Rajagala (''The Monarch's Rock''), commonly Rassaagala or Rajagalathenna, is a rugged and heavily forested mountain situated above sea level, in a sparsely populated part of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka which has an important archaeological value. The Rajagala archaeological site is only second to the Mihintale monastery in

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 ...

and it spreads over . It consists more than 600 prehistoric ruins, monuments and artifacts, and nearly 100 of them are ancient stupas.

Location

Access to the mountain from Ampara Town is about north of Ampara - Maha Oya Road( A27), via Uhana and the village of Bakkiella.

Rajagala Archaeological Training Centre

Earlier this site was not subject to any archaeological research. After four years of recent excavation
Department of Archaeology
developed Rajagala archaeological site as the new Archaeological Training Center with the participation of India's Deccan University.

History

The history of the place is not definite, but

Bhikkhu A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist ...

s are believed to have inhabited it before the 1st century

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

. Stone inscriptions of the period have been found at the site. All over the northern summit of the mountain, extensive ruins have been excavated from the jungle, and some are only partially excavated. However, Its history goes back to the early days of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

and an inscription tells that the Arahath Mahinda Thero, who brought the

to Sri Lanka, had visited the ''Rajagalathenna Temple''. There are only two rock inscriptions referring to the Arahath Mahinda Thero; one of the inscriptions found in this site and the other is in Mihintale. It is believed that ashes of the Arahath Mahinda Thero and his disciple "Itthiya Thera"(latter name being given as Idika) were enshrined in a stupa here. A stone inscription found nearby bears evidence to this fact, although no excavation or restoration work has been carried out at this site to confirm what's inscribed in the stone inscription.

Name "Rassagala"

Archaeologist stated, the people of the Raksha tribe had lived in the area. They were human beings who worshiped the

Rakshasa Rakshasas ( sa, राक्षस, IAST: : Pali: ''rakkhaso'') lit. 'preservers' are a race of usually malevolent demigods prominently featured in Hindu mythology. According to the Brahmanda Purana, the rakshasas were created by Brahma wh ...

s. The

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 ...

word ''raksha'' means devils and demons, in Sinhala ‘''Rassayo''’ or ‘''Rakshayo''’, the word ''raksha'' have become ''Rassa'' over the years and since then this mountain is called ''Rassa-gala''(''The devils/demons's mountain'').

Rajagalathenna Temple

Rajagalathenna or Rajagala Temple known in ancient times as the ''Girikumbhila Temple'' and it is situated half-way up the mountain. Once it was a great monastery patronized by the kings and princes of

Ruhuna The Principality of Ruhuna, also referred to as the Kingdom of Ruhuna, is a region of present-day Southern and Eastern Sri Lanka. It was the center of a flourishing civilisation and the cultural and economic centres of ancient Sri Lanka. Magama, T ...

and

Rajarata Rajarata ā dja ra tə(Meaning: King's country) ( Sinhala: රජරට) (Tamil: ரஜரட) was one of three historical regions of the island of Sri Lanka for about 1,700 years from the 6th century BCE to the early 13th century CE. Several anc ...

. In Prince Saddhatissa’s time that Rajagala really began to grow. During his father's governorship of Digamadulla, his son Prince Lanja Tissa and his family embellished Rajagala on a lavish scale. Prince Lanja Tissa continued his patronage even after he ascended the throne of

, transforming this remote hermitage into one of the greatest monasteries in the

Kingdom of Ruhuna The Principality of Ruhuna, also referred to as the Kingdom of Ruhuna, is a region of present-day Southern and Eastern Sri Lanka. It was the center of a flourishing civilisation and the cultural and economic centres of ancient Sri Lanka. Magama, T ...

and the name Rassagala became Rajagala (The King's Rock).

Mountain Path

Rock cut steps and stairway goes straight up the hill and it was once a paved roadway. There are buildings occupying every level of the hill. The centrepiece of the monastery is a large rocky plateau. A roadway leads down across the rock, passing

Chaitya A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...

s, viharas, dwellings and dining halls.

Caves

Above the temple further up the mountain, are the caves of the hermits. Unlike the caves of Mihintale, these remain almost as they were. Many of the walls and doorways are still in place. Some are made of brick or wattle and daub, others are adorned in stone. Inside, the walls are covered with plaster, once they would have been full of paintings. Although they were enclosed, each cave was built to catch the wind and cooled by internal draughts. There are also caves that had been used by

monks A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

. They were separated by walls into rooms such as the living room, bedroom, kitchen and toilet. Some of them still exist. Near most of the caves is a stone inscription, stating the donor or the resident of the cave. The stone inscriptions found probably here belong to the Anuradhapura era. All of them describe incidents from that era. They are written in

Brahmi script Brahmi (; ; 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 as 'lath' ...

(

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...

