The Jetavanarama stupa or Jetavanaramaya ( si, ජේතවනාරාමය, jētavanārāmaya) is a stupa, or Buddhist reliquary monument, located in the ruins of Jetavana monastery in the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

world heritage city of

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

, Sri Lanka. At 122 metres (400 ft), it was the world's tallest stupa, and the third tallest structure in the world when it was built by King

Mahasena of Anuradhapura Mahasena, also known in some records as Mahasen, was a king of Sri Lanka who ruled the country from 277 to 304 CE. He started the construction of large tanks or reservoirs in Sri Lanka, and built sixteen such tanks. After becoming king, Mahasena ...

(273–301). He initiated the construction of the stupa''Sinhalese Monastic Architecture''. . following the destruction of the Mahaviharaya of Anuradhapura. His son Maghavanna I completed the construction of the stupa, and it was renovated by Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa. A part of a sash or belt tied by the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

is believed to be the relic that is enshrined here. The structure is significant in the island's history as it represents the tensions within the

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

and

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing br ...

sects of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

; it is also significant in recorded history as one of the tallest structures in the ancient world;Silva, R. 1990, "Bricks – A unit of construction in ancient Sri Lanka", ICTAD Journal, 2 (1): pp. 21–42 and the tallest non-pyramidal building; the height of the stupa was , making it the tallest stupa in the ancient world. With the destruction and abandonment of

kingdom in the 11th century, the stupa with others was covered by jungle. King Parakramabahu in 12th century tried to renovate this stupa and it was rebuilt to the current height, a reduction from the original height. Today it stands at . The compound covers approximately 5.6 hectares and is estimated to have housed 10,000 Buddhist monks. One side of the stupa is long, and the flights of stairs at each of the four sides of it are wide. The doorpost to the shrine, which is situated in the courtyard, is high. The stupa has a deep

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

, and sits on bedrock. The structure is no longer the tallest, but it is still the largest, with a base-area of . Approximately 93.3 million baked bricks were used in its construction; the engineering ingenuity behind the construction of the structure is a significant development in the history of the island.

Conception and History

Following king Jettha Tissa's death his brother Mahasena was consecrated as king by Mahayana monk Sanghamitta; under the monk's influence king Mahasena brought about a campaign against TheravadinsPrebish, C. ''Buddhism: A Modern Perspective''. dwelling in the Mahavihara. The differences between the Theravadins and Mahayanins escalated to an extent to which a penalty was established to any person providing alms to monks dwelling in the mahavihara. The Mahavamsa quotes Sanghamitta: "The dwellers in the Mahavihara do not teach the (true) vinaya, we are those who teach the (true) vinaya, O king".Jayasuriya, E. ''A Guide to The Cultural Triangle in Sri Lanka''. p. 6 The Mahavihara was eventually abandoned. The monks dwelling at the premises moved to Malaya country and the

Principality of Ruhuna The Principality of Ruhuna, also referred to as the Kingdom of Ruhuna, is a region of present-day Southern and Eastern Sri Lanka. It was the center of a flourishing civilisation and the cultural and economic centres of ancient Sri Lanka. Magama, T ...

, this was followed by the pillaging of Mahavihara by Sanghamitta and minister Sona, all valuable were transferred to

Abhayagiri vihāra Abhayagiri Vihāra was a major monastery site of Mahayana, Theravada and Vajrayana Buddhism that was situated in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is one of the most extensive ruins in the world and one of the most sacred Buddhist pilgrimage cities i ...

. The pillaging led to a rebellion by minister Meghavannabhaya, he raised an army from Malaya, and set camp by the Duratissaka tank. King Mahasena marched an army to meet minister Meghavannabhaya, where negotiations were reached night before the battle, and the king apologized for the pillaging and agreed to build a vihara at the grounds of Mahavihara, the Mahavamsa quotes the king: " will make the vihara to be dwelt in yet again; forgive me my fault". Sanghamitta was assassinated by a laborer on the instructions of a wife of the king, Sangamitta's demise and the construction of parivena by minister Meghavannabhaya marked the return of monks to the site of Mahavihara. Thus the construction of Jetavanaramaya began and was offered to the monk Tissa, but later the monk was accused of a grave offense upon investigation and proof by a minister, monk Tissa was eventually disrobed and expelled from the order. The Dakkhinagiri monks were then entrusted with the premises of Jetavana.

Late history

SL Anuradhapura asv2020-01 img25 Jetavanaramaya Stupa

The Jetavanaramaya was under the monks of the Sagalika sect. The Sagalica sect was closely linked with the Abhyagiri viharaya. Towards the end of the

Anuradhapura period The Anuradhapura period was a period in the history of Sri Lanka of the Anuradhapura Kingdom from 377 BCE to 1017 CE. The period begins when Pandukabhaya, King of Upatissa Nuwara moved the administration to Anuradhapura, becoming the kingdom's ...

