Holy Maha Sivarathri in Sri Lanka has been declared as public holiday in order to Hindus observe the holy day of night vigil to worship Hindu premier God Sivaperuman (Sivan). The significant part of Maha Sivarathri in Sri Lanka is that the Holy night is observed very piously at the Sivan temple in Polonnaruwa.
The Chief priest of the Polunnaruwa Sivan temple commenced the rituals by glorifying the Hindu diety Sivan and he also mentioned the name of King Raja Raja Cholan who had built the Polonnaruwa Sivan temple when he expanded his dynasty in Sri Lanka. Even now the Chola Kings of bygone era are considered as the custodians of the Polonnaruwa Sivan temple which was built when the Chola dynasty remained between 9th century to 13th century in South India.
Chola Kings not only built several temples they even built schools, hospitals and even the Buddhist temples. It is not only the Tamil Hindus but even Sinhala Buddhist worship Sivan calling the deity as Siva Deviyo which means God Siva. Maha Sivarathri observances were disturbed very much during the four decades of civil strife in Sri Lanka. Movements and temple activities were also restricted to a greater extent with night curfews and the heavy patrolling of the Security Forces in the night hours. However the situation has changed with the end of civil war in 2009 and the Holy Sivarathri and other Hindu-Tamil festivals are celebrated without any hindrance in the North and East Provinces annually.
Sri Lanka is generally known as the ‘Siva Poomi’, which means the land of Siva. Even epic Ramayana says that mighty King Ravana was an ardent devotee of God Sivan. Hindu- Saivaiti saints lived in South India during 7th century had even rendered songs on the ancient Sivan temples. The Sivan temples which were rendered of devotional songs by Saint Thiruganasampanthar are Thiruketheeswaram in Mannar and Thirukoneswaram in Trincomalee.
Apart from these two historic temples Naguleswaram in Keerimalai, Jaffna, Munnerswaram in Chilaw in the Western Province, Than Thontreeswaram in the Eastern Proviince are other ancient Sivan temples in the Island and those temples were built during the invasion of mighty Chola Kings. Chola Kings were ardent devotees of God Sivan and they built temples for the deity not only in in their empire in South India but also in the countries they had conquered in South Asia. So Sri Lanaka was one of the countries ruled by Chola Kings and they had Chosen Polonnaruwa as one of their premier cities and built Sivan temples in late 9 th Century AD
.Since the late 9th Century AD, the city of Polonnaruwa has a number of temples dedicated to Lord Siva, all of them incredibly well-built, compact monuments made of stone. For one we have a large, wide porch upon entering the Sivan temple, inside the main building are five chambers which still feature their main centerpieces of a yoni and lingam, the feminine and masculine symbols respectively, representing the main divine couple of Parvati and Shiva. There are even statuettes of the two deities, with Shiva in his multi-armed form of Nataraja, dancing out to the beat of creation and destruction.
Sivan temple is situated within the Polonnaruwa city limits and is a long, rectangular building of stone. The building itself is made of exceptionally well-cut and well-fitted rectangular stone blocks. In fact there is no plastering to hold the individual blocks in. This particular structural pattern is known as interlock system. So it is with this system almost all Sivan temples have been built in South India and the foremost among is Pragathesswarara temple which was built by King Raja Raja Cholan and this majestic temple which highlights not only the power of the King but also his devotion towards the Hindu premier God Sivan. A big Sivalingam which remains as the symbol of Sivan placed within the inner sanctum of the temple, slightly weathered-looking with a broken base but it is still sacred to the local Hindu population.
Apart from the main Sivan temple there are several other big and small temples built during the Chola dynasty for Sivan and Vishnu in Polunnaruwa. The Sivan temple there is still worshipped with all Hindus festivals , particularly the Maha Sivarathri is celebrated annually in a grand scale jointly by Tamil Hindus and Sinhala Buddhists.
Historians and archeologists have even found several stone statues of Hindu deities and those statues indicates how far Hinduism remained influential in Sri Lanka particularly in the North and East Provinces in the Island. The museums in Polonnaruwa have plenty of leftovers of the Chola dynasty in Sri Lanka. Therefore the Maha Sivarathri celebration at the Sivan temple in Polunnaruwa is not only a religious event. But it is also an event remembering the mighty King Raja Raja Cholan’s dynasty in Sri Lanka.
