Exploring the Ancient Ruins of Ramba Viharaya

 The rarely visited Ramba Vihara near Embilipitiya is one of the most important excavation sites of southern Sri Lanka. It was once the temple of the city of Mahanagakula, which was of significance particularly in the 11th century AD, when Anuradhapura was occupied by the Chola empire from India.The Ramba Vihara, also transcribed ‘Rambha Viharaya’ in the Hambantota district is both an archaeological site and a living monastery.

The complex of the Ramba Vihara ruins is much larger than the present-day monastery. In historical times, the monastic complex, however, formed only a part of an even vaster urban settlement. The new temple is therefore surrounded by a huge archaeological area. But the remnants are not spectacular. What can be seen today, are temple ruins with only foundation walls remaining and some stone pillars still standing upright.

Incidentally, the beginnings of scintific excavations in the Ramba Vihara area prompted more systematic research into the entire ancient and medieval southern kingdom of Rohana. The respective area has since been called the ‘Southern Cultural Triangle’, although its shape resembles less that of a triangle but rather a broad band alog the the southern and southeastern coast line.

With a total area of about 100 hectares covered by ancient monastic buildings and more than 30 hectares protected heritage zone, the Ramba Vihara is by far the most extensive excavation area in the southern plains of Sri Lanka. This may come to s surprise, as the  archaeological site of Ramba Vihara is not as well known as other groups of ancient buildings. The reason is that the ruins of, for example, Situpahuwwa in the Yala area and Lahugala further east are better preserved and somewhat wore imposing. Nevertheless, Ramba Vihara has to be counted among the most significants remnants of the sacred architecture of the Middle Ages outside Sri Lanka’s do-called Cultural Triangle. Since only the foundations or stone pillars are the only parts of the former structure that can still be seen, the Ramba Vihara is indeed not a must-see for normal traveller. But anyone who spends his vacation in the Tangalle area or crosses the area on the way from Ratnapura or Udawalawe National Park to the southern coast should consider a short detour to look around the vast complex of the Ramba Vihara. Outside the Cultural Triangle and particularly in the Deep South, there are far and wide only a few places more suitable to gain an impression of the ancient Sinhalese civilization.

HISTORY OF THE RAMBA VIHARA

The present-day Ramba Vihara once belonged to the medieval city of Mahanagakula, which is mentioned in the chronicles. Senarath Paranavitana, Sri Lanka’s first and most renowned Archaeological Commissioner after independence, and Godakumbura, Paranavitana’s deputy and then sucessor as Chief Commissioner of the Archaeological Department 1956-67, for a while, were both involved in the excavation campaigns in this area. The Ramba Vihara complex, however, forms only a part of the abovementioned city of Mahanagakula, more precisely, it was the royal monastery just west of the the city center, as monasteries generally were situated outside the busy or fortified parts ofa  town and outside the areas of royal or princely jurisdiction. The area covered by Mahanagakula in the Middle Ages was thus even larger than today's (already considerably extended) excavation cite. As usual, much less is preserved from the secular buildings of the cities, as only the sacred sites were built of stone. Furthermore, the visitor should be aware that excavations in the Ramba Vihara compound are far from completed. Anyway, large parts of the said downtown area of the former Mahanagakula are now below the water surface of the Ridiyagama reservoir, which was created in the 19th century. In short, what remains from the old Mahanagakula are just the historical sacred buildings of the Ramba Vihara.

As the name "Mahanagakula" indicates, the founding of this city is attributed to Prince Mahanaga, who according to the chronicles established the principality or kingdom of Rohana (Ruhunu) in the 3rd century BC, when King Devanampiyathissa, who was Sri Lanka's first Buddhist monarch, was ruling in Anuradhapura. The story goes that the queen wanted to kill the king's brother Mahanaga in order to secure the crown for her son. As she tried to poison him, Prince Mahanaga, the heir apparent, fled from Anuradhapura and took refuge in the Deep South, where he established the second Sinhalese kingship, that of Rohana. It was Mahanaga's great-great-grandson Dutthagamani (Dutugemunu), who became the Sinhalese national hero by conquering Anuradhapura, when it was unter the rule of a Hindu Tamil.

During the Anuradhapura period

It was the Walawe river that once connected the city of Mahanagakula with the ocean, the coastline being in only 12 kilometers distance. Although it is unlikely that sea vessels sailed up the river, Mahanagakula was probably a trading city, with its seaport further downstream. Probably, this was the function of the ancient port of Godavaya, which was excavated in 1994. Ceramics from Persia and China as well as Roman coins were found there.

