“Neelagiriya” the hidden colossal and Na maluwa monastery

copyrights belongs to Prof Raj Somadeva, department of archeology, SL – Click Map to Enlarge

Na maluwa in orange, hulannuge in green – Click Map to Enlarge

Neelagiri Seya (නීලගිරි සෑය) is a name I came across when I was going through the web site of archeology.lk. Since then I wanted to visit this site. So on a Saturday I got in to a Panama bus and travelled towards Lahugala where I got down and inquired from few locals about the sthupa. And one person volunteered and gave me a lift towards Heda Oya (හැඩ ඔය) where the road continues across the stream. After crossing Heda oya which had less than a foot of water, I came across an archeology resting hut. A person who was cooking for the team gave me a push bicycle which I happily rode until I reached the site which was under excavation.

this way please

yummy

wow!

funny..

Neelagiri hela which needs to be explored

හැඩ ඔය – Heda oya

not much of water to dip even

I was very lucky to find a team of archeologists at work. I did have a long chat with Mr Palitha who has been at this site for about 4 months I guess. He was kind enough to show me around and explain many facts to me. It was a pleasure to meet him since I also got the opportunity to inquire about other archeology sites around Monaragala. There were few huge trees still standing tall on the summit of this gigantic sthupa which is under excavation. As told to me this was once excavated and reconstructed in 1978 and left to the wild there after due to the civil war which lasted decades. They have found few statues and “Dathu Karandu’ during the excavation process. The ‘Yupagala” of the sthupa is still found fallen on the summit of the dhageba. There were parts of the “Chatragal” some flower alters & “siri pathula’ stones scattered around the sthupa.

Neelagiri seya

siri patul gala

a flower alter

side view

a huge tree on the dhageba

Yupagala on the summit of the dhageba

an ancient rock wall at Neelagiri hela can be visualized from the dhageba

some monoliths near the dhageba

proud

The north eastern sector of the monastery is a very interesting area hence I decided to explore. At this site there is an old stone quarry, a chapter house, many conical holes which were used for meditation, 3 Inscriptions, two drip ledged caves and remnants of a small sthupa on a rock. I didn’t wonder around much because I heard an elephant roaming in distance.

a stone quarry

an inscription covered

steps

what remains

another inscription

a chapter house

towards the small sthupa

What remains of the sthupa

another inscription covered with earth

a hooded cave

another cave

a conical hole

siri pathul gal

There is another interesting archeological site which is located on the Neelagiri Hela Mountain which needs to be explored some other day because it’s still not fully explored by the department of archeology. After hanging around we left back towards head Oya where the temporary camp site of the archeology guys was located and they were kind enough to offer me lunch also. After washing myself from Heda Oya I thanked them all for everything and left with happy memories.

crossing ahead

was close enough

a heard

and they go

had to say good bye

they were plenty

On a Friday evening after work my-self and Nishantha decided to rush towards Na maluwa (නා මලුව) archeological site which is located close to Mahakalugolla and 6Km’s towards Heda Oya. I first heard of this site from Mr Palitha who I met at Neelagiri maha seya. After tackling some 4WD roads we reached some chena cultivations just before the road ended at the ancient Na maluwa sthupa. The only significant archeological monument to be seen was this sthupa but we decided to walk towards the forest patch where a monk is said to reside. We found the only priest who was living here in a small drip ledged cave and we fell in to a deep conversation with him. He was kind enough to show us around and explain things also. This place once was a monastery which lasted for many centuries. First we visited few caves with drip ledges and inscriptions and later he took us to the summit point where there are remnants of an “Akasha Chaitya’ .

Na maluwa sthupa

a lonely tree

a Whooly Necked Stalk

a Pirith mandapaya

a cave

an alter

remnants of a akasha chaitya

Hulannuge taru len gala as seen from na maluwa

towards Heda oya

the drop

Heda Oya

Neelagiri hela which contains ruins and caves

After hanging around a bit and enjoying the scenery we decided to get down. On the way down we came across few carved out steps on a rock which led us towards a site with plenty of rock inscriptions. These inscriptions were huge and they were even in 4 to 5 rows. It was easy to identify them because the archeology students have taken imprints from them recently. There were few ruins in the vicinity too and most interesting finding was the “Kotta Paduru gala” where monks sat, slept and meditated. The number of inscriptions is a good guide for us to estimate that this monastery was modified among centuries and maintained in good condition. At the end of the day it was worth to meet the monk, otherwise we would have missed lot of interesting stuff…

another cave

an inscription

a huge cave

Rev Ellawala Medhananda was here

its some ones home

yet another cave

steps

the sthupa can be seen easily

an rock inscription

note the drip ledge

Geting down

imprints were taken

to be seated

කොට්ට පැදුරු ගල

another inscription

interesting shape

and more

few more steps

a five row inscription

carved out

washed away

enough of adventure

a piece of a chatra gala

a siri pathul gala

the yupa stone

the priest who showed us around

Please see this trip report to get to know about other interesting places around Lahugala