddhist heritage. Once Sapumalgaskada is conserved, no one can say  that Vavuniya was not Buddhist.

Sapumalgaskada  must thereafter  become a living temple.  We must bring  Buddhism back to the north, continued Santhabodhi . We must re-introduce Buddhism. It is   ‘yatapath wela’ at the moment. He urged  Buddhists to work towards resuscitating Buddhism in north and east. We must move soon, without delay  in this matter . Buddhists are ready to help, but they need direction. We need a  national  strategy, concluded Santhabodhi .   (continued)