Thanthirimale - less-visited heritage site in Sri Lanka

Thanthirimale has become a popular place of pilgrimage among the Sinhalese Buddhists in recent years. For foreign travellers, this heritage site remains to be an off-the-beaten-track destination. There are at least three very different kinds of attractions in Thanthirimale for today’s visitors. Second only to the Bo-Tree of Anuradhapura, the Bo-Tree of Thanthirimale is held in high esteem as miraculously surviving in an inhostible surounding till the present day. Second only to the rock statues of Polonnaruwa, the reclining Buddha of Thanthirimale ist one of the three large rock-cut sculpture in this posture from the island’s ancient period. Furthermore, Thanthirimale is a prehistoric site. One of the few examples of ancient Veddah tribe paintings can be found in some of the rock shelters of Thanthirimale.

Scenery of Thanthirimale

Gently undulating like a wave, the granite hills of Thanthirimale are inviting to stroll around in the rocky terrain of this ancient site, just to enjoy the serenity and tranquitlity of this pleasant place. Walking around to find caves and ruins is a pleasant experience here, because Thanthirimale remiained to be a widely undisturbed heritage site. Sprawling extensive boulders spread over one square kilometre. The core area of the ancient site covers about 20 hectares. The surroundings are covered with shrub jungles. The area is surrounded by Malwatu Oya and Kanadara Oya by three sides. But in the 20th century, the Thanthirimale area was starkly depopulated due to its lack of water and the salty soil.
Not surprisingly, the panoramic site in of Thanthirimale is believed to be the setting of Sri Lanka’s best-known love affair. Part of the story is, that this abode of a hidden couple finally became their granted small “kingdom of love”:

History of Thanthirimale

Tantirimale is situated halfway between Anuradhapura and the island of Mannar, at the river Malwattu Oya which is connecting the ancient Sinhalese capital with Mantota near Mannar. Mantota, then known as Mahathitta, was the principal port for the Anuradhapura kingdom. This area also had also been the landing place of the first Sinhalese settlers, the followers of Prince Vijaya, who arrived on the islan which he called Thambapanni about 500 B.C.E. Thanthirimale, located upstream, definitely became one of the first Sinhalese villages on the island. Some believe it to be the ancient Upatthissagama mentioned in the chronicles. When Prince Vijaya ordered his followers to establish settlements in different areas, Upathisssa was one of his ministers. The village named after him was the first Sinhalese village and became a commercial city later on and it played an important role in early Sinhalese history.

The Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa chronicles describe the events under the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa, when the Buddhist order was established on the island, in much detail. They record that soon after the introduction of Buddhism by Thero Mahinda from India the Bo-sapling was brought from India to Sri Lanka by his sister, the nun Theri Sanghamitta. The chronicle mentions, that the Indian delegation and their Sinhalese welcome group rested on their way from Mantota to Anuradhapura at “the village of the Brahmin Thivakka” . As a token of appreciation of the hospitality of the Brahmin, an offshoot of the Bo-sapling was later on sent to him, after the sapling had been planted in Anuradhapura. Presumably, ever since Thanthirimale had been inhabited by reclusive monks.

When Saliya, the only son of the famous king Dutugemunu, was expelled from the royal family for the reason of falling in love with a girl from a lower caste, the loving couple took refuge in a remote region which is believed to have been Thanthirimale.

The golden era of Thanthirimale began in the late Anuradhapua period, about 700 C.E, when the Thanthirimale Raja Maha Vihara seems to have developed from a small temple to a large monastery. But most probably, the rock images date from the heydays of the Polonnaruwa period in the 12th century. In the middle of the 13th century, the monastery was destroyed by the marauding invader Kalinga Maga.

The place fell into decay and was unidentified till the 19th century. After its rediscovery, it remained abandoned till 1960, when Kudakongaskada Vimalagnana Thero, a 23-year-old Buddhist monk from the nearby village Ulukkulama, settled in Thanthirimale in order to resuscitate this place of worship. A stupa and an image house were constructed and a small Archaeological Museum of Thanthirimale was established, too. Many stone containers originally created to contain relics and precious adjubts had been scattered around the monastery premises and are now exhibited at the museum. Some Nagaraja statues can be seen in the museum, too, one of them nine-headed.

