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Maha SeyaFrom whichever road you are travelling to Mihintale your first sight is almost always the Maha seya, the largest and the most conspicuous stupa built half way up the Mihintale mountain. It will allure you from far like a white bubble dazzling brilliant under the sun. On the Trincomalee road in particular you sight it across the vast Mahakandara wewa – a sight too rich to be contained by your camera. On a moon lit, star strung night it glows milky white. And if it does rain, it appears even lovelier through a rosy mist. As such the Maha seya will never disappoint you, whether by day or night, sun or rain mystifying and beckoning you to the hallowed precincts of Missakapabbata.
The story of the Maha seya built by king Mahadathika Mahanaga (7-19 AC) is given in the great chronicle Mahavamsa as follows. "The lord of the earth had the great Ambasthala Cetiya constructed. When the masonry work did not hold, he recalled the virtues of the sage (Buddha) and, risking his own life, lay down there; having made the masonry work hold there, he had the Cetiya completed. At the four gates he arranged to be erected four gem-set arches, well executed by artists and dazzling with various precious stones. He fastened on the Cetiya a red woollen covering and fixed thereon golden balls and strings of pearls". What is understood by the above description is that the king realized that the limited space on the summit with its steep inclines on all the sides of the mountain will not bear the heavy weight of the stupa and made a firm determination to hold it on. According to popular belief, the urnaroma of the Lord Buddha is enshrined in this stupa. The thirteenth century Sinhalese literary work Pujavaliya and the slab inscription of Mahinda. IV at Mihintale refer to this stupa as Ambulu dagaba. Today the Mahaseya has a diameter of 136' at the base, a height estimated at about 45' and is very much a symbol of Mihintale. It is also a photographers challenge and prized picture. The picture produced here was taken two years back on a December evening when we were climbing the Mihintale rock (Aradhana gala) around six in the evening. The skyscape over the Maha seya blazed in unbelievable hues. So glorious was the cloud formations and the orange colours that fired it - for quite a few seconds we could only stop and stare. Then I had the presence of mind to take a photograph. But the glory of heavenly designs can never be satisfactorily captured by a mere man made contraption. by Kishanie S. Fernando
Updated
February 13, 2007
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