Somawathi
Chethiya (Somawathiya) situated in Pollonnaruwa District, in North Central province in Sri
Lanka. According to the history records, it was built in 2nd BC by Prince
Giriaba the Somawathi Chethiya on the request of his wife Princess Somawathi,
who wanted to involve in religious activities, where they lived near the
Mahaweli River on a small village called “Somapura”.
As per
the request made by Prince Giriaba, Maha Thero Mahinda gave him the Right Tooth
Relic of Lord Buddha to keep in the Relic Chamber of the Somawathi Chethiya. After completion of the Chethiya the Prince
Giriaba and Princess Somawathi consecrated to the Mahinda Maha Thero and six
other monks.
After the LTTE attack in
1987 the Chethiya was reopened for the pilgrims in 2002. On the same day which LTTE attack, the leader
of this terror group died near the Chehitya by mistakenly firing his own weapon
and for strange reason they also didn’t take the “Chuda Manikya” (The large gem
stone placed at the very top of the Chethiya) they stole which was later found
by the Archaeological Department.
In
recent times thousands of pilgrims have seen rays of lights creating from the
Chethiya going towards the sky and colour of whole sky changing to a yellow
colour making all the white cloths worn by the pilgrims appearing yellow. One
important difference of these unusual incidences in this site is that most of
these happen on special ceremonial days where there are thousands of pilgrims
at the site to witness these events. It is also said that the sounds of drum
beats originating from the belly of the stupa can be heard and at night can be
seen an ancient Perahera is going around the Chethiya on some days.
On
another day a dumb (Speechless), age around 4 years boy came with his parents
and his brother to worship to the Somawathi Chethiya. In the moment he worshiping the Chethiya with
his brother, a small white elephant hit his body and at once the small boy
shouted and called his mother. After that, the white elephant disappeared and
from that day the small boy can speak.
These
mysterious incidences have made the Somawathi Chethiya.
If
you are willing to have an experience please contact Helabima Tours and Travels
through the Contact Form.
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