In 1990, the LTTE guerilla attacked this area and killed several persons. In 1992, they assassinated the chief incumbent. Venarable Thanthirimale Chandrarathana Thero became the successor. During the Poson month celebrations 2007, Thanthirimale was officially declared as a Sacred City by the Sri Lankan government.

Bo-Tree of Thanthirimale

The Bodhi tree of Thanthirimale is perched on top of the flat rock. For today’s Buddhist pilgrims, this Bo-tree is definitely the most sanctified object of veneration in Tantirimale. The Bo tree is surrounded by a dry stone wall. This structure is called a Bodhighara. “Bodhi-ghara” means “Bodhi(tree)-shrine”. The Bodhighara was restored with the original stones that were found in situ on top of the large stony layer. After the restauration of this wall surrounding the tree, Thanthirimale has Asia’s only ancient Bodhighara with its original tree still existing.
 
The tree is said to have smaller leaves than usual, due to the lack of water and the high concentration of salt in the soil. That this tree survived so many centuries at such an exposed place, without wind shelter, lacking fertile soil, is regarded as a miracle by pious Buddhists. That’s one more reason why Thanthirimale has the second most sacred Bo-Tree on the island.
Even after the conversion of King Devanampiya Tissa and Anuradhapura’s people to Buddhism, Thanthirimale seems to have remained a Brahminic place. When King Devanampiyatissa first visited the temple in Thanthirimale, it was known by another name. The Mahavamsa chronicle mentions two times Thivakka Bamunu (or Thivanka Bamunu) and his village, Bamunu being a name for a Hindu hermit. Firstly, on the procession from the coast to Anuradhapura, the Bo-Tree sapling sent by India’s emperor Ashoka was welcomed by Thivakka Bamunu. Secondly, one of the first eight off-shoots of the Bo-Tree, after planting it in Anuradhapura, was sent to Thivakka Bamunu. Thus the Bo-Tree of Thanthirimalee can count nearly 2300 years of existence. A rock inscription near the ancient Bodhi tree is said to confirm that one of the first eight offshoots of the “Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi” (Bo-Tree) was planted at Thivakka Bamunu Gama.

Although the name “Thivakka Bamunu Gama” suggests, the village was the home to a Brahmin called Thivanka, there is a different theory on the origin of the term”Thivakka”, which means “three curves”. The village (gama) could have been named after its location, being surrounded by three curves of the Malwatu river.

According to the Mahavamsa, the transfer of the Bo-Tree sapling from the coastline to the capital took several days. Later traditions have it, that it was kept at the village of Bamanu Thivakka, identified as Thanthirimale, one night. For example, the Pali name “Thivakka” is also mentioned in a chronicle of the late Anuradhapura period (10th century). This chronicle dedicated to the history of the Bo-Tree is named after this sacred Tree: Bodhivamsa or Mahabodhivamsa, Bodhi being an abbreviation for “Bodhi-Tree” (“Bo” again is an abbreviation of “Bodhi) and “Vamsa” meaning “Chronicle”.  The Bodhivamsa is a prose poem in elaborate sanskritized Pali, composed during the reign of Mahinda IV. The Bodhivamsa quotes verses from the Mahavamsa, which was written in the 6th century, but draws a great deal of its material from other sources, too.

Furthermore, there are folk legends connecting the Bo-Tree of Thivakka in today’s Thanthirimale even more closely with the original one that arrived from India. One version of the story says, that the Brahmin visite the Bo-Tree in Anuradhapura himself and from there returned with an off-shoot in order to plant it in Thanthirimale. Another version has it, that when the Bo-tree, on its transport to Anuradhapura, was kept in Thanthirimale for a while, one branch separately grew from the pot and was planted here to remember the incident. In consequence, the planting of the Thanthirimale Bo-Tree would have taken place even earlier than the planting in Anuradhapura. Hence, some believe that the Bo-Tree in Thanthirimale may well be the very first Bo-Tree in Sri Lanka at all.

Reclining Buddha of Thanthirimale

At the northern foot of the same rock, facing the Dagoba, is an enormous image of recumbent Buddha. This is the main attraction for heritage tourists in Thanthirimake. The scupture is carved on the steepest part of the northern slope of the rock. The reclining Buddha of Thanthrimale measures 14 m (45 ft) in length and is cut 2 m deep into the rock. It’s less spatial than the Sri Lanka’s most famous reclining Buddha, that of the Gal Vihara in Polonnaruwa. And the fall of the falts of the robe is less elaborated than in Polonnaruwa.

