The
tallest brick structure and the widest Chaitya of the ancient world -
Jethawanaaramaya and Ruwanvelisaeya, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.
Jethawanaaramaya stupa
located in the ruins of Jetavana in the sacred world heritage city of
Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Mahasena of Anuradhapura (273–301) initiated
the construction of the stupa following the destruction of the
mahavihara. His son Maghavanna I completed the construction of the
stupa.[1] A part of a sash or belt tied by the Buddha is believed to be
the relic that is enshrined here.
Design and construction[edit]
As the largest ancient stupa constructed and one of the tallest ancient
structures in the world, the structural ingenuity and engineering skills
employed for the construction are significant. The foundations of the
structure were 8.5m deep and the size of the structure required bricks
which could withstand loads of up to 166 kg. The solid foundation lay on
bed-rock and the dome was constructed of full and half bricks and earth
fill, the unique shape of a perfect ellipsoid allowed for stress and
thus allowed the construction of the large structure.[6] The Mahavamsa
describes the foundation laying, where fissures were filled with stones
and stamped down by elephants whose feet were protected with leather
bindings. The bricks used for the construction were a significant
development of ancient Sri Lankan engineering, the bricks used for
Jetavanaramaya had a composition of 60 percent fine sand and 35 percent
clay, the bricks could withstand 281 kg/in2.[6] Linear elastic finite
element analysis under self weight produced a maximum compressive stress
of 839 kPa at the bottom centre, thus the maximum stress in the dome is
ten times less than what the bricks could withstand.[7]
Finely
crushed dolomite lime stone, sieved sand and clay provided the bonding
material for the bricks. The clay employed was pliable and thus
accommodates movement within the structure. One of the sides of the
brick was roughened to trap the bonding slurry thus limiting lateral
movement.[6] The stupa was then covered with lime plaster; the plaster
used contained seashells, sugar syrup, egg whites, coconut water, glues,
oils, plant resin, sand, clay and pebbles. The plaster also provided
waterproofing for the structure. The Mahavamsa also mentions the use of
copper sheets over the foundation and arsenic dissolved in sesame oil to
prevent insect and plant intrusions inside the stupa.[6] It is
estimated that Jetavanaramaya took 15 years to complete and would have
required a skillful workforce of hundreds, including brickyard workers
and bricklayers, and stonemasons.[6]
(From Wikipedia)
Ruwanveli Saeya
It was
built by King Dutugemunu c. 140 B.C., who became lord of all Sri Lanka
after a war in which the Chola King Elara, was defeated. It is also
known as Mahathupa, Swarnamali Chaitya, Suvarnamali Mahaceti (in Pali)
and Rathnamali Dagaba.
On such a full-moon day King Dutugemunu
had the inscribed stone pillar that was erected by King Devanampiya
Tissa, removed; had the site leveled; had it dug to a depth of seven
cubits; had round stones spread there by warriors; and had the stones
broken with hammers;
then he had them stamped down by elephants;
fine clay was brought from the Himalayas by Arahant novices, spread over
the layer of stones; had bricks laid over the fine clay, rough plaster
over the bricks, quartz over the rough plaster, a network of iron over
the quartz, fragrant clay over the network of iron, white stones over
the fragrant clay, rock-crystal over the white stones, and slabs of
stones over the rock-crystal. Then he had mercury, resin of the
wood-apple, and fine clay mixed together; had these spread over the
slabs of stones; and had bronze sheets eight inches thick laid over
these.
He had arsenic and sesame oil mixed together; had these
spread over the bronze sheets; and had silver sheets four inches thick
laid over these.
When the king had thus built and completed the
foundation of the Great Stupa, he arranged that the foundation stone
should be laid on the full-moon day of the month of Āâsà ëha (June–July).
(From Wikipaedia)
