5/5 Madura B. 2 years ago on Google
The
Aluvihare
Rock
Temple
(also
called
Matale
Alu
Viharaya)
is
a
sacred
Buddhist
temple
located
in
Aluvihare,
Matale
District
of
Sri
Lanka.
Surrounded
by
hills,
the
Aluvihara
cave
temple
is
situated
30
km
north
of
Kandy
on
the
Matale-Dambulla
road.
The
history
of
Aluvihare
Rock
Temple
is
traced
back
to
the
3rd
Century
B.C
to
the
reign
of
King
Devanampiyatissa.
It
is
believed
that
the
King
built
the
dagoba,
planted
the
Bo
sapling
and
founded
the
temple
after
the
introduction
of
Buddhism
to
the
country
during
his
reign.
Aluvihare
Rock
Temple
was
the
historic
location
where
the
Pāli
Canon
was
first
written
down
completely
in
text
on
ola
(palm)
leaves.Many
monastery
caves,
some
of
which
exhibit
frescoes
are
situated
near
this
temple.
In
the
1st
Century
BC,
during
the
reign
of
King
Walagamba,
Sri
Lanka
underwent
a
famine
known
as
'Baminithiyasaya'
for
12
years.
There
was
also
a
South
Indian
invasion
at
the
same
time
and
the
Buddhist
monks
of
that
era
realized
that
these
problems
would
be
a
danger
to
the
existence
of
Buddha
Sasana
in
the
country.
Under
these
conditions,
memorizing
and
repeating
the
Dhamma
(doctrine)
was
difficult.
Due
to
the
famine
Buddhist
monks
did
not
receive
sufficient
alms
and
faced
many
difficulties,
and
they
had
to
eat
yams,
roots
and
leaves
of
trees
for
their
survival.
A
group
of
about
60
of
them
went
to
Malaya
Rata,
which
is
said
to
be
the
hilly
area
of
the
country.
They
managed
to
live
on
the
banks
of
Mahaweli
river
under
harsh
conditions
and
survived
for
12
years
till
the
famine
came
to
an
end.
King
Walagamba
who
was
overthrown
by
a
rebellion
during
the
invasion
from
South
India,
regained
the
throne
by
defeating
the
invaders
after
fourteen
years.
The
monks
who
left
to
India
and
to
the
hilly
areas
of
Sri
Lanka,
during
the
difficult
period,
returned
to
Anuradhapura,
and
decided
to
transcribe
the
Tripiṭaka
(philosophical
doctrines
of
Buddhism)
for
the
preservation
and
for
the
use
of
future
generations.
The
monks
selected
Aluvihare
Rock
temple
in
Matale
as
the
most
suitable
and
secured
place
to
carry
out
this
important
event.
This
transcription
was
carried
out
due
to
the
fear
that
the
doctrine
would
be
lost
during
the
upheaval
caused
by
repeated
South
Indian
invasions.[citation
needed]
It
is
said
that
500
scholarly
monks
congregated
at
Aluvihare
Rock
temple
to
perform
the
difficult
task
of
first
reciting
the
doctrines
and
agreeing
on
an
acceptable
version
before
transcription.[4]
The
entire
transcription
was
done
in
books
made
of
ola
leaves,
locally
known
as
puskola
poth.
These
books
were
made
up
from
thick
strips
created
from
the
leaves
of
either
the
palmyra
or
talipot
palm
and
the
doctrines
were
written
down
in
Pali
language.
A
metal
stylus
was
used
to
inscribe
the
characters
on
the
ola
leaves.
The
old
library
at
of
Aluvihare
Rock
Temple,
which
had
safely
housed
the
volumes
of
this
transcribed
manuscripts
for
so
many
centuries,
was
totally
destroyed
during
the
Matale
Rebellion
in
1848.[5]
Many
parts
of
the
temple
complex
was
destroyed
too
by
this
incident.
The
consequences
of
this
disaster
are
still
evident
today
at
the
temple
premises.
It
took
a
long
a
time
for
the
recompilation,
as
few
generations
of
monks
had
to
transcribe
the
Tripiṭaka
again.
The
recompilation
and
transcription
took
a
long
time
as
only
few
monks
were
engaged
in
this
painstaking
task,
and
the
first
of
the
three
“baskets
of
the
law”
was
only
completed
in
1982.
History:
Aluvihare
Rock
temple
has
many
caves
with
ancient
inscriptions.
These
caves
enclose
comparatively
modern
wall
and
ceiling
paintings
of
interest,
and
impressive
statues
and
images
of
Buddha.
The
main
cave
of
these,
has
a
large
reclining
statue
of
the
Buddha,
together
with
standing
and
seated
images.
In
the
entrance-way
of
another
cave
with
a
reclining
statue
of
the
Buddha
there
are
terrifying
depictions
of
the
hellish
afterlife
that
awaits
people
who
commits
sins.
One
cave
is
dedicated
to
the
revered
Indian
monk-scholar
Buddhagosa,
who
is
regarded
as
the
greatest
exponent
and
interpreter
of
the
Pali
canonical
scriptures.
Source
Wikipedia
6 people found this review helpful 👍