Originally the recumbent Buddha of Thanthirmale was protected by a roof and lying inside an ancient image house. The roof and its stone pillars disappeared centuries ago, exposing the statue to weathering, but the worst damage had been done by treasure hunters. The statue was severely damaged by treasure hunters who had burrowed into the ruins in search of treasures and blew up the face of the Buddha statue with dynamite. Although the Samadhi statue is now restored by Sri Lanka’s Department of Archeology, the result cannot be satisfactory, as the original face is lost forever.
There are two different datings of the recumbent Buddha of Thanthirimale. Most likely, it’s from the late Polonnaruwa period. This would correspond to the theory that it remained unfinalized, since the artists and workers fled, when the troops of the invader Kalinga Magha marauded on the island and destroyed the Polonnaruwa Kingdom. The reclining Buddha of Thanthirimale seems to be a parochial and degenerated copy of the much more elaborate recling Buddha of the Gal Vihara in Polonnaruwa, which is most probably a work of the Polonnaruwa heydays, the reign of Parakramabahe the Great in the second half of the 12th century.  

Nevertheless, some historians dated back the Thanthirimale Buddha to the late Anuradhapura period  for stylistical reasons. The body is more symmetrical than that of the Gal Vihara sculpture and its contemporary copy in Bakamuna, the Attaragollava Buddha. For example, the contours of the legs under the garment are equal in width, whereas the underlying leg of the reclining Buddha in Polonnaruwa is slightly pushed in. The waiste is less distinct and it’s also symmetrical, in contrast to the reclining Buddhas of Gal Vihara and Attaragollava with their left waistes cut deeper, more similar to a relaxed lying human being. All in all, the reclining Buddha on Thanthirimale seems to be similar to a standing Buddha laid down in a horizontal line. The stylistical similarities to standing giant Buddha statues in Aukana and Sasseruwa are the reason why some art historian date the Thanthirimale Buddha to the same period as those standing Buddha, the 9th or 10th century, instead of the Polonnaruwa period.

Sedentary Buddha of Thanthirimale

The sedentary Buddha statue carved into the rock face is 2.2 m in height. It is called Samadhi Buddha due to its meditating posture known as Dhyani Mudra or just Samadhi Mudra. Stone pillars in front of the sedentary statue indicate that the seated Buddha statue was once sheltered by a roof. Similarly to the reclining Buddha, the statue was in the interior of an image house. There are more pillars and carved stones scattered around the site.

Next to the Samadhi statue, four other figures have been carved into the same rock surface. Niches with uncompleted roughly marked torsos of deities. The unfinished state of the images could indicate that site wasen abandoned by the craftsmen in haste, maybe due to foreign invasions.
Behind the image of the sedentary Buddha is a dragon arch similar to those that can be seen behind the seated Buddha inside the Vidyhadhara Guha cave of the Gal Vihara in Polonnaruwa. Like in Polonnaruwa, attendants holding flywhisks can also be seen. Flywhisks, called “chamara” or “prakirnaka” are common symbols in Tantric forms of Buddhism, sweeping away obstacles to enlightenment. But in ancient India, they were an emblem of royalty and souvereignty, too. The statue is also decorated with the images of two lions and two Makara-crocodiles.

Lotus pond of Thanthirimale

Descending from the granite hill with the Bo-Tree and the Buddha statues, the visitor arrives at a lotus pond, contributing much to the quaint atmosphere of the setting of Thanthirimale.
According to local belief, this pond never rund dry. Indeed, it’s an artificial little tank formed by an embankment built from rock to rock.

Library complex of Thanthirimale

Behind the lotus pond is a cluster of caves and ancient structures. Inscriptions in ancient Brahmi script can be found at the caves. An artificial niche is identified as a Pothgula, a so-called library. Library room of a Buddhist monastic complex was not a study room but a repository for palm-leaf manuscripts of sacred texts and for other ritual objects. A stone structure in the niche appears to have been used for rituals.
Just in front of the library cave is a building in the form of a double-platform. These structures are Padhanagharas. They are typical for forest monasteries of a specific group of reclusive monks called Pamsukulikas. This group came to existence in the 6th or 7th century. They built their own monasteries in the 8th to 10th century. This indicates, that Thanthirimale served as a forest monastery during the late Anuradhapura period. But is does not mean, that this monastery was not inhabited by other monks than Pamsukulikas. About a dozen Padhanagara meditation platforms and meditation can be found in Thanthirimale scattered over 100 hectare. Some of them were surrounded by water and were also used for punitive rituals. Five medition in this area were inhabited already in the first century B.C.E, Brahmi inscriptions mention the donors.