, Jetavana monastery had developed into one of the three fraternities in the island along with Mahavihara and Abhyagiriya. The fraternities were united during the reign of King

Parakramabahu I Parākramabāhu I ( Sinhala: මහා පරාක්‍රමබාහු, 1123–1186), or Parakramabahu the Great, was the king of Polonnaruwa from 1153 to 1186. He oversaw the expansion and beautification of his capital, constructed extensiv ...

, who carried out pro-orthodox reforms against unorthodox or limited Theravadins.

Name and location

The importance of the Jetavanaramaya's location is that, Mahinda, who brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka, took up residence here to preach Dharma. Thus the forest was named ''Joitavana'' and was later called Jetavana.

Design and construction

As the largest ancient stupa constructed and one of the tallest ancient structures in the world, the structural ingenuity and engineering skills employed for the construction are significant. The foundations of the structure were 8.5m deep and the size of the structure required bricks which could withstand loads of up to 166 kg. The solid foundation lay on bed-rock and the dome was constructed of full and half bricks and earth fill, the unique shape of a perfect ellipsoid allowed for stress and thus allowed the construction of the large structure. The Mahavamsa describes the foundation laying, where

fissures A fissure is a long, narrow crack opening along the surface of Earth. The term is derived from the Latin word , which means 'cleft' or 'crack'. Fissures emerge in Earth's crust, on ice sheets and glaciers, and on volcanoes. Ground fissure ...

were filled with stones and stamped down by elephants whose feet were protected with leather bindings. The bricks used for the construction were a significant development of ancient Sri Lankan engineering, the bricks used for Jetavanaramaya had a composition of 60 percent fine

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class o ...

and 35 percent

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, the bricks could withstand .Ranaweera, M.P. "Some structural analyses related to the conservation of Jetavana Stupa". ''Proceedings of Engineering Jubilee Congress'',

University of Peradeniya The University of Peradeniya ( si, පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, பேராதனைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a public university in Sri Lanka, funded by the University ...

. Finely crushed dolomite, limestone,

sieve A sieve, fine mesh strainer, or sift, is a device for separating wanted elements from unwanted material or for controlling the particle size distribution of a sample, using a screen such as a woven mesh or net or perforated sheet materia ...

d sand and clay provided the bonding material for the bricks. The clay employed was pliable and thus accommodates movement within the structure. One of the sides of the brick was roughened to trap the bonding slurry thus limiting lateral movement. The stupa was then covered with

lime plaster Lime plaster is a type of plaster composed of sand, water, and lime, usually non-hydraulic hydrated lime (also known as slaked lime, high calcium lime or air lime). Ancient lime plaster often contained horse hair for reinforcement and pozzolan ...

; the plaster used contained

seashells A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washe ...

sugar syrup Inverted sugar syrup, also called invert syrup, invert sugar, simple syrup, sugar syrup, sugar water, bar syrup, syrup USP, or sucrose inversion, is a syrup mixture of the monosaccharides glucose and fructose, that is made by hydrolytic sacc ...

egg whites Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms aro ...

coconut water Coconut water (also coconut juice) is the clear liquid inside coconuts (fruits of the coconut palm). In early development, it serves as a suspension for the endosperm of the coconut during the nuclear phase of development. As growth conti ...

, glues, oils, plant

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...

, sand, clay and pebbles. The plaster also provided waterproofing for the structure. The Mahavamsa also mentions the use of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

sheets over the foundation and

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, ...

dissolved in

sesame oil Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. The oil is one of the earliest-known crop-based oils. Worldwide mass modern production is limited due to the inefficient manual harvesting process required to extract the oil. ...

to prevent insect and plant intrusions inside the stupa. It is estimated that Jetavanaramaya took 15 years to complete and would have required a skillful workforce of hundreds, including brickyard workers and bricklayers, and stonemasons.

Conservation

Until 1909, the colossal structure was covered with shrub jungle. Monk Kumbuke Dhammarama of Sailabimbaramaya temple of Gammanpita received approval to clear the stupa. The approval was however, canceled as the monk decided to settle down. Polonnaruwe Sobita sought and received permission to continue clearing the premises but approval was once again canceled when the monk initiated the collection of contributions. However, the monk refused to leave. Conservation in the late 1990s was funded by the income from ticket sales, mainly to foreign tourists to the three cultural triangle sites of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya. Bricks were burned using the same kind of mixture that was used by the builders of the original dagoba. There have however been a decline of the city due to the significant war that existed in the late 1990s, on the other hand, shortages of bricks led to slowering of the conservation of the dagoba.

Excavations

Excavations have revealed artifacts indicating that Sri Lanka was the primary entrepot for trade activity connecting the Indian rim countries as well as the Mediterranean and the Far East, and artistic influences that point to a shared culture in South Asia.

Notes

External links

Discover Sri Lanka - More information & images about Jetavana Dagaba
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jetavanaramaya Stupas in Anuradhapura Buildings and structures completed in the 4th century 12th-century Buddhist temples Archaeological sites in Sri Lanka Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Sri Lanka Tourist attractions in Sri Lanka Buddhist temples in Anuradhapura Archaeological protected monuments in Anuradhapura District