Ruwanweliseya Stupa

Every monastery has a dagoba. Ruvanveliseya is the dagoba of Maha Vihara. It was built by a Sinhalese hero King Dutugemunu in the 2nd century B.C. The architect ingeniously combined the Buddhist philosophy in the architectural conception. He conceived this as a bubble of milk: representing life, which will burst in no time just like the fragility of our lives. Its dome represents the vastness of the doctrine; the four facets of the box oh top represents the four noble truths. The concentric...

Ruwanweliseya Dagoba is the third largest stupa in Anuradhapura. Also known as the Maha Thupa or Great Stupa. At 300 feet, the Ruwanweliseya Dagoba is the third biggest stupa in Anuradhapura, after the Jetavana Dagoba and the Abhayarigi Dagoba. While the aforementioned are still in ruins, Ruwanweliseya Dagoba is the biggest dagoba that is fully restored and in regular use.

The shape of the Ruwanweliseya Dagoba, as indeed all the other dagobas in Anuradhapura and elsewhere in Sri Lanka, is inspired by a bubble floating on water. Beneath the round white skin, which seems to float weightlessly into the clouds, is tons and tons of masonry.

The Ruwanweliseya Dagoba is surrounded by a wall embellished with full-size sculpted elephants (almost all of these are replacements as the original has been damaged long ago). The elephant walls are symbolic of the Buddhist mythology that they hold up the earth. Four gatehouses punctuated the elephant wall at the four cardinal points.
The massive Ruwanweliseya Dagoba in Anuradhapura.


Buddhist symbolism is carried to the Ruwanweliseya Dagoba, where the massive white dome represents heaven. The conical spire of the Ruwanweliseya Dagoba represents the parasols of kingship, or the protuberance on Buddha's head, to signify super enlightenment. Sacred relics of the Buddha are housed within the dome of the Ruwanweliseya Dagoba.

Construction of the Ruwanweliseya Dagoba commenced in 144BC. The foundation was dug to a depth of 15 feet and round stones were laid, stumped into place by elephants wearing leather foot coverings. A form of material called butter clay was used as the cement.

Today the Ruwanweliseya Dagoba has undergone several restorations, and has lost a bit of its original bubble shape. Nevertheless Ruwanweliseya Dagoba continues to be one of the most important places of worship for the Buddhists in Anuradhapura.