Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya - Lanka's largest modern stupa
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The immense white dome of the Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya is the landmark stupa of the Kotmale Valley. The stupa can be seen from far away distances, particularly from the scenic mountain road A5 on the way from Kandy to Nuwara Eliya. Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya is the largest void hemispherical dome in Sri Lanka.
Name of Kotmale's landmark stupa
The name of this modern stupa in Sri Lanka's central highlands is self-explaining. "Kotmale" refers to the the name of the area. "Kotmale" is the name of both a large village and a river. The latter forms the Kotmale Valley. Kotmale Oya is a main tributary of the Mahaweli, Sri Lanka's largest river. The "Mahaweli" in the stupa name refers to the entire river system, which after Sri Lanka's independence became the islands major hydropower and irrigation project called "Mahaweli Development Programme". The stupa was erected as a religious monument in honour of this ambitious project, see below. "Maha Seya" simply means "large stupa" or "big dagaba". A much in use abbreviation of the stupa's name is "Kotmale Seya". Another English transliteration of "Kotmale" is "Kotamale".
Location
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Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya in Nuwara Eliya District is nestled at a slope at the southeastern foot of the mountain known as Monaragala (Peacock Hill) in the Kotmale Valley. By road, the big stupa dome is just 1.7 km (1 mile) away from the Kotmale Dam Museum, which has the best views of the dam and the Kotmale Reservoir. Road distance from the stupa to the nearest large town, Nawalapitiya, is 18 km (11 miles). However, most visitors arrive from the other direction, namely from Pussellawa or Ramboda, which are in 16 km (10 miles) resp. 19 km (12 miles) distance by road. Kandy is in 40 km (25 miles) and Nuwara Eliya in 47 km (29 miles) road distance.
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Size and Design of Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya
With 84 m (276 ft) in height and 61 m (200 ft) in diameter, Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya is Sri Lanka's largest void stupa dome made of cement, signicantly wider than the second largest, which is the Gangatilaka Vihara in Kalutara, which has a diameter of around 40 m, for comparison. However, the diameters of the three major ancient stupas of Anuradhapura (Ruwanweliseya, Abhayagiri, Jetavanarama) are even larger than those of the new constructions. The architects respectfully decided that the the Kotmale Seya stupa has to be two feet shorter than the Ruwanweli Maha Seya in Anuradhapura, as the latter is considered the most sacred stupa of Sri Lanka.
The Kotmale Seya was designed in the classical bubble shape (Bubbulakara) of the ancient Anuradhapura stupas. The pinnacle follows classic Sri Lankan patterns, too. Each entrance has large carved moonstones, guard stones and wing stones just like gates of ancient temples.
Like in the case of other modern stupa buildings, such as Gangatilaka Vihara in Kalutara and Asgiriya Dagaba in Kandy and Sandagiri Maha Seya in Hanthana, the dome is made mainly of reinforced concrete and it's hollow, allowing it to be entered. In contrast, ancient stupas were solid brick and stone buildings and only held inaccessible small relic chambers as hidden rooms inside. Actually, the outer dome of Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya contains a second stupa in the very center, which in itself is not small in size. The entire construction resembles a two-fold Matroschka, so to speak.
The hall inside the immense stupa dome contains circumambulation platforms on three different levels. The exterior one, which has the diameter of the dome, is on ground level. A second circumambulation terrace is elevated and can be reached via two stairways from the north and south. From here, four stairways, inspired by the said classical temple entrance design, lead to the upper platform of the central stupa inside the large dome.
The Kotmale Seya was designed in the classical bubble shape (Bubbulakara) of the ancient Anuradhapura stupas. The pinnacle follows classic Sri Lankan patterns, too. Each entrance has large carved moonstones, guard stones and wing stones just like gates of ancient temples.
Like in the case of other modern stupa buildings, such as Gangatilaka Vihara in Kalutara and Asgiriya Dagaba in Kandy and Sandagiri Maha Seya in Hanthana, the dome is made mainly of reinforced concrete and it's hollow, allowing it to be entered. In contrast, ancient stupas were solid brick and stone buildings and only held inaccessible small relic chambers as hidden rooms inside. Actually, the outer dome of Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya contains a second stupa in the very center, which in itself is not small in size. The entire construction resembles a two-fold Matroschka, so to speak.
The hall inside the immense stupa dome contains circumambulation platforms on three different levels. The exterior one, which has the diameter of the dome, is on ground level. A second circumambulation terrace is elevated and can be reached via two stairways from the north and south. From here, four stairways, inspired by the said classical temple entrance design, lead to the upper platform of the central stupa inside the large dome.
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History of Sri Lanka's largest stupa dome
The idea of the construction of a new stupa of such immense size was to celebrate the Mahaweli hydropower and irrigation scheme, of which the nearby Kotmale Dam is a major achievement, and to serve as a memorial to compensate the the 18 temples (Viharas) and shrines (Devales) and 66 villages and 4 tea plantations submerged in the Kotmale reservoir. All in all, around four dozens of shrines submerged as a result of the entire Mahaweli scheme. Of course, the stupa is also intended to honour the people who had to be resettled. The dam was constructed in 1979 and the filling of the reservoir started in 1984.
Gamani Dissanayake, Minister of the Mahaweli Development Project from 1977 till 1990, proposed the commemoration stupa to be built near Kotmale dam. Gamani Dissanayaka, a long-term UNP member of parliament, was a highly influential politician, who in 1994 became leader of the oppostion and the party's candidate in the presidential elections. But he was then assassinated by a female suicide bomber of the separatist terror group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The construction work of the Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya Stupa was commenced in 1983. The foundation stone was laid by President J. R. Jayewardene on 20 March of that year. Due to a construction standstill between 1991 and 2003, the opening ceremony after the completion, which was achieved also with the help of donations, was held on 20 June 2016. It was attended by 200 Buddhist monks and led by then President Maithripala Sirisena and then Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe.
Gamani Dissanayake, Minister of the Mahaweli Development Project from 1977 till 1990, proposed the commemoration stupa to be built near Kotmale dam. Gamani Dissanayaka, a long-term UNP member of parliament, was a highly influential politician, who in 1994 became leader of the oppostion and the party's candidate in the presidential elections. But he was then assassinated by a female suicide bomber of the separatist terror group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The construction work of the Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya Stupa was commenced in 1983. The foundation stone was laid by President J. R. Jayewardene on 20 March of that year. Due to a construction standstill between 1991 and 2003, the opening ceremony after the completion, which was achieved also with the help of donations, was held on 20 June 2016. It was attended by 200 Buddhist monks and led by then President Maithripala Sirisena and then Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe.
