Jathika Namal Uyana
A Glimpse into its Historical Signiﬁcance

Travel around Sri Lanka and you’ll notice a common thread running throughout the land. Buddhism, history, culture and tradition permeate through everything you experience. The Jathika Namal Uyana is no exception and probably has more to offer than most.

From a monastery to a human sanctuary to a place of well-preserved heritage, you will find yourself fascinated by what is admittedly, a fascinating history.

The Era of King Devanampiyatissa

It was during the time of King Devanampiyatissa that Theravada Buddhism was brought over to Lankawa (Sri Lanka) by Arahat Mahinda Thero (son of Emperor Ashoka of India). And it was during this time in current recorded history that Namal Uyana first came to light.

It has been noted that King Devanampiyatissa considered the present day bounds of the Namal Uyana to serve as one of his main parks. However, no one knows for certain whether or not these plans ever took shape, since the king fashioned a grand park nearer his seat of power in Anuradhapura, the Mahamewna Uyana.

The Era of King Dutugemunu

Before King Dutugemunu unified all of Lanka, it is well documented in the Mahavansa (an ancient historical chronicle of Sri Lanka) that he waged many wars.

From Magama in the very south of Lanka, to Anuradhapura in the northern region of Lanka, King Dutugemunu systematically ousted the Dravidian interlopers and reclaimed back his country, piece by piece.

One of these little pieces that he reclaimed was the village of Ranawa (රණව) still standing today and situated on the Eastern boundary of the Namal Uyana.

Delve a little deeper and history reveals to us that the villagers helped King Dutugemunu by not only partaking in the war, but also by supplying the weaponry needed for his conquering army.

King Dappula IV
& the Human Sanctuary

Returning to the village Ranawa (රණව), you will find a Buddhist Viharaya (Temple) known as “Devrada Ranrada Viharaya”, which marks the entrance of the Ranawa village.

Interestingly positioned just outside the entrance to this viharaya and smack-dab in the middle of the road is an ancient stone pillar with sel-lipi, the ancient script of Sri Lanka at the time.

Even more interesting is that this stone pillar stands exactly where it was placed by King Dappula IV, and is the beginning of the boundary for the first ever Human Sanctuary.

The ancient script found on this hexagonal pillar states -

“…that no person who enters this sanctuary can or will be harmed in anyway. The King himself cannot harm or otherwise take into custody any person even though that person might be an enemy of the King.”

By this one, all-encompassing decree, King Dappula IV granted the gift of a free life to any and all who would stay within these bounds, regardless of who or what they were, and what they had done.

In this manner, King Dappula IV created a Human Sanctuary where not only the wildlife was protected, but also human life.

What is intriguing however, is that by doing this, by creating a Human Sanctuary, King Dappula IV also in effect created a self sustaining prison in which he had no need to invest any time or effort to care for. All he needed to do was to guard the boundaries so that if any prisoner or enemy of the King escaped, he would be brought to the King’s justice.

It is said by some, that the present day Naa trees were planted by these “inmates” as penance for their misdeeds. This apparently was all that the Buddhist Sangha who lived within this human sanctuary asked of all who lived within its confines.

Given the safety, peace and contentment of the people in the country at that time, it could even be said that no better system of justice, nor a better method of carrying out this justice, exists today.