), which are believed to be the first stage in the evolution of

Sinhala script The Sinhala script ( si, සිංහල අක්ෂර මාලාව, Siṁhala Akṣara Mālāva), also known as Sinhalese script, is a writing system used by the Sinhalese people and most Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka and elsewhere to write ...

Artifacts

According to archaeological sources, the temple belongs to the most prosperous era in Sri Lankan history. Many dagobas, temples, ponds, shrine rooms and sandakadapahana(moonstone) have been discovered from the site. Amongst the ruins are two most important antiquities. The first of these is a large and beautifully made stone bowl. Such bowls were used for offering the first fruits of the harvest to the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a 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 born in L ...

. Further in the jungle there is a large block of stone about long with a half-carved

image. All the lines on the statue are straight and at right angles to each other and there are no details. Archaeologists believe that apprentice sculptors had carved the images leaving them to be perfected by master sculptors. However, the statue remains unfinished. * There are some drawings on the stones and rocks, done with ash or chalk, which are believed to have been done by the

adivasi The Adivasi refers to inhabitants of Indian subcontinent, generally tribal people. The term is a Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by political activists to give the tribal people an indigenous identity by claiming an indigenous origin. The term ...

es (indigenous people). Archaeologists believe that the drawings probably belong to the

prehistoric era Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

although it's not a definite fact. * At most of the entrances at the site, there is a ''

korawakgala Korawakgala, or koravakgal ( si, කොරවක්ගල) (wingstones), are stone balustrades, which are located on either side of the stairs/steps leading to the entrance or door of a religious building or structure. They form one of three dist ...

''(a stone artifact located at the beginning of the

handrail A handrail is a rail that is designed to be grasped by the hand so as to provide safety or support. In Britain, handrails are referred to as banisters. Handrails are usually used to provide support for body or to hold clothings in a bathroom o ...

- stone

balustrades A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

), a

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 ...

(guardstone) and a Sandakada pahana (moonstone) at the entrance of the site. The moonstone differs from those found at other places in Sri Lanka. A lotus motif spreads all over the moonstone, whereas in other moonstones, the carvings include tuskers, horses, swans and flames. Despite the cultural and archaeological value of the site, visitors have desecrated many artifacts by writing and drawing on them. Due to this most inscriptions have been obliterated. * Even the guardstone found at the site is different from those found at other places. Here, the figure of a man holding a pot in one hand and keeping the other hand on his hip can be seen. Some other guardstones depict another small figure next to the main figure. Archaeologists believe it has to be the wife of the guard. There is another guardstone where the guard holds the pot in both hands. This is another feature which is different from other guardstones in the country.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url = http://www.royalasiaticsociety.lk/inscriptions/?q=node/594 , title = Plate No.468 - Rajagala Inscriptions of Sri Lanka , publisher =RoyalAsiaticSociety.lk , accessdate = 31 March 2012 {{cite web , url = http://www.royalasiaticsociety.lk/inscriptions/?q=node/559 , title = Plate No.429 - Rajagala Inscriptions of Sri Lanka , publisher =RoyalAsiaticSociety.lk , accessdate = 31 March 2012 {{cite web , url = http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g806316-c138032/Batticaloa:Sri-Lanka:Visit.Pre.Historic.Rock.Art.In.Rajagala.html , title = Visit Pre historic Rock art in Rajagala , publisher =TripAdvisor.com , accessdate = 31 March 2012 {{cite web , url = http://amazinglanka.com/heritage/rajagala/rajagala.php , author = Janani Amarasekara , title =Rajagala Viharaya , publisher =AmazingLanka.com , accessdate = 31 March 2012 {{cite web , url = http://amazinglanka.com/heritage/rajagala/rajagala2.php , author = Sinharaja Tamitta Delgoda , title =Rajagala - An Ancient Monastery in the jungles of Ruhuna , publisher =AmazingLanka.com , accessdate = 31 March 2012 {{cite news , url = http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/03/09/news33.asp , author = Priyanka Kurugala , title =New archaeological training centre to be set up: Ampara Rajagala, publisher = Sunday Observer Online , accessdate = 31 March 2012 {{cite news , url = http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2010/06/27/spe08.asp , author = Sirisaman Wijetunge , title =Advent of Arahat Mahinda Thera:Archaeological evidence surfaces in Ampara , publisher = Sunday Observer Online , accessdate = 31 March 2012

External links

Rajagala , Inscriptions of Sri Lanka

Rajagala Kanda , Department of Archaeology - Sri Lanka

* ttp://www.divaina.com/2010/08/08/feature11.html නැගෙනහිර බෞද්ධ උරුමය කියාපාන රජගලතැන්නේ හෘද සාක්‌ෂිය 2 Mountains of Sri Lanka Tourist attractions in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka Archaeological protected monuments in Ampara District