A comparative investigation on the rituals based on Ruwanwelisaya inscription, in the period of queen Kalyānawatī, and their present position

Abstract

The Ruwanwelisaya Stūpa, built by king Dutugemunu in 137 B.C, is concerned as the foremost Stūpa of the Mahavihara monastery. According to the Sumangalavilāsani and Papancasūdani, a large number of Buddha’s sacred physical relics have been enshrined in the Ruwanwelisaya than any other Stupa in the world and therefore it is known as the Great Stupa. Those written sources further record that the sacred physical relics of Lord Buddha were gathered in every nook and corner from his sacred body before the demise. Due to the significance of this Stupa, many names were used to introduce it; such as Suwannamali, Hemamali,Rathnamali, Ruwanweli, Mahatupa and Urucetiya etc. The Ruwanwelisaya inscription is the focus of our study and it was was built in the period of Queen Kalyānawatī (1202-1208) in polonnaruwa era. Piriwatubim Vijayāwān, the treasurer of the queen, his wife and son-in-law contributed for finding this inscription. This writing provides a detailed account on the Stūpa and the great sacrifices made to the Stūpa during that time. Having prepared a roof, which was made by using different type of cloths (8880), the Stupa was offered with flowers, incense sticks and decorated with plantain pandol, kept offering throughout an entire week with milk rice and preached the Tūpawaṁsa at the Cetiya compound. In addition to that, it is recorded in the inscription itself, the alms giving and the robes offering to the monks were performed. According to the historical and archaeological evidences, it is clear that, centering the Stūpa, the devotees have been performing various types of rites and rituals from past to present. Amongst them, various modern, traditional and modified rituals can be seen. The firm objective of our research is to do comparative investigation regarding the modern and traditional rights and rituals of the Ruwanwelisaya Stupa.