Girihandu Seya (also known as Nithupathpana Vihara)is an ancient

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism repres ...

situated in Thiriyai,

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. The temple is supposed to be the first Buddhist

Stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circum ...

in Sri Lanka, believed to be constructed by two

seafaring Seamanship is the Art (skill), art, knowledge and Competence (human resources), competence of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques ...

merchants

Trapusa and Bahalika Trapusa and Bahalika (alternatively Bhallika) are traditionally regarded as the first disciples of the Buddha. The first account of Trapusa and Bahalika appears in the Vinaya section of the Tripiṭaka where they offer the Buddha his first meal a ...

. The names of the two merchants are recorded in a rock inscription found in the Vihara premises. According to the inscription, Girihandu Seya was built by the guilds of merchants named Trapassuka and Vallika where the names are written as Tapassu and Bhalluka in later Sinhala chronicles. Some scholars also hold the view that

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

influenced seafaring merchants from the

Pallava Kingdom The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as f ...

were responsible for the construction of this temple. The Stupa in the Vihara is highly venerated by the people, as it is believed to contain the hair relics of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

. The temple has been formally recognised by the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

as an archaeological site in Sri Lanka.

The temple

The temple is situated on a small hillock near the sea coast about to the north of

. The summit is occupied by a

Vatadage A vaṭadāge ( si, වටදාගෙ) is a type of Buddhist structure found in Sri Lanka. It also known as a ''dage'', ''thupagara'' and a ''cetiyagara''. Although it may have had some Indian influence, it is a structure that is more or less uniq ...

containing the Stupa in the center. The Stupa was originally small in size and had been enlarged in the 8th century A.D. The Vatadageya covers the Stupa with concentric circles of stone pillars similar to

Thuparama Thuparamaya is the first Buddhist temple that was constructed, after the arrival of Mahinda Thera (Mahindagamanaya) in Sri Lanka. Located in the sacred area of Mahamewna park, the Thuparamaya Stupa is the earliest Dagoba to be constructed in th ...

and

Lankarama Lankarama is a stupa built by King Valagamba, in an ancient place at Galhebakada in the ancient kingdom of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Nothing is known about the ancient form of the stupa, and later this was renovated. The ruins show that there are ...

Stupas at

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

. The stone made circular platform of the Vatadageya is opened to the four directions and accessed by flight of steps with guardstones (

Muragala Muragala or muru gal, also known as a guardstone, are a unique feature of the Sinhalese architecture of ancient Sri Lanka. The muragala is a set of twin oblong slabs of stone, with a rounded top, located at the foot of the flight of steps, leading ...

) and balustrades (Korawak Gala) showing the usual Sinhalese architecture. On the terraces lower than the Vatadageya are vestiges of monastic structures including ruined buildings, stone pillars, flight of steps, ponds, and remains of a stone bridge. The slope of the hill are some rock caves, two of which contain

Brahmi Brahmi (; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such ...

inscriptions, one in the pre-Christian form of that script and the other dating from about the first century. To the South of the Vatadageya is another rock inscription engraved on the a rock surface, which contain eleven line of writings revealing the names of two merchants as well as the temple. The short prose inscription in the Vihara, written in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

, states that it was indited in the 23rd year of the reign of king Silamegha, Lord of Simhala. This monarch in the inscription is identified with the king Aggabodi VI (741-781 A.D.) whose envoy Amoghavajra, a Mahayana teacher of great repute arrived in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 742 A.D. Near to the temple is the Nithupathpana tank which is said to be constructed by King Vasaba (67–111 AD). The temple was repaired later by king Vijayabhahu I (1055–1110 AD).

The inscription with names

The inscription covers an area of 20 ft by 5 ft written in

language with the resembling South Indian Pallava Grantha scripts. On the whole the scripts are not quite identical with any of the known scripts of South India. Similar scripts also have been found in the graffiti on the gallery wall at

Sigiriya Sigiriya or Sinhagiri (''Lion Rock'' si, සීගිරිය, ta, சிகிரியா/சிங்ககிரி, pronounced see-gi-ri-yə) is an ancient rock fortress located in the northern Matale District near the town of Dambulla ...

where it contain a single

verse and several verses in

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

images and sculptures of the Pallava style belonging to the 8th century AD was found at this site. The inscription records an account of two sea-faring merchants. Most of the part of the document is occupied by a long eulogy of a shrine name Girikandi Caitya. The eulogy is followed by the pious wish of the author whose name is not found in the preserved portion. In the final lines it state that Girikandi Caitya was founded by the guilds of merchants named Trapussaka and Vallika. The record ends with a Buddhist formula about the transitoriness of the things.

Trapussaka and Vallika

The names Trapussaka and Vallika are said to be corruptions of Trapusa (Tapussa and Tapassu in

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

) and Bhallika, the names of two merchants who offered food to the

immediately after his enlightenment. The chronicles, Mahavagga, Lalitavistara and Nidanakatha state that the two merchants from a country called Ukkala (Utkala in

), were led to the Buddha by a Deva (Deviyo) and there they were received some hair relics from the Buddha. They further state that the two merchant built a

in their native country to enshrine the hair relics. It is said that the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

pilgrim

Hieun Tsang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

had noticed the remains of two Stupas built over the hair relics, on his journey from

Balkh ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...

to Bamian in

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...

. The Pujavaliya, a 13th-century

religious work definitely state that the two merchants Tapassu and Bhalluka built a Stupa, enshrining the hair relics after they went on a sea voyage and came to the island of Sri Lanka. It further state that the two merchants came to the place called Girihandu and placed the casket of the relic on the summit of the rock and went for the eat. When they returned after having cooked and eaten their meals they couldn't move the relic casket from the place where it was. Finally giving honour to it they covered the casket by a heap of stones, and went their way. It is said that in later times there was a Vihara named Girihandu at that place. Meanwhile, the

Burmese Buddhists Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (hors ...

also firmly believe that the two merchants enshrined the hair relics of Buddha in their own

Shwedagon Pagoda The Shwedagon Pagoda (, ); mnw, ကျာ်ဒဂုၚ်; officially named ''Shwedagon Zedi Daw'' ( my, ရွှေတိဂုံစေတီတော်, , ) and also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda is a gilded stupa ...

Yangon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

Notes

References

External links

Thiriyaya Girihandu SeyaReligious site more ancient than Mihintale
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116081054/http://www.ceylontoday.lk/print20170401CT20170630.php?id=22929 , date=2018-01-16
She alights from the sky at GirihanduseyaGirihanduseya Stupa, First Buddhist Cheitiya – Stupa in the world
Stupas in Sri Lanka Buddhist temples in Trincomalee District Archaeological protected monuments in Trincomalee District Sri Lanka inscriptions