According to the island’s chronicles, Mahanagakula started to play a prominent role in the island's history, namely as the capital of the southern kingdom of Rohana, not before the early Polonnaruwa period (mid 11th century). However, the remains of religious buildings found within the precincts of the Rambavihara are mainly attributed to even earlier periods, namely to the mid or late Anuradhapura period. Though the Walawa River region had been part of the kingdom of King Mahanaga, the legendary founder of Rohana, earliest archaeological evidence for constructions at the Ramba Vihara site is from the 5th century AD.

Nevertheless, regional oral legends relate the place to much earlier events. Already in the most notorious famine in island history, known as Beminiteya Seya, the Ramba Vihara is said to have played a role in saving the Buddhist Sangha, namely as a gathering place for monks from all parts of the country (see grey box in the right-hand column). And though not within Mahanagakula, it is in the area of its nearby seaport Godavaya that a noteworthy 2nd century AD inscription was left by the famous Anuradhapura king Gajabahu I (see grey box in the right-hand column).

During the Polonnaru era

During most of the Anuradhapura period, the town known as Tissamaharama near Kataragama was the major settlement in the Deep South and even what can be called the capital of Rohana. But in the mid-11th century Mahanagakula developed into what can be called the focal point of the Deep South. It became the de-facto capital of the south and of Sinhalese independence forces in this period. This was a crucial point in time, as it was then that the Indian Cholas had incorporated the north of the island into their empire, as an Indian province, but faced increased Sinhalese resistance. In 1055, the Chola governours were riefly expelled from their island-province headquarter Polonnaruwa, namely by the rebellious prince Kitti from Rohana. (Originally, he was inhabitant of the hillcountry but gained power in the southern plains). After his final conquest of Polonnaruwa and coronation in Anuradhapura two decades later on, he later called himself Vijayabahu (‘hand of victory’), under which he is now one of the most famous kings of Sri Lankan history.

But his victory over the occupiers in 1055 was not the final decision. The Cholas were able to take back control in Polonnaruwa again, so that Kitti, the later Vijayabahu, again had to flee to the south, where he now, according to chronicles, chose Mahanagakula as the basis for future campaigns. In a way, the town of the Ramba Vihara thereby became the starting point of the Polonnaruwa period of the Sinhalese history.

Apart from the almost largest possible distance from the Polonnawuwa stronghold of the foreign inavader, there might well have been another reason why Kitti, the later King Vijayabahu, took his residence in Mahanagakula. The maritime trade of this specific region of Sri Lanka not only, presumably, contributed to find additional sources of income for financing his army. Even more important is that this location allowed the Sinhalese rebel fighter to establish maritime connections with other enemies of the Cholas, such as the Pandyas in neighbouring parts of mainland India, who too were suppressed by the Chola overlordship, and the mighty Kalingas in Eastern India, who at that point in time were the arch rivals of Cholas, and, maybe even more important, with the Burmese empire of Pagan (Bagan in Myanmar) at the opposite side of the Bay of Bengal, with whom there was a reiligious bond, namely the shared religion of Theravada Buddhism, and a shared interest, undermining the Chola hegemony in the Indian Ocean and their control of its trade routs to China. Kitti established dynastic relations with the Kalingas by marital bonds. And after being crowned as King Vijayabahu, he reformed the Buddhist Order, the discipline of which had fallen into decline during the decades of Indian Chola rule in Sri Lanka, with the help of Buddhist monks that were invited from Burma (Myanmar).

According to the chronicles, both the alms bowl and the sacred tooth - the most significant Buddhist relics at all - were saved by monks who brought them from the Chola-controlled parts of the island to the southern kingdom of Rohana. It is highly likely that during the one and a half decade that the later Polonnaruwa-king Vijayabahu resided in Mahanagakula, the monastery of this city, the Ramba Vihara, served as the repository of the Sinhalese national palladiums. An pillared hall ecavated within the precincts of the Ramba Vihara is considered to have been this former Tooth Temple.

After King Vijabahu’s demise, his Jayabahu brother became his successor, but when it preparation of  his own succession, he excluded Vijayabahu’s son Vikramabahu in favour of hos own son, which was in contradiction to the Sinhalese tradition that the next generation of rulers would see the son of the eldest brother as the first in line to the throne. Vikramabahu retreated to the south. Probably he took refuge in  his father's former headquarters, namely Mahanagakula. When hiding in the south, he was attacked by the troops of his uncle Jayabahu from Polonnaruwa, but Vikramabahu remained victorious and in turn was able to capture Polonnaruwa, where he immediately took the throne. Now it was the otherway around: The chased Jayabahu fled to the south, and in turn, tradition says, he stayed in Mahanagakula. With him came his sister Mitta.

