Avukana Buddha statue

Cut from a single face of granite and still joined to it by a narrow spine of rock at its back, the Avukana Buddha stands more than eleven metres tall in a shallow niche near the village of Avukana in Sri Lanka's North Central Province. With its lotus pedestal the figure rises to over fourteen metres. It faces east, towards the broad waters of the Kala Wewa reservoir, and is counted among the finest standing Buddha images to survive from ancient Sri Lanka.

The sculptor gave the robe a close, clinging fit, so that the body shows clearly beneath it, and cut its pleats in fine, regular ridges. As is customary in Sri Lankan images, the robe passes over the left shoulder and leaves the right one bare. The left hand holds the edge of the robe at the shoulder, while the right is raised with the palm turned sideways, a gesture of reassurance known as the asisa mudra, a variant of the abhaya mudra. Scholars see in the style echoes of the Amaravati school of southern India and, more distantly, of Gandhara. The rock behind the statue was dressed to resemble massive stone blocks, suggesting a mountain backdrop, and the figure once stood inside a large image house, roughly 23 by 19 metres, built of brick on a stone base; parts of its lower walls still remain.

When the statue was made is debated. Tradition links it to King Dhatusena, who ruled in the 5th century and built Kala Wewa, the reservoir it overlooks. A detailed stylistic study by Diran K. Dohanian placed it in the 8th century, and a Sinhala donative inscription found in 1951 on the north wall of the shrine is also of 8th-century date. Local tradition tells of a contest between a master sculptor and his pupil: the master carved Avukana, the pupil the similar statue at Sasseruwa, and whoever finished first would ring a bell. The master won, and the pupil's work, the story says, was left incomplete. Historians note that the Sasseruwa figure is in fact considerably older, so the tale remains a legend.

Getting there

The statue stands near the town of Kekirawa, close to the bund of the Kala Wewa reservoir. Dambulla is about 23 km away. The nearest airport is China Bay Airport (TRR) near Trincomalee, about 93 km away.