God kataragama

Skanda, the Hindu god of war, aka Karthika Kumara, Shuba, Mahasena, Devasena, Kadira, Agnibhuwa, Shanmukha, Kartikama, Murugan & Subramanya. The god is said to have come to the island to fight an enemy of the gods & having defeated the demon Tharaka at Velapura, today's Kalutara, settled down at katharagama. The Hindu war god in spite of six-faces & 12 arms doesn't look dusky & ferocious at all. If anything, he is fair & handsome. And he is pleasant to the boot. It is said he is bit of a Romeo too, a hero to the damsels in distress. Once he got his brother God Ganesh himself to create a distress to the damsel Valli, so that he could emerge at the nick of the time in grand style & save her with great valour & become her one & only hero. But then, to give the devil, sorry, god his due credit, we must hasten to add, the handsome god married both the girls, Walli & Pulli. Since monogamy is nothing but dull monotony (not let her hear!), the god seemed to have opted for bigamy. Polygamy is bound to become a hell of a headache even with a single head, not to mention six heads as of God Kataragama. But then, how would you know of divine endowments & faculties? They say divine ways are behind the means of mortals.

RUWANWELI SAYA

Ruwanwelisaya(also called Swarnamali saaya) is one of the most renowned"stupa"(a construction made for to be worshiped with sacred relics deposited inside)in Sri lanka.It's considered a wonder due to the splendid architecture it bears and the great sanctitiy which has made it sacred to the Buddhists all over the world.This great structure was built by the King"Dutugemunu",one of the few kings who were able to fight for the countries freedom when it was in danger and brought the country under one flag.

As mentioned in an early post this stupa is another one of the most sacred 8 places (atamasthana)a budhist visits at anuradhapura(see the post on Samadhi buddha statue,another one of "atamasthana").Of all the sacred places in the country,16 places are categorized("solosmasthana" or 16 places of veneration)as the most sacred and,a Buddhist considers its their great fortune to visit all these places and to worship them.Ruwanwelisaya is one of the top places in that list.




THE WATER CUTTING - END OF THE FESTIVAL, KATHARAGAMA PERAHERA.

It is said king Dutugemunu started to build this wonder on a Wesak full moon day which is the most sacred day for the Buddhists and as you can see if you visit the stupa,it was such massive(the pinnacle of the stupa is 24 meters high and its circumference is 950ft!!)that most say he was not been able to finish the work till his death and it was finished by his brother king Saddhathissa who followed him after.There are a lot of reasons why Ruwanwelisaya is very sacred to Buddhists and some reasons would be that it has Lord Buddha's sacred relics deposited inside,made by the great king Dutugemunu and made on a Wesak full moon day.