KUSHTARAJAGALA – Wrapped in mystery, King or Bodhisatta?

by Dr.P.G.Punchihewa

The rock sculpture at Valigama, known as Kushtarajagala could be seen as one travels along the old road for about one kilometer from the town, towards Galle and past the rail level crossing, to one’ s left. Across the road a few meters away is Aggrabodhi Viharaya which traces its history to the time of King Devanampiyatissa.

The image is carved in high relief inside an arched niche in a rock boulder of gneiss and is about twelve feet high. The head dress has four Buddha images. The image is draped in kingly attire, giving the belief that the image is that of a king. For a folk poet this image was the subject, as he put it in verse form.

(There is neither good nor bad, no movements, no sleep or not awake, no words spoken, no fixed meals; there is an immortal king on the shores of Valigama.)

That gives some credence to the local belief that the figure represents a king who left his native country, because he suffered from an attack of eczema, landed at Valigama and was cured by a local physician.

According to Dr.L. Prematilake of the University of Ceylon “stylistically the sculpture could be dated to the eighth or the ninth century,” and he adds that some would attempt to identify the king under reference with Aggabodhi iv (667-683 AD) who according to Culavamsa “was attacked by an incurable disease and when he saw that the time had come for his death he called his subjects and exhorted them to piety. When dead his subjects performed for him on his pyre all ceremonies without fail, made for themselves medicine from the ashes of the pyre.”Culavamsa Chap 46.35

Aggabodhi IV ruled for 16 years. Culavamsa says he was a just monarch, gifted with right views. During his reign he and his subordinates, some of whom were even Damilas, built viharas and parivenas and had been a very popular ruler. Culavamsa says ‘when he was dead his subjects mourned all in deep grief’. (However, there is no record to say that he was deified like one of his predecessors, King Mahasen who was responsible for the construction of Minneriya Tank and Jetavana Chaitya.)

The four Dhyana Buddhas in the head dress of the image preclude that it is that of a human being. However Ven. Dr.Kamburupitiye Vanaratana Thera is of opinion that the King would have made a vow to put up the image to cure himself from the eczema he suffered from. But he does not mention whether the figure represents the King or God/Bodhisattawho affected the cure. Dr.Prematilake states that the popularity of Avalokitesvara in Sri Lanka in his capacity as a healer of diseases is evident. Literary and archaeological evidence amply show the prevalence of the cult of the Bodhisatva Avalokesvara was worshipped under the name “Natha.”

That leaves the scholars with the conclusion that the statue could be that of one of the deities or Boddhisatvas.

Sri Lanka is the home of Theravada, the orthodox and the earliest form of Buddhism. It had no rivals up to about the third century A.D, during King Voharikatissa’s time when Vaitulya doctrine, a form of Mahayana had first appeared but had been suppressed. With the victory of Mahayana over Theravada in India, in about the sixth century Sri Lanka too was subjected to Mahayana influence on and off. Abhayagiri and Jetavana became their centers. The heretical teachings however though officially not recognized were said to have had a following among the people. Sanskrit language and literature gradually came into vogue. Prof. Paranavitane reports of a fragmentary record engraved on a rock in Mihintale which consists of a Sanskrit poem praising Buddha belonging to about the eighth century.

Kushtarajagala is one of the most visible Mahayana influences in the Island. There is one other Mahayana site, that at Buduruvagala near Vellavaya, in Moneragala District, where a group of colossal figures have been carved on the rock. The key figure of the group is Buddha. On the right hand is Avalokitesvara and the figure on the left is identified as that of Maitriya. The female figure to the right is identified as that of Goddess Tara.

Prof.Paranavitana, on grounds of style ascribed the figures to a period anterior to the Polonnaruava period. Both Kushtarajagala and the figures of Buduruvagala seem to have been constructed at a time close to each other and a time when there would have been much Mahayana activity. Unlike during the earlier period, there were no powerful rulers to back Theravada against the onslaughts of Mahayana and its beliefs came to infiltrate the social fabric.

The fact that both the Kushtarajagala figure and the figure at Buduruvagala to the right of Buddha have dhyani Buddhas on the head dress make believe that they could be identified as that of Avalokititeswara , as had been suggested by Dr A. Nell earlier.

There are several other scholars who tried to identify Kushtaraja with some other gods or bodhisattvas. Dr .Prematilake who questioned ,as to how we are to settle the problem of the four Dhyani Buddhas in the head dress, after some careful study concludes “Kushtaraja image may therefore well be a representation of the Dhyani Bodhisatva in his Sambogakaya aspect.”

Earlier van Lohuizen -de Leeuw stated that Mahayana sects introduced Samantabadra in Ceylon as Adi Buddha and he was worshipped actively in the eighth-ninth centuries and drew a parallel between the Veligama image and Samantabadra in his Adi buddha aspect.

According to Dr. Mudiyanse of the University Kelaniya ‘there is sufficient evidence to identify the figure as a representation of Avalokitesvara.’ Ven,Dr .Kamburupitiye Vanaratana Thera, thinks that the statue was built by Agbo IV. With the spread of Mahayana in Sri Lanka Avalokitesvara Natha came to be respected by the Buddhists. Sri Lankan Buddhists came to address him as Natha.

As a matter of fact the Bodhisatva Avalokita is still worshipped by the Sri Lankan Buddhists but under the name of Natha which has obscured his identity. (Paranavitana).

The question is being asked as to why the image was put up at Veligama. Going by the Mayura Sandesaya which belongs to about the 1400 AD, Veligama had been a prosperous town described as a beautiful one filled with riches and pretty women. Also one of the predecessors of Aggabodhi IV, Aggabodhi I according to Culavamsa had grown a huge coconut plantation, the first recorded one in the island. The harbor would have helped to develop relations with outside world. The foreign ruler who came in search of a cure would have landed at Veligama.

As we saw, the image of Kushtarajagala has remained a controversial one. It may be possible that Aggabodhi IV built the image seeking succor from Bodhisatva Avalokitesvara who was considered as a healer of diseases. Even today people visit Kataragama and, Dondra seeking intervention of gods, in time of sicknesses and what they promise in return is a figure for figure.(roopeta roopayak) to god. Until further evidence is found, the image will remain an enigma and the public will have to be satisfied with the findings of the few studies done so far.