Most visited Tourism Destinations places in Sri Lanka---Munneswaram Temple

Munneswaram Temple

Munneswaram temple is an important regional Hindu temple complex in Sri Lanka. It has been in existence at least since 1000 CE although myths surrounding the temple associate it with the popular Indian epic Ramayana, and its legendary hero-king Rama. The temple is one of the ancient Pancha Ishwarams dedicated to Shiva in the region. The temple complex is a collection of five temples, including a Buddhist temple. The central temple dedicated to Shiva (Siva) is the most prestigious and biggest, and is popular amongst Hindus. The other temples are dedicated to Ganesha, Aiyanar and Kali. The Kali temple is also popular with Buddhists, who frequent the complex. Post-19th century, most of the devotees of all temples in the complex belong to the majority Sinhala Buddhist ethnic group; the temples, excluding the Ayyanayake and the Buddhist temple, are administered by families belonging to the minority Hindu Tamils.

The temple is located in Munneswaram, a village with mixed Sinhala and Tamil population situated in the historic Demala Pattuva ("Tamil division") region in the Puttalam District. The main Shiva temple owns extensive property in the surrounding villages, ownership of which was affirmed when the region was part of the medieval Kotte Kingdom. The temple was destroyed twice by the Portuguese colonial officers, who handed over the properties to the Jesuits. Although the Jesuits built a Catholic chapel over the temple foundation, locals reconstructed the temple both times. Due to religious and demographic change after the late 18th century, most surrounding villages and towns are not directly associated with the temple administration and maintenance. However, the villages of Maradankulama and Udappu are associated with organizing the main temple festival.

The main festivals celebrated at the temple include Navarathri and Sivarathri. The former is a nine-day long festival in honour of the presiding Goddess, while the latter is an overnight observation in honour of Lord Shiva. In addition to these two Hindu festivals, the temple has a festival of its own, the Munneswaram festival, a four-week-long event attended by Hindus and Buddhists.

Anthropologist Rohan Bastin speculates that the main Siva temple was once a minor shrine dedicated to village guardian deity Munisvaran that was transformed into a major Siva temple due to royal patronage. The temple was already an established temple by the 11th century CE, as it had issued coins by then. The temple began under the patronage of Pattuva chiefs and was probably constructed during the early part of the 10th century CE. A ferry transported traders, pilgrims and chroniclers such as Ibn Battuta from Tenavaram temple, Tevan Thurai to the Chera and Chola kingdoms of Tamilakam, stopping at Puttalam of the Jaffna kingdom and sailing the Gulf of Mannar during the 14th century CE

The first known reconstruction of the temple was recorded in a grant made by Kotte Kingdom King Parakrakrama Bahu VI (1412/1415–1467). The grant was made in Grantha script in Sanskrit. In his thirty-eighth regnal year (1450 or 1453) he summoned the chief priest of the temple, Vijasamagava Panditha(r), and reaffirmed the lands that had belonged to the Siva temple. The villages mentioned as belonging to the temple are Ilupaideni(ya), Kottaipitti and Tittakatai. Revenue accrued from this land grant was exempt from tax. The grant was inscribed on a granite slab and installed as part of the renovated temple. The conquest of Jaffna kingdom by Sapumal Kumaraya, a military leader sent by the Kotte king in 1450, was celebrated in the Kokila Sandesaya ("Message carried by Kokila bird") written in the 15th century by the principal monk of the Irugalkula Tilaka Pirivena in Mulgirigala.

The book contains a contemporary description of the country traversed by the road taken by the cookoo bird, from Tenavaram, Tevan Thurai (referred to as Devi Nuwara - "City of Gods") in the south to Nallur ("Beautiful City") in the North of Sri Lanka. It mentions the Munneswaram temple. The second set of grants to be recorded were by another Kotte King, Parakramabahu IX (1509–1528), who donated extensive lands to the temple and recorded the deed in a copper plate inscription.

The Portuguese, after their arrival in Sri Lanka in 1505, began a campaign of forced conversion and destruction of many Buddhist and Hindu temples around the island. They destroyed the Munneswaram temple completely in 1578 CE with the exception of the basement, and used the core of the building as a Roman Catholic chapel. Jesuits recorded that they used iron bars to destroy the presiding deity. According to a 1640 Portuguese records, they were able to convert 500 people from the village of Munneswaram as Roman Catholics. However, the locals and temple administrators were able to hide many of the idols of the temple complex before the destruction.

Following the destruction, the Munneswaram Pattuva area came under the control of the expanding Kingdom of Sitawaka, led by its king Rajasinghe I (1581–1593), who continuously harassed the Portuguese during his reign. Rajasinghe I rebuilt the temple again, but due to continuous conflict most of the area around the temple was depopulated, and proper cultivation of lands abandoned. Irrigation tanks, which provided water for cultivation, fell into disuse. The Portuguese again destroyed the temple in the early 17th century, but the temple was rebuilt by the local people. It was nominally in usage when Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747–1782) of the Kandyan Kingdom had the superstructure rebuilt in the 1750s. The Kalasam or Kotha on top was made of silver, a work of art displaying affinity to South India's Dravidian architecture. The kumbhabhishekham (consecration) ceremonies were performed in the year 1753, and for the performance of daily and special rites of the temple, Kirti Sri Rajasinghe made a grant of lands to the priests, recorded through a copper plate in 1753.