Stony tales of monastic dwelling and meditation

By Tharuka Dissanaike

There were the dissenting groups- two of them in fact, the pamsukulika and the aranya (documented in the Mahavamsa), who rebelled against the lifestyle in the large temples and took to the forest again.

In the Ritigala mountain, that rises steeply out of the flat dry zone country around it, are some of the country's best examples of ascetic living of monks who lived over a millennium ago, with just the bare necessities and the forest around them, completely in harmony with nature.

These were monks who spent their lives in isolated meditation, with hardly any human contact. The only evidence of their existence lies in thick overgrown jungles, where the stone foundations of their unique dwellings have survived through centuries to tell their story.

The first mention of forest monastic dwellings was made by Sri Lanka's first Archaeological Commissioner H.C.P Bell. Bell who came to Ceylon in 1912 actually excavated and found several sites where these buildings were located-very remote, forested places like Arankale and Ritigala. Decades later Gamini Wijesuriya, Director of Conservation of the Department of Archaeology has produced a comprehensive study on the subject. He has published the research done for his PhD thesis in book form, titled Buddhist Meditation Monasteries of Sri Lanka.

It would surprise many to know that this type of monastery architecture is only found in Sri Lanka and mimics word-to-word the ancient Buddhist scriptures' description of what a monastic dwelling should be like.

In Anuradhapura, the Western Monastery complex with its unique design is excavated and displayed for all to see, especially for those who would rather avoid the arduous journeys to other sites, which even today are often in remote jungle. In Ritigala and several other remote places, single residential units are scattered over a large area with a common facility for sauna, bathing and meals. The chief monk had larger quarters than others. A paved road traverses through the jungle providing access to each building and the village.

While priests of the main temples of Anuradhapura, Abhayagiri, Jetavana and Maha Vihare or Ruvanweliseya, lived amidst ritual buildings-image house, bodhiya, stupa - as in modern temples, the monasteries were conspicuous in their abstinence from these.

"It was a developed archaeology. Very strict in geometry," Wijesuriya said.

The residential area dominated the ascetics' dwelling. In almost every instance the monks' living quarters consisted of two square-shaped platforms of stone connected by a narrow bridge. One of the platforms had provision for upright columns and a roof, while the other was open to the elements, and filled with fine white sand.

"My theory is that the roofed part was for sleeping and eating while the other portion was used for meditation." In addition to these, there were many ancillary buildings. Interestingly the urinals of these ascetics bore most intricate carvings and detailed art work, which even today baffle archaeologists. Former Director of the Archaeological Department, Roland Silva's explanation was that the ascetics wanted to make a statement: 'This is how we treat luxury (art included)'. The priests, though, seemed to have enjoyed herbal hot-water baths and saunas. Wijesuriya found numerous grinding stones, stone water bowls and evidence of hearth fires used to boil water at sites of ascetic dwelling.

Whether the dwellings were for many monks or single units spread out over a large area (Ritigala) another common signature of monastic life was water supply.

Large ponds were dug, streams were dammed, rock cut pools were carved out to store and supply much needed water for the priests. Of these, a very remote site called Manakanda, excavated by Wijesuriya for the first time, has the largest archaeological pond yet found. The priests who used these monasteries were from the Anuradhapura era, which spanned a thousand years. In the early times, monastic life was confined to cave dwelling. Caves found in places such as Sigiriya and Mihintale tell their own story of ascetic life before they graduated into stone architecture.

Wijesuriya said that ascetic monks were considered more religious and were thus more popular than those priests living in the maha vihares. With royal patronage, monasteries and became popular places of worship soon acquired other exterior factors like the stupa and image houses. This is what happened to Mihintale, and Dimbulagala- they came to resemble the maha vihares in every aspect.

But there were the dissenting groups- two of them in fact, the pamsukulika and the aranya (documented in the Mahavamsa), who rebelled against the lifestyle in the large temples and took to the forest again. But this time, they did not go back to the caves. With great royal patronage, proper monastic dwellings were constructed for these priests, probably using the finest architects and skilled stone craftsmen.

What is most amazing is the way these monasteries correspond with ancient scriptures which spell out what a place of meditation should be like. One such is the Vinaya Pitakara which dates back to the first century BC.

"In this text,there is a description of a forest monastery built by Anathapindika for Lord Buddha, and the ruins we have found bear semblance to this description," Wijesuriya said. The Vinaya lays out the rule that a meditating monk should not be distracted by any worldly object. The idea of not having relics and images in the monasteries was to prevent villagers-especially the women, resplendent in their colourful clothes and jewellery coming in to worship, since this would distract the monks. Sometimes the priests were not even allowed to meet each other.

In the fifth century AD, Buddhaghosa, an Indian priest who came to Sri Lanka wrote the Visuddha Marga, which derives many ideas from the original Vinaya text. It gives very clear and detailed descriptions of what a meditating monk's requirements should be. "It says that the monastery should be away from human habitation but not so far that the monks will not have access to food, since priests are always dependent on the village for meals," Wijesuriya said. "It also lays out that monks should not be hampered by creeping animals and lack of water." This was one of the reasons why they abandoned the caves, Wijesuriya said. The stone monasteries are built on elevated platforms with boundaries around and white sand to prevent snakes and insects from harming the priests. The dwellings were designed to suit a tropical climate and would not have found favour in a colder region. "The monasteries you find in Tibet are very different," Wijesuriya said.

Return to the Plus Contents