THE KING'S SILVER TEMEPLE

Although substantially restored in the 18th century by the Kandyan king, Kirti Sri Rajasinghe, Ridi Viharaya dates back to the 2nd century BCE – roughly the same time as the Rosetta Stone was chiselled into a basalt slab in distant pharaonic Egypt.

To better understand the supreme importance of this ancient temple, take a look at pictures of the oldest of the island’s three most incredible stupas, the Ruwanweliseya, built between 161 and 137 BCE by King Dutugamunu.

The first steps in its construction are told in extraordinary detail by the Mahavamsa Chronicle. “King Dutugamunu had the workers dig a seven-cubit deep excavation. He had soldiers bring in round stones and had them crushed with hammers. Crushed rocks were placed at the bottom of the excavation and compacted using elephants.

The Elephants had their feet bound in leather to protect them. Fine clay was brought in from a nearby river. This clay was known as butter clay since it was very fine. King Dutugamunu ordered that butter clay be spread over crushed stones. After the butter clay layer was placed, the King ordered that bricks be brought. Bricks were placed on top of the butter clay layer. On top of the bricks, an iron mesh was placed.

Mountain crystals were placed atop iron bars. Another layer of stones was placed on top of the mountain crystals. On top of the rocks, an 8-inch-thick copper plate was placed. A copper plate was sprayed with Arsenic and Sesame oil. On top of the copper plate, a seven-inch-thick silver plate was placed.”

And that was just the beginning. The king was to die before the stupa was completed, and the Mahavamsa tells of the dying monarch being carried in a palanquin to see the works. Standing for centuries and now much restored, its fabled relic chamber has yet to resist all attempts at excavation. Within it is said to be a vessel filled with Lord Buddha’s artefacts, placed atop a seat of diamonds, encased in a golden container adorned with gems, and set inside a room decorated with murals and a silver replica of the Bo Tree.

The Mahavamsa Chronicle notes its sovereign importance: “The relic-chamber shall not shake even by an earthquake; flowers that were offered on that day shall not wither till the end of Buddha Gotama's Dispensation; the lamps that were kindled shall not be extinguished; the clay that was mixed with perfume and sandalwood shall not dry; even a single scratch shall not appear within the relic-chamber; stains shall not appear in any of the golden goods that were offered.’”

The money for all this construction came from silver ore mined beneath the Ridi Viharaya, the ore itself a serendipitous discovery by monks and merchants.

On an island famed for gemstones that seem to pour from its rivers, silver deposits are so rare as to be almost non-existent. This one, able to finance so significant an undertaking as Ruwanweliseya, would have turbocharged the local economy for a period, a more modest version of the California Gold Rush that helped build California.

Or the one in ancient Athens, where the discovery of silver in Laurium funded a navy that, in turn, turned Athens into a superpower. That the ore was used to build a temple in Sri Lanka is a telling comment on the very different priorities encountered here.

In thanks for this, the king built Ridi Viharaya over the mine. Seen today, it comprises 25 caves, inhabited by (naturally) unseen Arhat monks; the entrance to the entire complex is marked by a rock and stupa, which is thought to be the location of the original temple and the place where the king once stood to be dressed appropriately before beginning his devotions.

Also visible is a Polonnaruwa era temple decorated with Kandyan paintings and carvings of dancers in a distinctly Hindu style; a pavilion for drummers; the main temple within the original cave from which the silver was extracted and now filled with ancient statues and tiled in Dutch porcelain Bible tiles; and the Uda Viharaya, or the upper temple, dating to the Kandyan era, and decorated with mythological animals.