Duruthu Poya
Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day marks the epoch making event of the Buddha visiting Mahiyangana in the 8th month after attaining enlightenment, foreseeing dissension between two factions in this island.
Kelaniya Temple mural
The author of the Mahavamsa, Venerable Mahanama Thera describes the dramatic events that occurred on the Mahaveli plain at Mahiyangana on that epoch-making Duruthu Poya day as that vast surging crowd of humanity listened to the Master’s message of peace and goodwill. They lay down their weapons of war, stripped off their armour, renounced the evil and hatred in their minds and became followers of the tolerant, rational and scientific teaching of Gautama the Buddha. That multitude comprising thousands underwent a complete volte-face and transformed themselves into followers of the Blessed One’s way of life.
The most remarkable event that took place at the visit of the Buddha was the presence of the god Sumana Saman, the guardian God of Sri-Pada who attained the State of Sothapanna after listening to the preaching of the Buddha.
The Buddha’s second visit to this island was to Nagadipa in the fifth year of His Buddhahood, to resolve a dispute over a gem set throne between two Naga Kings, Mahodara and Chulodara. Kelaniya is the third place visited by the Thathagatha on a Full Moon Poya Day of Vesak in the eighth year of his Buddhahood. On this visit, he also visited “Samantha Kuta’ (Sri Pada Kanda), ‘Dheegavapi’, ‘Mahamegavanarama’, the place where later the ‘Thuparama’ was built at Anuradhapura, the place where the stone-cetiya now ‘Selacaitya’ has been built in Anuradhapura from where he returned to Jethavanaramaya’.
Duruthu Perahera
The King Yatalatissa in the third century, as per the early history, built the city of Kelaniya along with the Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya (Kelaniya temple). In the year 1505 the Portuguese after invading the Maritime Provinces destroyed this temple and several others under the influence of the church. The King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe, who again rebuilt the Viharaya in the year 1767, after it had been abandoned for 200 years. In the year 1930, this Viharaya received the attention of Mrs. Helena Wijewardena who commissioned the famous temple artiste Solius Mendis to restore the interior of the Viharaya to its former glory, who devoted 20 long years to beautifying the place with fascinating paintings depicting the life of Buddha, history of Buddhism and the history of Kalaniya with its enriched culture the history of the existing paintings here. First of all Mrs. Helena Wijewardena sent Solius Mendis to the Ajantha, Ellora and Bagh caves to study the paintings and gain inspiration. He came back inspired and fired by the masterpieces in these Buddhist caves. However there is nothing to witness them. There is not even a photograph of them.
The first ever the Kelaniya Duruthu Perahera commenced in the year 1927.
