Ritigala Mountain, where Mahasona
is believed to have originated
It is said that Ritigala mountain is called "Arittha Pabbata" The rock of
protection in the Mahavamsa. Legend has it that Hanuma, who went to India in
search of medicinal plants to heal the wounded in the Rama, Ravana war, forgot
the name of the medicinal plant he needed. A part of the medicine rock he
brought fell on this ridge, and today the "Ushadha Kanda", which has many rare
medicinal herbs, was formed from it. a story
Also, the abode of the "Arittha" arahant of Mihidu Maha Arahant's lineage as
well as the protected military training of Prince Pandukabhaya. It is said
that Mount Ritigala was also used as a center. There is another interesting
story associated with the name Ritigala in folklore. That is the story of the
battle between Ritigala Jayasena and the Gothaimbara giants. Both Ritigala
Jayasena and Gothaimbara participated in a celebration of King Dutugemunu's
military victory.
Here Ritigala Jayasena had thought about Gothaimbara's beautiful wife. In an
incident that occurred there, Ritigala Jayasena got into an argument and
challenged Gothaimbarava to a fight. The battle began at the appointed place
on the appointed day. Gothaimbara who was a shorter person than Ritigala
Jayasena, who was a few cubits tall, was not even half that tall. Because of
this, the people who came to watch the battle had the vision of Gothambara's
severe defeat. But, something unexpected happened. At the beginning of the
battle, during the worship, Ritigala Jayasena suddenly jumped into the air and
kicked Ritigala Jayasena's chin with Gothambara's kick. Ritigala Jayasena's
head was separated from the mountain by the kick and rested in a karada tree a
few miles away. (The place where the Oluwa Karada tree rested is called
"Olukarada" today. The village beyond our village)
At the moment when Ritigala Jayasena's head was severed by the kick, he
remembered Lord Saturn. So, seeing what had happened, Lord Saturn, who was
suddenly disturbed, took a varahek's head and attached it to Jayasena's head,
which was separated from the head. It is said that Jayasena, who was
resurrected, gave birth to the great grave devil or "Mahasona".
Ritigala Mountain
Ritigala mountain consists of four peaks that rise steeply from the
surrounding plain. The mountain is 6.5 km in length and is divided into northern
and southern blocks by Maha-Degala Gorge. The highest peak is Ritigala Kanda
in the southern block.
At 766 m (2,513 ft) above sea level and 600 m (2,000 ft) above the
surrounding plains, Ritigala is the highest mountain in northern Sri Lanka.
The modern name Ritigala is derived from the ancient name Ariá¹á¹ha Pabbata
(Dreadful Mountain), mentioned in the Mahavamsa.
Its elevation is higher than the other main tourist attractions of the north
central plains, namely Sigiriya, Dambulla, and Mihintale. The significance
of this topographical feature lies in the abrupt sheerness of the massif,
its wooded slopes, and the wet microclimate at the summit.
The mountains intercept moisture-bearing winds and generate orographic
precipitation, which makes the mountains wetter than the surrounding lowlands.
During the northeast monsoon (December to February), Ritigala experiences the
highest rainfall (125 cm) in the entire dry zone.
The wet micro-climate at Ritigala is a singular occurrence in the north
central plains, ancient Sri Lanka’s “Wewu Bandi Rata” meaning “the land of
rainwater reservoirs” in Sinhalese.
The climate at the summit is in sharp contrast to the climate at the foot; it
is cooler in comparison to the hot and dry climate of the region. The mist and
cloud cover which cover the summit during the southwest monsoon results in
high vapor condensation, in turn, turning the earth moist when the plains all
around are in a drought.
Legends
Legends abound on Ritigala. One of the mysterious aspects is the belief in powerful
medicinal herbs found near the crest. An herb called “Sansevi” is believed to
have the power of conferring long life and curing all human pain. According to
legend, all vegetation on Ritigala is protected by Yakkas, the guardian
spirits of the mountain. The venerable Prof. Walpola Sri Rahula Maha Thera
(1907–1997), a Professor of History and Religions at Northwestern University,
a Buddhist monk, scholar, in his “History of Buddhism in Ceylon, says "the term
“Yaksa” denotes superhuman beings worthy of respect. It is possible that it
was applied, by an extension of meaning, also to some pre-Buddhistic tribe of
human beings, aboriginal to Ceylon".
The legend has it that Prince Pandukhabaya (3rd century BC) was assisted by
Yakkas during his battles against his eight uncles at the foot of
Ritigala Another legend refers to a duel between two giants, most possibly
Yakkas, named Soma and Jayasena. Soma was killed in the duel, and Jayasena
became a legend.
The Legend of Lord Hanuman and Ritigala
According to popular belief, non-human Lord Hanuman of supernatural powers
traveled over Ritigala, and, by accident, dropped a chunk off a mountain of
the Himalayan range he was carrying from India to Lanka for its medicinal
herbs. Lord Rama's brother, Prince Lakshmana was mortally wounded in battle
and only a rare herb in the Himalayas could save his life. The pocket of
vegetation of healing herbs and plants at the strange mini-plateau at the
summit of Ritigala, which is distinct from the dry-zone flora of the lower
slopes and surrounding plains at Ritigala, could thus be accounted for.
Lord Hanuman has visited Lanka on a previous occasion. That was when he was
sent by Lord Rama in search of his consort Sita. It was King Ravana, who
seized Sita from Parnasali in India, the holy hut of Lord Rama, and brought
her to Asok Vana, a beautiful park at Sita Eliya (close to Nuwara Eliya or
Little England, as the British called it three millennia later) on the
Pusparaga (Dadumonara) in an air chariot, without touching her. (The peacock
logo of Air Lanka, the predecessor of Sri Lankan Airlines and successor of Air
Ceylon, is a stylized version of Rawana’s air chariot.) Having found the
location where Sita was held, Hanuman made use of Ritigala Kanda as a
launching pad to take a leap across to South India. Incidentally, Ritigala is
the highest prominence between the central plains of Sri Lanka and the coast
of southern India.
Ruins of the ancient monastery of Ritigala
The ruins of Ritigala monastery are located on the eastern side of the
mountain at the foot of the gorge which separates the main peak of the
northern ridge of the range. The ruins cover an area of 24 hectares (59
acres). The monastery precinct begins in the office of the on-site branch of the Department of Archeology of Sri Lanka close to the foot of the reservoir named
Banda Pokuna. The ancient man-made reservoir is a feat of engineering with a
band of polygonal plan completing a circumference of 366 meters. The
construction of the reservoir is credited to King Pandukabhaya (437 -367 BC).
The reservoir, possibly served a ritual bathing purpose, with visitors, bathing
there before entering the monastery.
The order of the ritual bathing tank, ruins of the entrance complex, and a pedestrian
path seem to indicate devotees in large numbers visiting the monastery. The
procession is similar to that of Kataragama where pilgrims begin with a
cleansing bath at the Kataragama Manik river and end with an offering to the God
Skanda, the benevolent Hindu deity of Kataragama at the main shrine.
The edge of the reservoir is followed in a clockwise direction to arrive at
the other bank and across the bed of the stream feeding the reservoir. The
steep steps here onwards lead up to a beautifully constructed pavement, a
stone path 1.5 meters wide that meanders upwards through the forest, linking
the major buildings of the monastery. The stone cut path is laid with
interlocking four-sided slabs of hewn stone. Three large circular platforms at
intervals along the pavement allow for rest.
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