Nagadeepa Buddhist Temple
On the way from Delft, I visited another most
sacred and most historical destination in Jaffna peninsula. Another island
called Nainathiwu. There are two different religious places in this small
island. A Buddhist temple and a Hindus Kovil. The island is smaller than Delft
and it is better to define the island as a sacred island. I have already been
several kovils during my tour. So, here I gave my priority to the Buddhist
temple. Naga Vihara Purana Rajamaha Viharaya, obviously one of most iconic
buddhist temple in Sri Lanka.
Buddhism was established in India nearly 2000
years ago. The religion was immigrated from India and now it has become the
major religion of Sri Lanka. The Lord Buddha had visited three times Sri
Lanka. Nagadeepaya alias Nainatheevu is the second place that visited by Lord
Buddha in Sri Lanka. There had been a clash between two tribes for a long time
and Lord Buddha arrived Nainatheevu to solve the problem. Finally, he was able
to solve the problem, from then the peace was kept well between those two
groups. The place has been sacred from the arrival of Lord Buddha and has been worshipped by the pilgrims. People believed that there are a gem-studded throne and a stone with the Buddha’s footprint.
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| The Statue of Lord Buddha |
There are some beautiful statues in the temple. Among them, the statue of Lord Buddha is awesome. It is so attractive. The Temple was not built by the above-mentioned tribes. That time the Buddhism was not established in Sri Lanka. After the establishment of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, King Devanampiyathissa built the temple here. All the Stupa and other buildings was constructed under his rule. There are few monks in the temple, and they take care of the temple and bless the devotees.
During the civil war that happened in Sri Lanka,
Nagadeepa Purana Rajamaha Viharaya affected heavier. The temple was one of the
main targets of the Tamil Liberals. During a riot in 1958 some Tamil mobs
arrived temple by boats and destroyed a part of the temple and stole a gold-plated
statue of Lord Buddha. And the stupa was blasted by using dynamite. The
government authority censored the incident to avoid unnecessary violence in the
country. They reconstructed it and handed
over to the head monk Rajakeeya
Panditha Brahmanawatte Dhammakithi Tissa Mahanayaka Thera. One of the
most respected personalities in Sri Lanka due to his contribution during the
civil war. There were some series attacks happened during the civil war and
considering the security of the temple and the monks a navy barrack was established
to avoid the threats. Dhammakithi thero stood against several controversial
issues and threats and passed away in 2003. Even now, the people of the island
consider him as a legendry personality in the island. In the year 2009, the civil
war was ended and from then the temple bloomed again and has been one most
visited travel (pilgrim) destination in Jaffna.
The temple is filled with devotees who are lighting oil lamps, incense sticks and offering flowers to the stupa and the statue of Lord Buddha. Some people are sitting on the floor and chanting ‘gathas’ and worshipping. Some are kneeling down, some are chanting, some are worshipping and do a lot of things to show their devotion on the religion. There is a kind of big size bell called ‘Ganthara’. People ring it often. The sound is not a noisy one, but a calm bell In the end monks tie a white colour blessing thread. The temple is filled with the scent of the incense sticks and the calm sound of the ‘Ganthara’. Let’s pray for the world. ‘Sadu! Sadu! Sadu!’
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| The stupa in Nagadeepa Temple |
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