Visit to Ancient Girihandu Seya in Sri Lanka
300 step climb to Girihandu Seya
Friday the 12th, we started our journey to Anuradhapura, intending to visit the luxury boutique resort; Ulagalla for lunch. We reached there on time and thereafter where we enjoyed a scrumptious lunch and headed to the Eastern coast.
While on our way, our colleague and our Host Chamika insisted That we must visit the temple in the Eastern Province, named Girihandu Seya; situated in the area of Thiriyaya. This mysterious Temple is situated 45km northwest to Trincomalee. It is accessible on the Nilaveli – Kuchchaweli Road.
The 300 step climb to the temple premises seemed not to be an easy task, however, the tranquility of this sacred place was indeed a treat and hid the tiredness of the climb.
The trail itself was covered with greenery, once you reach the top the view took our breath away.. you could see the deep blue Nilaveli Beaches as well. The remarkable four statues of Lord Buddha on four sides were untouched despite the destructions by invaders during various eras.
Temple in Thiriyaya © Shannon Twest
The Girihandu Seya temple in Thiriyaya is considered the oldest temple of the island, enshrined with the hair relic of the Lord Buddha. It is believed that this sacred monument is believed to have been built by the two merchant brothers, `Thapassu` & `Balluka` Who offered the first alms to Lord Buddha. A stone inscription dated to the 8th century is found in the ruins at the site, which is preserved up to-date.
The folk behind the shrine goes as the two brothers carried Lord Buddha`s hair with them throughout their foreign trips. When they arrived in Sri Lanka on a business venture , they placed the hair relic on a rock and spent the night. The following day, they could not lift the container, which the strand of hair was included. Thus, they decided on building the Dagoban enshrining the Relic.
The climb down was not very tiring as we were all enjoying the descend. At the foot of the temple was a little friend waiting for us, and he was waiting to be petted by us.
Once we concluded, we left to the beautiful Jungle beach resort for the overnight…
