- TURY.CLUB
- Tourist Objects
- Sri Lanka
- Ampara
- Piangala Forest Monastery
The ruins of the ancient Piangal Forest Monastery are located in the east of Sri Lanka, 27 km from the city of Ampara. The monastery was built in the 1st century BC, under King Dutthagamani, ruler of the state of Ruhunu. State affairs and military victories of Dutthagamani, the son of King Cavantiss and Queen Vihar Maha Devi, are described in some detail in the Great Chronicle of the Mahavamsa, but there is practically no information about his private life. The discovered graffiti on the walls of the caves of the Piangal Monastery are dedicated to his wife, Queen Rajit, who, as historians suggest, was the patroness of the monastery. The sanctuary is built on top of a rocky hill in the middle of a dense forest. The monastery has about 50 cave cells in which Buddhist monks lived and meditated in ancient times. The caves are "scattered" on an area of about 200 hectares, the most famous of which is the cave Chithra Lena, on the walls of which cave paintings and inscriptions are well preserved to this day. At the top of the cliff there is a large cave Utharaguthatherahalena surrounded by 20 smaller caves, in them I arhats (enlightened) lived and meditated in the 1st century BC. Scientists suggest that before the monks appeared here, the caves served as a dwelling for the indigenous Sri Lankan tribe of the Vedda. The monastery, for an unknown reason, was abandoned, over time it was swallowed by the jungle. In 2009, blasting operations were carried out in the area to extract building material for the future Oluvil Harbor seaport. The explosions caused a rock collapse during a survey of the area and the ruins of the Piangal Forest Monastery were discovered. Time, mining a quarry and forest fires caused great damage to the monastery. Nevertheless, more and more tourists visit the picturesque ruins, hermit monks, and today they settle in caves for meditation in private with nature, a stupa was recently built at the entrance to the monastery.
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