Hatthikucchi Viharaya ( si, හත්ථිකුච්චි විහාරය) is a ruined ancient temple complex situated on the northern border of the North Western Province (Wayamba),

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 ...

3.5 km away from the Mahagalkadawala junction on the

Padeniya Padeniya is a village in Sri Lanka. It is located within North Western Province. See also *List of towns in North Western Province, Sri Lanka North Western Province is a province of Sri Lanka, containing the Kurunegala District and Puttalam D ...

–

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 ...

(A28) road.

Name

The name 'Hatthikucchi' (හත්ථිකුච්චි 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 ...

) is a pali word meaning 'Elephant Stomach' (Hatthi - Elephant, Kucchi - Stomach). Its closest

name is 'ඇත්කුස් වෙහෙර' 'Eth Kus wehera' (Eth - Elephant, Kus - Stomach). This names has been given because of a large rock inside the temple complex which resembles an elephant. Hatthikuchchi rock

History and archeology

The Temple complex is considered to have been built by King

Devanampiyatissa Tissa, later Devanampiya Tissa, was one of the earliest kings of Sri Lanka based at the ancient capital of Anuradhapura from 247 BC to 207 BC. His reign was notable for the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka under the aegis of the Maurya ...

(307–267 BC) and one of the oldest Buddhist temple complexes in the country. Later for various reasons this complex was forgotten and by the time of king Sirisangabo this was covered with jungle. It has been taken into consideration that this was the location where King Sirisangabo (251–253 AD) offered his own head to a peasant. Previously it was widely considered that this incident took place at

Attanagalla Attanagalla is an electorate in Gampaha District, situated in the Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guin ...

Gampaha Gampaha (Sinhala: ගම්පහ ; Tamil: கம்பஹா ) is an urban city in Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is situated to the north-east of the capital Colombo. It is the sixth largest urban area in Western Province, ...

district now most scholars have raised the argument that this must be the place that it really took place. Main reason for this idea was that, in the story it says the peasant walked half a day from

towards the south where he met the former king Sirisangabo. Since Hatthikucchi Viharaya is only 38.5 km from

rather than

which is 170 km from

there is a better chance this is the actual place the incident took place. Supporting this facts there is a tomb which is considered to have the ashes of the king Sirisangabo. In this tomb the tombstone which is built from bricks resembling a human body have a granite sphere as the head piece since it was missing in the dead body. Excavations are still under way at the site and more ruins are yet to be found which are covered with the jungle.

Vihara inscriptions

There are more than fifty rock inscriptions have been identified on the vihara rock and its base, dating from 2nd to 9th centuries AD. Among them several inscriptions, called Vaharala, mention the freeing of slaves from compulsory service.

Hatthikucchi rock inscription

{{Quote, Period: 2nd century AD, Script: Later

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 ...

, Language: Old Sinhala
Content: "Mentions donations made for the maintenance of the chapter house at Hatthikucchi Vihara"

External links

Hatthikucchi
at angelfire.com

at podimenike.blogspot.com.com

at BuddhaNet.net Archaeological protected monuments in Kurunegala District Buddhist temples in Kurunegala District Vatadages