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Email: admin@vidyalankara.com
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 The
Buddhist order was established in Sri Lanka during the reign of King
Devanampiyathissa by Arahant Mahinda Thera. With his arrival to Sri
Lanka, the homage to relics was also inherited to Sri Lankan
Buddhists. History proves that the Buddha had three visits to Sri
Lanka and after his passing away what was left after the cremation
were respected similar to the status of the lord Buddha. Those
relics were distributed among several countries in Asian region and
monuments were built and relics were deposited in them and rituals
were followed thereafter.
Out of the many religious centers whichwere thus constructed, the
most are in Sri Lanka. Most sacred tooth relic of the lord Buddha is
still deposited in a relinquary at the temple of tooth in Kandy.
Mahiyangana Pagoda is also one such place in which the shoulder bone
of the Lord Buddha is deposited.Thuparama, Ruwanweliseya and
Abhayagiri are also some other such outstanding religious places of
worship.
Thus, followed by that in the year 1940, a special event took place
in Sri Lanka which has a proud recorded history of over 2550 years.
This historical event took place about 135 years ago.It was an award
of relics to Sri Lanka by England. They were discovered at Sanchi in
India by two archeologists of England.
Ruins at Sanchi
Sanchi is a world famous hamlet. It is situated next to the city of
Udeni. The academics believe that the word Sanchi has been
mispronounced instead Santhi.Sanchi belongs to the region of Bilsa
which, at present, belongs to the state of Bopal. The antient name of
Bopal is Vidisa. The name Vidisa too has a historical significance.
It has been the birth place of the mother of Arahant Mahinda Thera
and Arahant Sangamiththa Theri. Thus the historical significance of
this region is unchallengeable. History further proves this
fact.Arahant Mahida Thera had also been at Vidisa to show gratitude
to his relatives for six months. This too proves the close
relationship of emperror Dharmashoka to this region and the
constructions of it. At the same time, the Aramas (shrines) of this
region had been prosperous in the regime of Sunga,Andra and Gupta as
history reveals. But the disintegration of this region and its
civilization had been marked by the invation of Muslims in the 11th
century. Sanchi was also subjected to the disintegration similar to
almost all the Buddhist places due to these invaders. All the
Buddhist constructions were ruined. They are still to be seen. Those
ruins are spread within about six to eight miles in the region and
this is a common sight for any traveller even today. This region
includes Sanchi, Sonari, Suddhara, Bojpur and Ander etc..
Relics of The Buddha
This event took place about 135 years ago as mentioned above. It was the 1st half of
the 18th century. Sir Kanningham and Sir Meissy, the two archeologists
started escavating a pagoda at Bojpur in Sanchi region in the Bilsa
district in the state of Bopal in India.
This has been recorded in the book “Bilsa Stupa” written by
Kanningham as Bibojpur. other names used by him for this are Bobeejoli, Bistupa and Beepalya. This particular stupa was among the
Stupas that were in good condition though the summit of it had been
broken. The stair case towards west is still preserved. This
characteristic is easily observable by an external observer.
The diameter of the womb is feet 39.The height is feet
14.5. The width is 6 feet. The platform is of feet 7. This is
stone-made and no clay or paste was used. They climbed onto the
Pagoda after an external investigation. After two hours of
excavation they reached the womb of the Pagoda. This was situated
feet 9.25 (ft nine and quarter) above the platform. This was square
shaped. One side of it is of feet 1.5.It had been made of red
 colored clay. The relic pit had been closed with a lid semi
globe-shaped. The diameter was feet 1.4.The height was inches 9.When
the lid was removed, a vessel made of red clay appeared. The
diameter of the widest spot was inches 8.25. The height was inches
6.
The above picture indicates how it had been placed. This
was an incredible astonishing experience for Sir. Kanningham. This
discovery had been named by them as the most surprising mysterious
and invaluable object they ever found. That was because of the
relics deposited in the red clay vessel. It was a crystal casket
consisting all the parts of a pagoda. The height of the Pagoda was
inches 2.3
At present, these above said relics have been deposited
with due respect at Vidyalankara Pirivena in Peliyagoda of Sri
Lanka.
Several relics were found in this red clay vessel. In the same way
relics were f ound in the casket. The casket was within the red clay
vessel. That means within and out side of the casket. The relics had
been placed which means that these relics belonged to two
categories. That was according to their status.
It is not a Buddhist custom to have bones of an ordinary being placed
like that. Later, It was proven that they which were kept outside
were the relics of Arahant monks. Moreover, three small pieces of
gold, a piece of precious red stone, a piece of crystal and another
piece of crystal in fair blue and several of pearls were found among
these precious objects.
This is the symbolic of ancient Buddhist custom. The relics thus
found had been identified by the archeologist Gen.Meisy and were
replaced with much care with a piece of paper written in his own
hand as “relics” of Bipalya, Bijoli or Bistupa. Those relics have
now been placed at Vidyalankara Pirivena as they were. These are the
real original relics from Bijoli. This was evident from the above
written piece of paper.
Among the items out of which were taken to England by Gen.Messy were
objects of archeological significance such as casket etc...Colonel
Meisy inherited all these after the demise of his father Gen.Messy.
The relics in the crystal casket were more precious than any other
object found with it. They were considered holy. Those relics were
handed down from generation to generation.
Followed by that, those objects and archeological items were gifted
to The Victor and Albeit Museum. Colonel Meisy passed away in
1892.Thereafter the relics became the heritage of the two daughters
Lesley and Smith. Thus the two daughters inherited the relics. With
the passage of time they understood that the relics are invaluable
objects. They also understood that the Buddhists are the real owners
of the relics and due respect is possible only when they are under
the rituals of Buddhists. This was also as a result of their visit
to Sri Lanka, They experienced of how Buddhists respect relics and follow
other religious rituals in homage of relics. They also thought that
it should not be dealt with money as well. They discussed about this
matter with the then governor of Sri Lanka Sir. Andrew Coldicott.The
governor continued discussions with Mr. Don Boron Jayathilaka one of the
member of the parliament and the then chairman of Vidyalankara
society and he instructed the governor as to hand over
the relics to Mr.G.K.W.Perera who was the trade commissioner at that
time. For this purpose, a silver casket with decorated carvings was
sent to England. But till then the Buddhist responsible had not yet
decided where the relics are to be placed. However the ultimate
decision was to offer the relics to Vidyalankara Pirivena on the
request made by Sir D.B.Jayathilaka with a promise never to make use
of the relics for fund raising.
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