Prehistoric cave paintings of Thanthirimale

Pre-historic drawings can be found in two adjacent caves, which are situated 500 m west of the library compex and can be reached on a small jungle track. The caves at Tantirimale had been inhabited prior to the recorded history of Sri Lanka’s ancient Sinhalese civilization. The murals are said to be left by the aboriginal inhabitants of the island, predecessors of today’s Veddah tribes (Wedda people). These drawings are assumed to be almost 4000 years old. There are stylized depictions of feline preditors and deer and of heavenly bodies such as sun and moon. Some symbols seem to have been pictogramms, precursors of writing characters. The first cave is 6.50 meters wide and extends up to 3.75 meters high. The second cave, situated on the rear side of the same rock, is 3.60 meters in width and 3.70 meters in height.
In 1909, John Still, assistant of the then Archaeological Commisioner H.C.P. Bell and author of the celebrated book "The Jungle Tide", discovered archaeological evidence from the surface layer. “In prehistoric times it must have been the refuge of human beings, for in it I found fragments of cherts and a piece of crystal. These were not in any sense implements, but they may have been waste chips thrown away while implements were being made for they are of material quite foreign for their surroundings”, he wrote.

Dagoba of Thanthirimale

It is not known whether a dagoba existed in Thanthirimale in antiquity. A modern dagoba was built on the summit of granite hill in 1976. The white dome of the stupa contrasts picturesquely with the dark colour of the boulder.
To the left of the dagoba is a newly-built image house, too. The modern shrine of the Thanthirimale temple was begun in the 1970s and contains many colourful wall paintings.

Name of Thanthirimale

The official name of the monastery is “Thanthirimale Raja Maha Vihara” or “Thanthirmale Rajamaha Viharaya”.  There are many different spellings of the site’s name. “Tantirimale” is very common, “Thantirimale” and  “Tantirimalai” or “Tantrimale” can also be found. The second part of the name “-male” is derived from the common Indian word “malai” for “hill”. “Thantiri” my refer to “Tantra”, a specific form of Buddhism which is uncommon in Sri Lanka. However, there is a much more poetical etymology of the name “Thanthirimale”. “Male” can mean “ “necklace” in Sinhala, and “Thanthitiya” is the name of a common butterfly”. The interpretation as “butterfly necklace” refers to an episode of a much beloved story. The namegiving golden necklace in the shape of the butterfly, a gift of King Dutthagamani, is believed to have been enshrined in the rock of Thanthirimale by Ashokamala, wife of his son, Prince Saliya.

Sri Lanka's little Kingdom of Love

The reason why the quaint hills of Thanthirimale earn the title "Kingdom of love" is the belief that it once was the setting of the island's most popular love story, the legend of Prince Saliya and Ashokamala.

