Why is Isurumuniya temple should be on your bucket list?
Isurumuniya temple is associated with a boulder range which continues from the adjoining royal park, the Ranmasu Uyana. The temple is well known today for its elegant sculptures. The Isurumuni Lovers is the masterpiece of all stone carvings of this temple.
Table of Contents
- Anuradhapura
- Isurumuniya Temple
- Isurumuniya is a tourist attraction
- Ancient monuments
- Ranmasuu Uyana
- Stargate Ranmasu Uyana
Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura’s name can be linked to a minister named “Anuradha” who served in the court of Prince Vijaya (543-505 BCE), the island’s first Sinhalese king, according to historical documents like the Mahavamsa. The town that eventually became Anuradhapura was founded by Vijaya’s minister named “Anuradha,” according to stories related to him. However, the discovery of previous settlements in the old city’s citadel region dating back to the 10th century BCE would cast doubt on this assertion.
This ancient city was the capital of Sri Lanka for more than many centuries and it was the ruling capital for more than a hundred kings and queens. Today it is one of the most popular historical sites in Sri Lanka showcasing valuable historical monuments that are dating back many thousands of years. Anuradhapura is part of Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle and therefore, it is included in most Sri Lanka trip packages.
The travellers are able to visit the Isurumuniya temple along with many other important historical and religious monuments during the Anuradhapura city tour. Anuradhapura city tour can be booked through local tour operators such as Seerendipity Tours (admin@seerendipitytours.com, WhatsApp 0094774440977).
Isurumuniya Temple
Isurumuniya temple is an ancient Buddhist temple located south of the Sri Maha Bodhi and at the bank of Tissa Wewa at Anuradhapura. The ancient name of the temple was Meghagiri Vihara where rituals were practised for generating rain in the past. According to history, this was the place where the Tooth Relic was first deposited when it was brought to Sri Lanka by Prince Danta and Princess Hemamala during the reign of King Kithsiri Mewan in the 4th Century CE. The original name for this temple was Meghagiri Vihara, and it was used in ancient rain-making ceremonies. During the reign of King Kithsiri Mewan in the 4th century CE, Prince Danta and Princess Hemamala are said to have carried the Tooth Relic to Sri Lanka and deposited it here.
Isurumuniya temple is associated with a boulder range which continues from the adjoining royal park, the Ranmasu Uyana. The temple is well known today for its elegant sculptures. The Isurumuni Lovers is the masterpiece of all stone carvings of this temple. The rock-cut cave which turned out to be a small image house and the pond with sculptural representations of bathing elephants and the mysterious Man and Horse sculpture carved on a rock cavity are some of the attractive points at the Isurumuniya temple.
Isurumuniya is a tourist attraction
Even though Isuruminiya is not a major tourist attraction in Anuradhaoura, it is highly recommended to visit the temple, as it showcases some of the oldest stone carvings on the island. The temple is located very close to the Si Maha Bodhi and Ruwanweli Seya stupa. Sometimes the temple is not included in the Anuradhapura city tour and travellers should ask the local tour operators to include it in the program if it is not covered in the program.
Present-day scholars refer to the historic Meghagiri Vihara (sometimes spelt Meygiri Vihara) as the Isurumuni Vihara. It was constructed during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa (267–307 BCE) of Anuradhapura, the ancient capital of Sri Lanka. Isurumuniya was constructed for 500 high-caste children following their ordination. During his reign (473–491 AD), King Kasyapa I remodelled this Viharaya once more, this time calling it “Boupulvan, Kasubgiri Radmaha Vehera” (after his two daughters and himself). A cliff towers over a cave and Viharaya complex. On top of it sits a little stupa. The work on this stupa’s building clearly dates to the modern era. Elephants can be seen carved lower down on both sides of a gap in a rock that appears to rise out of a pool. A horse is etched into the rock. The Isurumuniya couple carved on the stone slab was relocated from another location. The Ranmasu Uyana is only a few feet away from this vihara.
Ancient monuments
To paraphrase, “Siddha mahayaha kuni – maha (la) ka Asala yaha (di) ni” [Hail! Venerable Asalaya has been assigned the Mahaya’s cell.
It is believed that this Brahmi inscription was carved onto the rock at the site where the Isurumuniya Lovers were first installed. It’s unique since each letter in the inscription measures 3 by 4 inches. This sculpture would have been relocated here after Vessagiriya was given to the Maha Sangha. King Kuvera Vaisrawana and Queen Kuni are depicted as the Lovers on the sculptured plaque. According to information sources such as Ramayana, before Rawana, the Vessagirian king Vaisrawana governed Sri Lanka from Lankapura.
