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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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