Hello my loving Hivers,
What's up? I think you are doing well. Greetings from Sri Lanka.After long time I couldn't posted on this awesome travel community. But today come back with nice travel experience. Last Monday evening my family and I left for a special temple. Vesak Poya Day is a religious festival celebrated by Buddhists on a grand scale. You may recall that I presented to you in two separate articles the Vesak decorations and religious offerings made there. In this post I present a series of information and beautiful scenes that add value to travel.
All vehicles must park in the exit parking zone at the time of entering the temple grounds, as this is done with special respect to the temple. The entrance gate opens and is designed like an old Buddhist gateway with a small roof. This temple has a very old history and may have been built more ancient during the reign of the king. It may have become a ruin later. In recent times, the gate has been redesigned using old symbols. The name plate of the temple is displayed in Sinhala and English before entering the stairs of the temple premises.
Due to the full moon Poya week of Vesak, the temple road was decorated with large Buddhist flags. It is a function performed in any Buddhist temple. Its purpose is to pay homage to the Buddha and to cleanse the temple grounds.
If you wish to reach the Yatagala Temple, you can do so via two routes. Come to Galle town and turn off at Unawatuna Eramudugaha Junction on Matara Road. You can also enter from Galle town by turning off at Vanchawala junction on Akuressa road.
An ornamental lake was built some time ago to enhance the beauty of the lower ground of the Yatagala Temple. In fact, the benches around the lake are made of cement and it is a privilege to allow the distant devotees to relax and enjoy the coolness of nature. The region is rich in different types of trees and plants. How wonderful is the wind and the shade of the trees. There are several ducks living in this lake but they could not be found in the lake or in the temple grounds due to the large gathering.
In the lower temple grounds there was a small dagoba and above it were large boulders. From that I could conclude that this area was also completely covered with forest about many years ago. The presence of caves under the rocks provides evidence that Arahant was meditating at that time.
As we took off our shoes and started climbing the stairs, I saw a library of children's books in the area. I came to know that this library is run by Vihara contributors. From time immemorial, all the virtues and wisdom were imparted by the temples. This library provides excellent evidence of that.
To the left of the library is the temple where the monks of the temple reside, the hall where the sacred relics are kept and the Dhamma hall where the Dhamma school children are educated.
Then we started climbing the stairs to see and worship the old temple at the top of the hill. The stone carvings of this staircase show the amazing architecture. Many ancient temples in Sri Lanka are made of stone. It was raining today so I had to be careful walking down the stairs. Yatagala Maha Viharaya is a historical site located in the Akmeemana Divisional Secretariat Division in the capital city of the Southern Province, Galle.
The photo above shows the main bell tower of the temple. It is clear that it was made recently. Perhaps the old bell tower was in ruins and had to be rebuilt. Usually the bell of this tower is rung to alert the villagers to a special occasion or emergency at the temple. It's a unique feature of communicating an emergency at a time when communication technology is not advanced.
My daughter entered the Bodhi tree which we worship with great devotion. Look at the footer before entering it. The moonstone can be considered as a unique creation that has a special historical significance in the art of Buddhist carving. It also has artistic value. Especially in Sri Lanka, this moonstone is the first thing we find on the steps of the entrances to monasteries and houses of idols. It is worth mentioning that this moonstone, which showcases the creative skills of Sri Lankan stone carvers, gives a beautiful look to the entrance of a religious building.
Moonstone literally means 'moon - half' - half moon - shaped rock. It means 'half moon'. It seems that the Sinhala word has become synonymous with the word moon by turning the words. The author of Vansatthappakasini must have meant 'stairs' as 'words'. In that sense it can be considered as made of stone.
The Bo tree provides shade for the Buddha to attain enlightenment, so Buddhists worship and offer offerings with great devotion. Although a large number of people were not present, a significant number of people performed poojas. According to him, this was done in AD. Minister Devapathiraja was created by the order of King Parakramabahu II who ruled from 1225 to 1259.
As we climbed up the stairs that stretched up from the Bo tree, we saw a pool of dried up water. The bottom of it looked good and was not that deep. Above it was a small Buddha statue.
A small bridge-like stairway was built at that time to walk between these rocks, and is still standing strong without any restoration.
It can be inferred that these rocks are very large and old. During this journey, one can see a number of caves where Arahants could meditate. It is clear that their path to Nirvana was not hindered by a forested area at that time. Meanwhile, the three of us also posed for a selfie. You can see the comfort she got from this trip through my daughter's smile.
The Buddha statue in the Yatagala temple is quite tall. Its colors are properly painted and enhances the antiquity and splendor of the temple. Many Buddhists were seen paying homage to this Buddha statue by offering flowers. In fact, the books state that some of the ancient inscriptions and historical documents located in the Yatagala Maha Viharaya have been destroyed due to the lack of understanding of antiquity during the occasional renovations. The main dagoba was built next to the Buddha statue. Surprisingly, it is not as big as other old temples.
According to ancient Sri Lankan Buddhist architecture, I had never seen such a mansion. Even the shape of its roof was strange to me. Perhaps this is the architecture of a country with a different Buddhist culture. I will not go into further details as I do not understand much about it.
You are very lucky to be able to visit places that have a long history, this is a science in itself for all of us.
Have a nice day 🤗🤗
Visiting historical places enhance our knowledge. So why I love to travel.
!ALIVE
Yes that's what i mean 🤗🤗
It is a nice place, it looks very peaceful and very beautiful full of nature.
Yeah it has calm and beautiful environment.
!ALIVE
The rewards earned on this comment will go directly to the person sharing the post on Twitter as long as they are registered with @poshtoken. Sign up at https://hiveposh.com.
Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍
Did you know you have your own profile map?
And every post has their own map too!
Want to have your post on the map too?