Sankapala Raja Maha Viharaya - war hero became a saint

Sankapala Raja Maha Viharaya is situated near Pallebedda to the north of Embilipitiya, near the Ratnapura-Hambantota main road (A18). According to folk believes, Sankapala was the residence of Pussa Deva, one of the warriors of King Dutthagamani, who after the war received enlightenment as a monk. This means, Sankapala is considered to have been the abode of an Arahat. The cave temple was restored during the Kandyan period. Most decorations are from the 20th century. Interestingly, places of worship for Hindu deities are integrated in the mainly Buddhist complex, which is nicely located on diverse levels at the slope of a hill.
The Buddhist temple called Sankapala Rajamaha Viharaya is located 5 km (3 miles) south of the Pallebedda township to which it belongs. It is situated on a mountain slope just east of the road A18, which leads towards Embilipitiya.
The temple of Sankapala is associated with the legend of King Dutthagamani's fight against Tamil rule in Anuradhapura. The Mahavansa chronicle tells that ten giants fought on Dutthagamani's side, the so-called Dasamaha Yodayas.

One of them was Phussadewa. The king commissioned him to gather the soldiers into battle formation. For this purpose he used a bugle, from which the name Sankapala is derived. Before the decisive battle of Vijithapura, Phussadewa blew this horn. After the war, Dutthagamani left the horn to his companion Phussadewa, who kept it in Sankapala, because the king had rewarded him with lands around Pallebadde, which also included Sankapala. Phussadewa erected the stupa above his horn at the highest point of today's monastery complex.

After the war, Phussadewa fell into a depression because of the many people killed. The king then allowed him to become a monk, and so the giant withdrew to the monastery of Sankapala, which the king had founded for him. And Phussadeva meditated in a cave of Sankapala and attained enlightenment there. Thereby, the former giant warrior became an Arahant, a Buddhist saint.
The ancient sanctuary lay abandoned for a long time. It was only re-founded in the late 18th century by a reform monk named Karathota Dharmarama. While he was still living in Kandy, the monk was imprisoned by King Rajadhi Rajasingha because he was suspected of being too close to the Dutch. While in prison, he wrote a small work of poetry called "Bharasa Kavya Gharbha Chakraya". The book was presented to many pandits but none understood the words. Finally, the king called a meeting of scholars in the king's audience hall "Raja Sabawa" in Kandy. When the meaning of the verses became clear to him, the king was so happy that he released the monk and gifted the site of the venerable Sankapala Rajamaha Vihara for him, which had, of course, long since been overgrown. Karathota Dharmarana restored the monastery. For this pious deed, King Rajadhi Rajasingha donated the village of Pallebedda to him, which meant the villagers had to pay taxes to support the temple.
There is a labyrinthine system of stairways and caves in the area. There are altogether 14 caves in the Sankapala area. Most of the buildings are recent and gaudy. This forms a strange contrast to the natural rock formations.
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entrance gate of the Buddhist temple of Sankapala near Embilipitiya
If you walk through the large entrance arch, you will arrive at two staircases that will meet again further up. The one on the left leads to the temple area for the god Kataragama, the one on the right leads to the Buddhist shrines.
Kataragama is the main god of the south. Most pilgrims in Sankapala are drawn to his shrine. The temples for Hindu gods in Buddhist temples are called Devalayas, which literally means "abode of the gods". The pilgrim groups are looked after during their ceremonies by expert priests, who are not Tamil Brahmins, but Sinhalese Kapuralas. As at the god's main temple in Kataragama, a flaming coconut is thrown onto a stone in front of the temple to shatter it. When it opens, the pilgrim's wishes come true at that moment. Otherwise he will have to face bad luck. Sankapala is a sanctuary heavily frequented by pilgrims. In particular, owners of newly purchased cars come to the temple to seek blessings for their vehicle.
The Kataragama Temple is located partly on a small outdoor platform, surrounded by rocks, and partly in an inner cave area, which is partly natural and is home to many bats. In addition to bats, monkeys also roam the rocky and tree-rich terrain.
Further up lies the main group of Buddhist cave temples decorated with statues and paintings. Like in the case of most so-called vave temples in Sri Lanka, the shrine roomes are actually shelters under overhanging rock closed by front walls.

In this area there are two very old Brahmi inscriptions that mention the name of Phussadewa, which proves the antiquity of the legend about him - and of course for Sinhalese believers the historic truth of this entire legend. Phussadewa's grave or rather cremation site is venerated halfway to the site of Pallebedda.
The largest cave has a dominant porch on the outside that looks like papier-mâché. Inside it is brightly coloured with murals from the 20th century. The small cave to the left is more interesting. It's not a work of art either. But you can see some typical standing figures of Buddhas and gods and wall paintings from the colonial era here.
On its entrance door you can see a square field with Sinhalese consonants in 18 rows and 18 columns. It is a motif from the Kandyan period. These are song lyrics with a lot of “Lalala”. This is the only way the following “miracle” is possible: you can sing the lines full of Sinhalese letters from left to right and from right to left, as well as the columns from top to bottom and from bottom to top. In a sense it is a crossword songbook. These are said to be the mysterious verses of the monk Dharmarama, which so fascinated King Rajadhi Rajasingha that he released him from prison and founded the Sankapala Monastery for him.
In addition to the Buddha statue, you can also see figures and paintings of Hindu gods in the caves, protecting Buddhism or paying homage to the Buddha.

To the right of the main temples, the path continues, initially along rock shelters that used to serve as living cells for monks, as can be seen from the drip ledges called Katarama above. They once helped to reduce the penetration of moisture. In about every second cave of Sankapala you can still see Brahmi inscriptions from pre-Christian times on those drip ledges.
The path ends at the highest point of the monastery area, which is crowned by a white dagoba. As said, the relic enshrined in it is believed to be Phussadewa's bugle from Dutthagamani's military campaign. From the white Dagoba you have a view of the western edge of the Singharaja rainforest, Sankapala being situated in the foothills.