Location
Mahiyagana is located at a distance of 194km away from
Colombo.
Reaching Mahiyangana
Mahiyanagana can be reached by Colombo – Kandy A1 main motor
road and continuing along Kandy- Mahiyangana A26 main motor road.
Mahiyanagana is not connected by the Railway line.
Mahaweli River through Mahiyangana
Sri Lanka’s longest river Mahaweli flows through
Mahiyangana, of which the Climate is determined by the north east monsoon of
the island. In the mid-20th century Mahaweli River irrigation projects provided
farmlands for the inhabitants of Mahiyangana. Today, the landscape of
Mahiyangana features savanna like grasslands beyond the paddy cultivation.
Mahiyangana Stupa
The ancient Mahiyngana stupa is located 1km south of the
city center. The gleaming great white stupa built in the shape of a bell, sits
pretty atop a massive platform. The sculptures of elephant heads built onto the
platform stand proudly as if to guard the stupa. A well laid out and well
maintained long straight walkway stretches from the decorated Makara Thorana
(Sinhala: dragon arch) to the stupa.
The ancient Mahiyngana stupa is one of the sixteen most
venerated Buddhist stupas of Sri Lanka. It is believed Buddha’s hair relic is
enshrined within the ancient Mahiyangana.
Sri Lanka’s greatest historical chronicle, Mahawamsa reveals
that nine moths since the supreme enlightenment of Buddha, having foreseen that
the island of Sri Lanka is destined to have the Buddhism established and remain
so for 5000 years, visited the island to preach the doctrine to the
pre-historic inhabitants belonging to the tribes of Yaksha, Naga and deva.
Prince Saman of Deva tribe, having attained the first spiritual plane of
Buddhism called Sovan, begged Buddha for a token of presence that could be held
high in reverence: he was granted a curl of hair off Buddha’s head. Prince
Saman had the ancient Mahiyangana Stupa was built enshrining the hair relic,
which was secured in a golden reliquary. Thus Mahiyangana became the first ever
stupa to be built in Sri Lanka.
The stupa was enlarged by the Buddhist monk Arahat Sarabhu
to a height of 12 cubits after receiving and enshrining the collar bone relic
of the Buddha taken from the funeral pyre. For the greater protection of the
shrine, King Devanampiyatissa's brother, Prince Uddhaya Culabhaya covered it
over and made it 30 cubits high. Mahiyangana Stupa was adored by the ancient
kings. King Dutugemunu (161-137 BC) saddened by the ruinous state of
Mahiyangana stupa at the hands of Tamils, in spite of having destroyed the
Tamil fortress at Mahiyangana, instead of pressing ahead to the Tamil
strongholds in the northern plains, opted to spent time their in renovating the
stupa. The great king raised the cetiya to a height of 80 cubits. It was only
after the reconstruction of Mahiyanga stupa, King Dutugmunu carried on his
military campaign to save the island nation from the Dravidian invaders.
Though Mahiyangana stupa had been renovated by a succession
of princes and kings beginning with Prince Udaya Culabhaya to King Narendrasinghe,
by the 19th century, Mahiyangana stupa had been in the dilapidated state. In
1942, a conference was held at the Mahiyangana vihara, in the presence of Rt.
Hon. D. S. Senanayake, Minister of Agriculture and Lands, who expressed his
approbation for the restoration of the Mahiyangana Cetiya - the first of its
kind in Sri Lanka. For the purpose, a society was formed under the name
Mahiyangana Vihara Vardhana Samitiya, headed by the Hon. Minister. However, the
restoration work commenced only in the year 1953 by Dudley Senanayake, then
prime minister of Ceylon. On September 21, 1961, the renovated Mahiyangana
Stupa was unveiled amidst a great concourse of devotees who flocked to witness
the historic event. The pinnacle was adorned with a crystal-cut gem weighing
14.5 kg gifted by Myanmar.
Mahiyagna tourist attractions
Mahiyangana Stupa is the most prominent cultural attraction
in Mahiyangana. Mahiyangana region, a plain with Mahaweli river running through
it provides access to a several National Parks, bird sanctuaries and aborigine
lands: Sorabora Wewa reservoir, Dambana, Ulhitiya Wewa reservoir, Minipe
reservoir, Randenigala reservoir, Maduruoya wildlife park, Wasgomuwa wildlife
park are the major attractions.
Dambana and Sri Lanka’s Aborigines
Dambana located 19km north east of Mahiyangana bordering
Maduru Oya Sanctuary is home to indigenous Vedda community numbering close to
1000 individuals. Though the natural habitat of these people, whose livelihood
once depended solely on hunting, was confined to the forest, during the recent
decades, they have been shifting in a slow transformation into Chena dry land
for cultivation. Over and above the transition, these aborigines of Sri Lanka
have begun to intermarry with the Sinhalese villagers living in the region
surrounding Dambana. The total extinction of their traditions of hunting for
food, cooking in open fire with a group, collecting Bee Honey, their songs and
dances of has now become a distinct possibility.
Picture gallery of Mahiyangana
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