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These are at least 70 caves at Ritigala.
These were prepared for monks around the 1st century BC. Since an inscription in one of these caves mentions that King Lanjatissa, the
brother of Duttagamini gifted it, he probably founded the first
monastery at Ritigala.
It is the ruins of this monastery that
King Sena I built for the Pansakulika monks that the modern
pilgrim sees today. Sometime during the 8th century a group of monks broke
away from the Abhayagiri and called themselves the Pansakulikas, that is
‘The Rag-robe Warers’. Wearing robes made out of rags, usually shrouds
picked up from cemeteries, is one of the thirteen ascetic practices (dhutanga)
allowed by the Buddha.
The fact that the Pansakulikas chose to name
themselves after this particular practice suggests that they were
reformers, probably protesting against what they a saw as the comfort and
indolence of the city monks. However, the remains of their monasteries
suggest that they were something more than just a ‘back to the forest
movement’. All of their monasteries have certain mysterious features
unique in Sri Lankan monastic architecture; long paved paths often with
roundabouts in them, large stone-lined and stepped reservoirs and
strangest of all so-called double platforms. These platforms are made out
of huge slabs of beautifully cut stone and always occur in twos, joined by
a bridge. They are usually built on natural rock foundations and are
always aligned in the same direction. Near the platforms is often found a
so-called urinal stone some of which are elaborately decorated. In fact,
these ‘urinal stones’ are the only things in Pansakulika monasteries with
any decorations on them at all. Further, no stupas, image houses, temples
or images have ever been found at Pansakulika sites.
The ancient site at Ritigala inspired
the architecture of
The Lodge at Habarana,
which has long pathways along woodland.
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