It was his grandson Parakramabahu, who later become the most important and illustrous of all Polonnaruwa kings. Parakramabahu the Great is believed to have spent a part of his childhood in the monastery of Mahanagakula, the Ramba Vihara, where according to local legends his mother Ratnavali had retired in those troubled times. She herself was a native princess from Rohana. According to the Mahavansa chronicle, a Tamil named Rakkha was appointed gouverneur of Mahanagakula during the reign of Parakramabahu the Great in Polonnaruwa. Coins found in the Ramba Vihara are from the Polonnaruwa period.

The history of the Ramba Vihara has also a link to the last significant king of the Polonnaruwa period, Nissanka Malla (1187-96). In his case, there is clear evidence for it, as an inscription of this king was found in the Ramba Vihara compound. His visit of the Ramba Vihara occured during a journey to the nearby southern monastery of Mulkrigala. On his many and long inspection trips throughout his kingdom Nissanka Malla left inscriptions at several places, intended to demonstrate his benevolence and his wisdom. Accordingly, his Ramba Vihara inscription finds patronizing and preceptive words for his subjects: "Let them have abundantly goods such as title, land, slaves and oxen. The wise man should always have in mind to protect his clan. That's what Nissanka says."

Ramba Vihara

The 13th century saw the decline and fall of Polonnaruwa and the entire irrigation-based Sinhalese civilsation. But it also saw the begin of the rise of a new Sinhalese settlement area in the southwestern wet zone. Not all parts of the island were effected negatively. The heydays of the Ramba Vihara contued for another few centuries. The Padasaghara inscription from that period of crisis shows, that respected Buddhist monks assembled in the Ramba Vihara. Buddhist monks in this part of the island composed works in Pali.  

A written testimony of its own kind is preserved from this period of upheaval in Sri Lanka, which shows the high esteem that Sri Lanka's Order continued to enjoy in Theravada Buddhist Southeast Asia: The Manawulu Sandeshaya, which translates to "Mahanagakula Message", is a Pali poem in around 60 verses of which 30 verses are preserved (see grey box in the right-hand column). The text refers to the abbot of a Ramba Vehera as a sender of a letter to Burma (Myanmar) to answer questions of a Buddhist leader of that country. The banana grove, which gives shade to the noble monks, is described at the begnning of this doctrinal poem. Traditionally, this work of poetry is attributed to Parakramabahu's son and short-term successor Vijayabahu II (1186-87) in order to increase its authority by claiming royal authorship. However, it is much more likely that it is rather a work from the 13th century.

Places to see at the Ramba temple site

The entire excavation site can be divided into three parts. Firstly, the entrance area, where the accommodations and ceremonial buildings of the present monastery are located, is also fully packed with remnants of ancient structure built of stone. Secondly, a few hundred meters to the east of today’s monastic buildings is the main complex from the Anuradhapura period. Thirdly, there is a large but barely explored area to the north of the entrance area. So far only a few sparse ruins are seen in the grove.

Ramba Purana Temple Museum

However, it is within this northern area of the archaeological site that a provisional museum exhibiting some of the excavation finds is established, though the more important art treasures found in the Ramba Vihara complex are already brought to Colombo for safekeeping. The site of the Ramba Vihara was quite rich in artifacts, including an extraordinary white sandstone Buddha statue hollowed inside, and a precious gilded reliquary, Rattharan Karaduwa, which according to radiocarbon dating carried out in the  USA is from the 8th-10th century, corresponding Sri Lanka’s late Anuradhapura period.

Another Buddha statue, which is man-high but without a head, is on display in the courtyard of the building, which also houses the office of archaeologists. The statue is made of white marble and dates back to the 5th-7th century. Century. It shows references to the Amaravati style, which had flourished in southern India several centuries earlier.

Further exhibits the museum  terracotta are relief plates decorated with geese, mythological beings called Hansas (also trascribed Hamsas). They have been found in large quantities. The geese hold a plant in their mouths. On the left they are flanked by pilasters. This way, an entire frieze was originally put together in which each goose had an own panel.Further exhibits the museum  terracotta are relief plates decorated with geese, mythological beings called Hansas (also trascribed Hamsas). They have been found in large quantities. The geese hold a plant in their mouths. On the left they are flanked by pilasters. This way, an entire frieze was originally put together in which each goose had an own panel.

Furthermore, you can see millstones and also urinal stones in the courtyard of the museum, the latter having  a drain. Otherwise they could be considered sacred footprints, so-called Siripathulgalas.

Inside the two museum rooms, which resemble more of an arsenal of artefacts than an actual exhibition, you can see terracottas and small Buddha statues, albeit often headless.