Isurumuniya, the Royal Family’s Carving Site Viharaya
Time Period: AD 800
During the reign of Anuradhapura
Mystic Guptha (from the tradition) Kala
Granite, the Medium
The “Ardha Unnata” method is low relief.
The royal family is etched into a slab of granite. This dish features five carved human figurines. King Dutugamunu, represented by the human figure in the middle, wears a high crown and a “puna noola” (a chest ornament) around his waist. Two more people are seen to his left. Their “Wijinipath” is fanning him to keep him cool.
Isurumuniya, Location of the Elephant Pond Carvings Rock
Time Period: 7th Century A.D.
Tradition of the Anuradhapura Period
Granite, “Ardha Unnata” low relief technique.
Ranmasuu Uyana
The historic Magul Uyana (Royal Gardens) may be found in Sri Lanka’s Ranmasu Uyana Park. It is located in the ancient sacred city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, not far from the sites of Isurumuni Vihara and Tissa Wewa. It is a remarkable example of pre-Christian Sri Lankan garden design and spans over 40 acres (16 ha). An inscription at Vessagiriya claims that the park’s water came from Tessa Wewa and that it was later diverted to irrigate rice fields near Isurumuni Vihara. Several ponds and the foundations of a few minor houses can be seen in this park. Prince Saliya is said to have first laid eyes on Asokamala in this very garden.
During the reign of King Tissa (the third century BC), this area was transformed into a reservoir and royal gardens. The pleasure pavilions and other modern architecture, however, are from the eighth and ninth century AD.
Located in the middle of Anuradhapura, between the Thissa Wewa reservoir and the Isurumuniya Rock Temple, is the forty-acre pleasure garden of the ancient Sri Lankan royals known as RanmasuUyana.
Stargate Ranmasu Uyana
The Ranmasu Uyana’s fame rested largely on the hydraulically operated, rock-carved bathing ponds. Water is pumped from the neighbouring Tissa Wewa to the garden’s swimming pools using a minor pressure difference. The pools themselves are an example of innovative technology and skilled construction from approximately 3000 years ago, resulting in a faultless luxury swimming facility.
The waters are beautiful, but the real splendour of RanmasuUyana lies hidden away among the boulders and caverns. Somewhat like a map, the Stargate is carved into a stone wall. Some people believe that mankind once used stargates to travel between Earth and other planets in the galaxy to meet up with alien civilizations. It is speculated that this diagram is the key to opening the Stargate. Four seats, all facing the stargate symbol, suggest that this was a chart designed to be used or manipulated by four people.
According to certain researchers, there are similarities between the Stargate charts discovered in Abu Ghurab, Egypt, and ‘the gate passage to the gods,’ which is located in Peru. All three marks had been discovered near a waterway, and their use of complex technical techniques had sparked a wide range of speculation.
The most widely accepted theory is that aliens came to Earth to mine for gold through one of these portals. Their theory hinges on the fact that the stargate at Abu Ghurab, Egypt, was encased in water in 2400 B.C., just like “La Puerta de HayuMarka.” The Peruvian pyramid complex known as “The Gateway to the Gods” is located near Lake Titicaca and features subterranean water tunnels and chambers.
Water conduits, chambers, reservoirs, and filters can be found in close proximity to each stargate; proponents of the ‘processing gold from the seas of Earth’ theory think that these structures are remnants of complex machinery constructed by extraterrestrials thousands of years ago.
If the notion is correct, RanmasuUyana was once a ‘gold processing centre of extraterrestrials’ who came to Earth via stargates.
However, archaeologists are quick to write off such ideas as fiction. The earliest historians and archaeologists speculated that the maps were either a detailed Buddhist depiction of the cosmos or a straightforward geographical representation of the world. Historians have used them to explain everything from animal evolution to the worldview of Tantric Buddhist monks. They may have also used them for meditation, though.
Modern archaeologists shudder at the idea of equating Egypt to Sri Lanka, arguing instead that our culture developed independently, without any Egyptian or Babylonian influence.
It is unclear what these symbols were originally intended for, but they have been interpreted as everything from a hidden key to space travel to the floor plan of Sigiriya, a rock garden located near Anuradhapura. However, the only undeniable fact concerning these graphs is that, despite several assertions and debates, we still have no idea where they came from.
Source:https://www.srilanka.travel/stargate-at-ranmasu-uyana, http://www.archaeology.lk/
