Deegavapi is one of the 16 places which have been blessed by
the Buddha's presence. Buddha was invited to Kelaniya by Mani Akkika of Naga
Tribe, ruler of the Kelaniya region on his second visit to Nagadeepa. On the
8th year of attaining nirvana Buddha decided to visit Sri Lanka for the third
time specially to Kelaniya. During this visit he came to Deegavapi with 500
arhaths and spends time meditating.
According to the the Mahavansa, great chronicle of Sri
Lanka, this stupa was built by king Saddhatissa (137-119 BC). According to the
same the king has also donated a jacket decorated with gold lotus flowers and
various gems to cover the stupa.
Since this location has been blessed by Buddha's presence,
it is generally believed that this stupa is a "paribogika" stupa and
no special relics have been enshrined. But historian venerable Ellawela
Medananda thero believes that this stupa enshrines a nail relic of Buddha. An
inscription on a gold foil unearthed during excavations discloses that King
Kawanthissa (164-192) has done renovations to the stupa.
With passage of time, this temple was neglected with the
internal conflicts of the country. King Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe ( 1747 - 1781)
seeing the status of the temple carried out major renovations and handed it
over to Rev. Bandigide Negrodha thero along with 1000 'amunu' (2000-2500 acres)
of land in 1756. Two stone inscriptions by King Saddhasissa and King Keerthi
Sri Rajasinghe have been in existence at the Deegavapi until last century but
both of these have mysteriously disappeared now. But a copy of the Rajasinghe
inscription which was made in 1845 exists today.
During British occupation of the country, the british took
over all the land belonging to the temple and the in 1886 the British
government agent in Batticaloa instructed to dig this 2000 year old stupa and
carried the bricks and ancient granite slabs to be used in irrigation projects
in the area. The british used the Muslims in the area to do his work as no
Buddhist would take part in this destruction of this revered site. In the end
only a mound was left over of this great stupa and was left to the jungle.
In 1916 a priest called Kohukumbure Revatha thero started
searching for this stupa and he found some muslims carrying bricks in carts.
When inquired, he was told that they were from a great brick mound deep in the
jungle. He followed these cartsmen and found the Dageba in absolute ruins. He
came back with few buddhists from colombo and started redeveloping this temple
area and also managed to reclaim 250 acres of land back to the temple. By this
time, Deegavapi area were dominated by Muslims who were given refuge in this
area by King Senerath (1604 - 1635) when they were harassed in the coastal
areas by the Portuguese. The king not only gave them refuge, but destroyed a
portuguese fort at the port called "Deegavapi Thitha" for them to
carry out their business activities freely. But in 1950 Kohukumbure Revatha
thero was brutally murdered by a Muslim in the area.
The stupa has been 110 feet height when the archeological
department started its renovation work in 1964, but a document by Badigode
Buddharakitha thero has put the height to 185 feet in 1845. The circumference
of the stupa is about 1000 feet. Currently a height of 30 feet has been
restored.
The Deegavapi Stupa lies about 18 kilometres east from
Ampara town in an area dominated by Muslims. Today the land belonging to the
temple premises including historical artifacts are under threat from Muslims
and Muslim politicians who attempt to wipe out any signs Buddhists heritage in these
areas. In the the recent past many conflicts has risen with the muslim
politicians trying to destroy the temple artifacts which are spread over
thousands of acres. While instances they have been saved most of the time they
have been successful with the government turning a blind eye. Recently a
parivara chethiya was bulldozed in constructing a road within the Deegavapi
land. The LTTE terrorist activities since 1980 also helped this cause since
access to this site by the general public was restricted. In the 80's the LTTE
attacked a Singhalese village murdering 13 and injuring over 40. Until the LTTE
was destroyed in 2008, Deegavapi was again left to few brave priests who risked
their lives to maintain a Buddhist presence.
