Tissamaharamaya - Tissa

Tissa is one of the most enjoyable towns in the south. The beautiful manmade tank, the Tissa Weva, with its remarkable birdlife, provides the scenic backdrop to thy town. Stupas; Sandagiri, Tissamaharama, Yatala and Menik all lie in a row in Tiss. Out of these, the most worshipped and thy largest is Tissamaharamaya. According to ty ancient chronicles, this Stupa has been built by King Kavanthissa, who ruled Ruhuna in the 1st century BCE. However, there is a belief that this Stupa was initially built by King Mahanaga in the 3rd century BCE, and King Kavanthissa enlarged the shrine. King Mahanaga is the brother of King Devanapiyatissa (250-210 BCE).

History states that when Mahanaga was inspecting the construction of Walas Wawa, the Queen of Devanapiyatissa sends him a bowl of Mangos with the topmost one poisoned. She intended to kill Mahanaga to ensure the throne to her son after Devanapiyatissa. At that time, the son was with his uncle at the tank, and the child ate the poisoned mango and died on the spot. Fearing retaliation, he took his pregnant wife and ran away to Ruhuna, where he built up his kingdom surrounding the Magama area. The relic enshrined in this Stupa is a subject of debate. According to popular belief, the fontal bone relic of Buddha was temporally enshrined in this Stupa, but later it was enshrined in the Seruvila Mangala Maha Chetiya. A recent discovery of a pillar inscription in Kirinda, that the left tooth relic of Buddha is enshrined in this Stupa. Irrespective of the relics enshrined, Tissamaharama Stupa lies on the ground that Buddha himself visited with 500 Arahath's during his 3rd visit to Sri Lanka. The latest restoration of this Stupa had begun in 1858 and was completed in 1900.

The granite pinnacle of the original Stupa is now lying on the platform on which the Dagoba is built. Tissamaharama Stupa is the largest Stupa in the country's southern region, with a height of 156 feet and 550 feet in circumference.

(Heritage Lanka by Neil Kiriella 2017, P:196)

Unique Sri Lanka

Tissamaharama - Tissa

CONTACT US

Email: info@virandesilva.com

CONNECT WITH US