‘Buddha did not rest in Bhagava cave’

Priyanka Kurugala

There is no proper evidence to confirm that the Bhagava cave is the place where the Buddha rested after placing His footprint on the top of the Sri Pada, Archaeological Director General Senerath Dissanayake said. He further said that, the Bhagava cave is rich in Buddhist history.

There are three epigraphs at the site. Two of them were written by King Nissankamalla. The third one was written in Arabic by Ibn Battuta. Nissankamalla is the king who kept the largest number of epigraphs.

However there is nothing mentioned in these epigraphs that the Bhagava cave was the place where the Buddha rested with monks after placing His footprint on the top of the Sri Pada.

The Director General was addressing a press conference at the Archeological Department yesterday.

The Buddha arrived in the country on three occasions. On His third arrival, he placed his footprint on the Sri Pada peak, he said. Deepawansa, Mahawansa and Saraththappakasiniya provide evidence, that the Buddha placed his footprint on the Sri Pada peak. Other than that, Chinese monk Fahien has provided evidence that, the mountain contains the Buddha’s footprint.

The Moggallana Mahawansa (Cambodia Mahawansa) has confirmed that, after placing His footprint on Sri Pada the Buddha stayed and rested at the bottom of the Sri Pada mountain.

However, there is no evidence that this resting place was Divaguhawa, he said. The Bhagava cave is an ancient and historical Buddhist site. The word Bhagava is there in one of the epigraphs, he said. The place where the Buddha rested, should be seen at the bottom of the Sri Pada according to historical chronicle. The Bhagava cave is not situated at the bottom of Sri Pada. In the Bhagava cave, there is no adequate space for resting for the Buddha and His retinue, he explained. Batatota, Bhagava and Kuragala caves are considered as Divaguhava, he said.

Prof T G Kulathunga said, all caves in the Sri Pada mountain are Buddhists sites. These are national heritage sites. Ven Matara Ananda Sagara Thera, Prof Raj Somadeva and Prof Gamini Adhikari also spoke.