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A temple of harvest
By Hiranthi Fernando

Some of the old copper utensils found in the inner sanctum. Pix by M.A. Pushpakumara

Picturesquely located on the bund of Minneriya tank, stands a small temple with historical origins. The Minneriya devale dates back to A.D. 327, when it was built in honour of King Mahasen, who was known as 'Minneriya Deviyo'. The people treated him like a god in recognition of his valuable contribution to agriculture by constructing 16 tanks. Hundreds of devotees visit the temple on Wednesdays and Saturdays, when

it is open to the public for poojas and making of vows. Jayathilaka Herath, Basnayake Nilame of the temple whose family had been the custodians of the temple for many generations recounted the history of the temple as it has been handed down from his ancestors.

The story goes that when King Mahasen travelled from Anuradhapura to Kalundewa via Ritigala, he halted for the night at a small village called Wewala. Having a drink of milk in the morning, he found that it tasted very sweet. He sent his soldiers to find out the reason for the unusually sweet taste of this milk. The soldiers tied a bag of meneri grain, on the back of a cow, first making a small hole in the bag, and sent it out to graze. Being the rainy season, the meneri seeds fell along the way and took root.

ome time later, the soldiers followed the meneri trail and found they led to a grassland, where a plant known as 'wewmee' was growing in abundance. This was found to be the reason for the sweetness of the milk.

When the king came to inspect the grassland, he found there were two small tanks or wewas there and two brothers, Maha Gal Rala and Kuda Gal Rala, were cultivating the land. The king requested the land to build a large tank there. The elder brother was apparently willing to hand over the land but the younger brother Kuda Gal Rala objected. It is said that the king had the younger brother killed and Maha Gal Rala handed over the entire land to the king. That was how the Minneriya tankcame to be built at that location.

According to the Basnayake Nilame, Jayathilaka Herath, the site of the devale was where the first milk rice was cooked from the harvest of the fields irrigated by the tank. While eating the kiribath, the king had flung a handful out to the paddy fields below, saying that he had done so much by building 16 tanks, if he is to be deified, let this rice grow. As the story is related, the milk rice grew into plants with rice in the kernels.

The place was named Bathgaspattuwa and is now known as Bathgampattuwa. While the tank was being constructed the king lived in a palace he had built at the site. When the waters of the tank inundated the fields and the palace, he moved to the place, which was known as Wedasitinamaluwa, further away.

Mr. Herath said the temple had been in the custody of his family for generations. During his father's time, there had been a small devale there, which had later been rebuilt. Part of the original devale remains as the innermost section of the temple today. Five old statues and some brass and copper utensils can be seen in the inner sanctum.

A moonstone is at the entrance door, which has also been rebuilt. An ancient carved stone pillar, and some stone figures, also dating back to the early days, are seen outside.

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