Prince Saliya and Ashokamala

The story of Saliya and Ashokamala is the most famous love affair in Sri Lankan history, the Sinhalese version of “Romeo and Juliette”, but ending less tragically. King Dutugemunu had only one son. Prince Saliya was virtuous and indulged in a life with constant meritorious deeds. This young prince called Saliya fell in love with a beautiful Chandala girl named Ashokamala. But because of her low caste, Prince Saliya was told he could not become the next king, if he continued his love affair with this girl. However, Prince Saliya’s love for Ashokamala was much greater than his desire for the kingdom. So he married her irrespective of the pious wishes of the nation. This brief account, stating that Saliya in love with Ashokamala forgot the kingdom, is told in the 33rd chapter of the ancient Mahavamsa chronicle. The story was augmented in the course of time. According to the Mahavamsa, Saliya and Asokamala had been husband and wife already in a previous life. A commentary to the Mahavamsa, called the Mahavamsa-Tika, already gives a more comprehensive account of this love story, stressing even more the Buddhist belief in rebirth. When Prince Saliya was walking in a grove of Ashoka trees, he suddenly heard a song sung by a wonderful voice. Following the attracting sounds, he saw a pretty young woman plucking Ashoka flowers. Prince Saliya fell in love with the girl at the first sight, not knowing, that he had been her husband already in a previous life and therefore was attracted so much. Folk legends know more about the wrath of the father, King Dutugemunu, due to this affair out of keeping with his son’s station. The law those days was so strict on the matter, that Saliya and Ashokamala were threatened to face the death penalty. But this could not separate them. When King Dutugemunu came to know about the illegal love affair of his only son, he got furious and banished the Crown Prince from the capital. But once the King, unknowingly, visited the area where his son lived in hiding. Ashokamala then sent him a curry made of a very rary delicious herb, which was Ratthampala. The king was delighted to see the wonderful dish. But when he inquired from where it had come, his servants replied, it was from Ashokamala. Enraged, King Dutugemunu slammed the dish on the wall instantly. The time passed without any contact between father and son. Then King Dutugemunu had a wound in his leg, which was very painful and could not be cured by the doctors. In the end they told him, there would be only one prescription perfectly healing the wound, but this would require the Ratthampala herb, which they were not able to find anywhere. Hearing this, one servant of the king remembered that pulp smashed on the wall, where it had dried. So he sent a palace guardian to scratch it. As soon as King Dutugemunu took the remnants of that Ratthampala meal, his terrible wound was cured. The relieved king now enquired from where they found that rare Ratthampala. The servants were frightened to death but told the truth. Hearing that it was the meal prepared by Ashokamalla that had finally cured him, the old king now felt very sorry for Ashokamala. Soon the couple was summoned to the palace in order to arrange an official wedding ceremony. The king was now pleased to see the beautiful Ashokamala and pardoned his son for the crime of falling in love with her. Nevertheless, due to his undercaste marriage, Prince Saliya could not inherit the kingdom any more. Instead of this, King Dutugemunu granted them their hiding place as their private kingdom of love. Additionally, the king presented Ashokamala a golden necklace made of beads in the shape of a butterfly called Thanthiriya. The beautiful necklace was enshrined by Ashokamala in a rock, that from now on bore the name of it. This is the place where the loving couple continued to live a happy life. Many consider the famous sculpture of the “Isurumuni lovers” to be a depiction of Saliya and Ashokamala. Galgiriya, an isolated mountain in the remote area between Galgamuwa and the tank Kalawewa, also claims to be the setting of the exile of Sri Lanka's happy Romeo and Juliette couple. A hamlet called Saliyagama (translated "Saliya-village") is situated just 5 km south of Galgiriya. But on this webpage about the beautiful ancient site of Thanthirimale, there can be no other conclusion than this: It was Thanthirimale, the "butterfly-neclace", which became Saliya’s and Ashokamalas kingdom of love.

Mahavamsa on Saliya

"During the reign of raja Duttha Gamani the nation enjoyed great prosperity. He had a son renowned under the designation of the royal prince Sali, gifted with good fortune in an eminent degree, and incessantly devoted to acts of piety. He became enarmoured of a lovely female of the candala caste. Havong been wedded in a former existence also to this maiden, whose name was Asokamala, and who was endowed with exquisitie beauty, fascinated therewith he relinquished his right to the sovereignty (to retain hs low-born wife)."

cited from:
Wijesinha, Mudaliyar L.C.,
The Mahavamsa, translated from the original Pali into English, for the Government of Ceylon. Colombo: G.J.A Skeen, Government Printer, Ceylon, 1889.

Mahavamsa on Ashokamala

"During the reign of raja Duttha Gamani the nation enjoyed great prosperity. He had a son renowned under the designation of the royal prince Sali, gifted with good fortune in an eminent degree, and incessantly devoted to acts of piety. He became enarmoured of a lovely female of the candala caste. Having been wedded in a former existence also to this maiden, whose name was Asokamala, and who was endowed with exquisitie beauty, fascinated therewith he relinquished his right to the sovereignty (to retain hs low-born wife)."

cited from:
Wijesinha, Mudaliyar L.C.
The Mahavamsa, translated
"UNDER the rule of the king Dutthagámani the subjects in the kingdom lived happily; Sálirájakumára was his famous son.