On the other hand, there is also a collection of heads without a body. As said, the interior is more an archive than a museum, as there are only few travellers coming to see it.

Ancient ruins

Let us now turn to the entrance area where the monks reside today. Just in between the new monatic lodgings and the hall for religious ceremonies and the obligatory white stupa this temple area is densely packed with ruins of typical structures of sacred buildings from the Anuradhapura period.

You can see porticos once edged by walls made of brick. The larger stone columns are still standing upright. Some buildings have antechambers or vestibuls. The entrance and door areas are decorated, they are much more ornate than the other parts of the buidlings. Most of the structures that can be seen in this part of the archaeological site were so-called image house (Pathimagaras) and monks’ residences (Kutis), the former, serving for rituals also of lay visitors, had the abovementioned small lobbies, whereas the latter were one-room-buildings, forming the monastic living area.

Just to the right of the entrance is an elongated building. It was an image house containing a reclining Buddha statue. It was made of brick and probably plastered ans painted, but nothing remains from the sculpture. What can be seen today is only the brick foundation. The structure and its sculpture are attributed to roughly the 6th century, the mid Anuradhapura period. 

Bodhigara,  Stupa

One of the structures vlose to the modern monastic area was a Bodhigara made of brick. Instead of a Buddha statue, a Bo-tree was the object of veneration in this type of shrine. The structure from the mid Anuradhapura period was not roofed in the centre where once the tree grew. Now only the square pit can be seen, where the tree was rooted. The entire groundplan is square-shaped, an outer room allowed cicumambulating the sacred tree. Originally, there must have been altars in front of the tree in all four directions, the Buddha statues once placed there have been excavated.

Behind the said stupa now painted white in the modern style, there are pathes leading to the most interesting part of the excavation area.

Walking along these pathes eastwards, you will first pass a new white patio-style enclosure of a Bo-tree, a tree of enlightenment can be found in almost every modern village temple. Supplying water for the sacred tree is one of the ceremonies performed by visitors at full-moon celebrations.

Complex  of the Ramba Vihara

Within a pleasantly shady grove, there is a fenced complex (so-called complex 21).which due to its size and to the variety of its structures must have been the main place of worship of the ancient Ramba Vihara. The entrance of the enclosing walls of this group of Buddhist temple buildings faces east, as usual. It is highlights by an entire gatehouse, of which many stone columns can be seen standing upright. The passage way is flanked by two interior rooms.

Going straight ahead (or slightly turning to the left) one arrives at two so called image houses (Pathimagaras). This type of architecture is named after the Buddha statues which were once worshiped in the main room of sich shrine. The main cult room had a flight of vestibuls. The larger of the two image houses within this complex still has traces of colors of former paintings. The plaster once serving as undercoat of the paintings can still be seen.

In front of the large terrace to the right of the abovementioned gatejouse is a small moonstone with only a wreath of carved elephants.

Eastern part of the archaeological zone

The most beautiful image house of the Ramba Vihara archaeological site is a little bit hidden, even further in the thicket, ith a small pond named Mahanaga Pokuna behind it. But is easy to find it when following the trail eastwards, which will finally lead towards the Walawa River and Lake Ridiyagama, where you also found the foundations of a stupa.

Inside the said Pathimaghara, half-way to the not well-preserved stupa, stands the torso of an over-sized Buddha statue made of limestone, again this is a work of art inspired by the Amaravati style. This building from the mid- or late Anuradhapura period represents an archaic type of statue house, as the vestibule is of very modest dimensions. The only pillared hall in this statue house is that of the comparatively wide main room containing the image. In front of the entrance there is an extraorinarily large monolith of rectangular shspe and without any decoration, instead of a semi-circular moonstone.

At the entrance to the patio of the Patimaghara one can see, though very small in size when compared to similar entrance decorations in the region of the Cultural Triangle, the typical temple stairway of the late Anuradhapura period, namely balustrades in the shape of curved tongues that stick out the mouths of the Makara crocodiles, as well as a diminutive guardian stele. The three steps are noteworthy, too. As with the temples of Anuradhapura, they are each decorated with three small Gana (chthonic spirit) reliefs flanked by pilasters. Although these Gana carvings are weathered, the gnoms are still clearly recognizable in cheerful dance moves.

As said, the Ramba Vihara is not one of Sri Lanka's greatest heritage destination. But in the Deep South of the island, it’s definitely one of the richest and most typical excavation of a medieval monastic complex, captivating by being embedded in a living village monastery on the one hand and the lonely jungle on the other. And due to the fact that it is rarely visited, it’s still inviting to start own explorations completely undisturbed by noisy busloads of tourists.