Isurumuniya is one of the most visiting place among the places to visit in Anuradhapura ancient city. Anuradhapura was the first kingdom of ancient Sri Lanka. Founder of the kingdom was King PANDUKABHAYA. His ruling period is dating back to 380 B.C. Furthermore, Anuradhapura is the most long-lasted kingdom of Sri Lanka.
In addition to that, Anuradhapura was the kingdom, which contains the highest amount of ruins of ancient monuments and structures. Most of the special places are Buddhist pilgrimages. Isurumuniya is one of the most prominent Buddhist pilgrimage in Anuradhapura.
History of Isurumuniya
Historical facts say that MAHINDA Thero also lived here. Mahinda thero was the person who brought the Buddhism to Sri Lanka. This place named as “MEGHAGIRI” temple during that period. Furthermore, the historical facts say that ancient people prayed for rain here during drought seasons. They believed an invisible power gathered here.
According to the Buddhist historical facts, this belonged to Abayagiriya monastery in the past. In addition to that, the first house of the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha was here. Sinhalese people ruled in ancient Sri Lankan believed that the owner of the Sacred Tooth Relic is the qualified to bearing the crown. That is the reason the Sacred Tooth Relic housed here during the period of Anuradhapura kingdom.
Isurumuniya Facts and Details
As we mentioned earlier, Isurumuniya was a Buddhist Temple. There is a stone-carved Buddha Statue in this temple. In fact, history says that this is the first stone-carved Buddha statue in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, we can see a special pasted coat over the statue to get the finest shape. In addition, we can see a painted color coat on this paste.
In the present, we can see a newly built temple here. Walls and ceiling of this newly built temple, covered with Sinhalese, Buddhist cultural arts. Furthermore, we are able to see a stone cave near the temple. This is the place where MAHINDA Thero was sleeping, as archaeologists believe.
In addition to that, we can see a stupa on the top of the rock. This is a small-scale stupa, total height is about 25 feet, and the circumstance is 75 feet. History says that Sacred Relics of Lord Buddha enshrined here. Moreover, we can see large number of stone carvings here. The world famous Isurumuniya lovers, “man and the horse head”, “playing tuskers” and “royal family” are some of those carvings.
