Kudumbigala Monastery

Kudumbigala Monastery in Kudumbigala Sanctuary is an ancient Buddhist monastic complex constructed in 246 BC, during the reign of the King Devanampiyatissa. It is located in the Ampara District of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. The site is paved with large rock boulders and rock surfaces surrounded by a thick jungle. The monastic complex has been untouched for a long period of time and it was re-discovered in recent past. Archaeologists had recovered over 200 rock caves belonging to this forgotten monastery. According to a rock inscription found in the cave named “Maha Sudharshana Lena” itself, it has been built and offered to Arhats by the Giant Warrior Nandimitra (one of Ten Giant Warriors of King Dutugemunu). The cylindrically shaped stupa located in this monastery is the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka.

In 1994, terrorists belonging to the LTTE hacked to death 17 innocent civilians in Panama. Kudumbigala had to be abandoned immediately as the Government failed to protect the place. Ethnic cleansing, under the cover of the most effective propaganda machine in the world today, has swallowed one third of the Sri Lankan land and 74% of the Sinhalese Buddhists do not even seem to know that. 5% of the Christian Sinhalese do not even seem to care. Today, there is no human habitation around this historic Aranya. Kudumbigala stands, towering in silent splendour, a solitary landmark and witness to the untold stories that get written into landscapes, buried, unearthed and erased yet once again. That is the sad tale of the Sinhalese civilization, which unfortunately do not deserve that fate.