Greatly gifted was he and ever took delight in works of merit; he tenderly loved a candála woman of exceedingly great beauty. Since he was greatly enamoured of the Asokamáládevi, who already in a former birth had been his consort, because of her loveliness, he cared nothing for kingly rule."

cited from:
http://mahavamsa.org/mahavamsa/original-version/33-ten-kings/
(28.12.2015)

Brahmin Tivakka and the Bo-Tree

"On the tenth day he placed the great Bodhi-tree upon a beautiful car and he, the king of men, accompanying this, the king of trees, he who had knowledge of the (right) places caused it to be placed on the spot where the Eastern Monastery (afterwards) was and commanded a morning meal for the people together with the brotherhood. Here the great thera Mahinda related fully to the king the subduing of the nägas which had been achieved by the (Buddha) gifted with the ten powers.

When the monarch heard this from the thera he caused monuments to be raised here and there in such places as had been frequented by the Master by resting there or in other ways. And, moreover, when he had caused the great Bodhi-tree to be set down at the entrance to the village of the brahman Tivakka and in this and that place besides, he, (escorting it) on the road, sprinkled with white sand, bestrewn with various flowers, and adorned with planted pennons and festoons of blossoms, bringing thereto offerings unweariedly, day and night, brought the great Bodhi-tree on the fourteenth day to the neighbourhood of the city of Anurädhapura, and after, at the time when the shadows increase, he had entered the city worthily adorned by the north gate amid offerings, and (when he then), leaving the city again by the south gate, had entered the Mahämeghavanäräma consecrated by four Buddhas,[15] and here had brought (the tree) to the spot worthily prepared by Sumana’s command, to the lovely place where the former Bodhi-trees had stood, he, with those sixteen noble persons, who were wearing royal ornaments, lifted down the great Bodhi-tree and loosed his hold to set it down.

Hardly had he let it leave his hands but it rose up eighty cubits into the air, and floating thus it sent forth glorious rays of six colours. Spreading over the island, reaching to the Brahma-world, these lovely rays lasted till sunset. Ten thousand persons, who were filled with faith by reason of this miracle, gaining the spiritual insight and attaining to arahantship, received here the pabbajja.

When the great Bodhi-tree at sunset was come down from (its place in the air) it stood firm on the earth under the constellation Rohini. Then did the earth quake. The roots growing over the brim of the vase struck down into the earth, closing in the vase. When the great Bodhi-tree had taken its place all the people who had come together from (the country) round, worshipped it with offerings of perfumes, flowers and so forth. A tremendous cloud poured forth rain, and cool and dense mists from the snow-region surrounded the great Bodhi-tree on every side. Seven days did the great Bodhi-tree abide there, awaking faith among the people invisible in the region of the snow. At the end of the week all the clouds vanished and the great Bodhi-tree became visible and the rays of six colours.
The great thera Mahinda and the bhikkhuni Samghamitta went thither with their following and the king also with his following. The nobles of Kajaragama and the nobles of Candanagama and the Brabman Tivakka and the people too who dwelt in the island came thither also by the power of the gods, (with minds) eagerly set upon a festival of the great Bodhi-tree. Amid this great assembly, plunged into amazement by this miracle, there grew out of the east branch, even as they gazed, a faultless fruit.

This having fallen off the thera took it up and gave it to the king to plant. In a golden vase filled with earth mingled with perfumes, placed on the spot where the Mahääsana (afterwards) was, the ruler planted it. And while they all yet gazed, there grew, springing from it, eight shoots; and they stood there, young Bodhi-trees four cubits high.

When the king saw the young Bodhi-trees he, with senses all amazed, worshipped them by the gift of a white parasol and bestowed royal consecration on them.

Of the eight Bodhi-saplings one was planted at the landing place Jambukola on the spot where the great Bodhi-tree had stood, after leaving the ship, one in the village of the Brahman Tivakka, one moreover in the Thüpäräma, one in the Issarasamanäräma, one in the Court of the First thüpa, one in the äräma of the Cetiya-mountain, one in Kajaragäma and one in Candanagäma. But the other thirty-two Bodhi-saplings which sprang from four (later) fruits (were planted) in a circle, at a distance of a yojana, here and there in the vihäras."

cited from:
http://mahavamsa.org/mahavamsa/original-version/19-coming-bodhi-tree/
(28.12.2015)

Location of Thanthirimale

The ancient site of Thanthirimale is situated in a remote dry-zone area at the border of Wilpattu National Park, 37 km northwest of Anuradhapura.