SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: King Duttha Gamini

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: King Duttha Gamini

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Having defeated the marauding Dravidian invaders from Southern India at the Epic Battle of Sri Lanka, the hero of the nation. Great King Duttha Gamini (Dutugemunu) (161-137 BC) of Ruhuna, devoted himself to religion & good government. Warrior though he was, a pious upbringing at the royal court of King Kawan Tissa & the heroine of the nation Queen Vihara Maha Devi had shaped his mind. When he envisaged his wars & immense sacrifice of life they entailed, he knew no peace, & sought the consolation of religion. He built monuments which to this day bear witness to his munificence & piety-chief among them being a monastery that could compare with palaces, & a dagoba that rivaled in size the very hills.

The Brazen Palace (ruins)The Brazen Palace (Lova Maha Paya), as the monastery was called, was a nine-storied structure roofed with sheets of copper. Each floor had a hundred apartments. In the midst of the building was a gilded hall, & in the centre of the hall a throne of ivory embellished with silver, gold gems & pearls & overshadowed by a white umbrella canopy, the emblem of Sinhalese royalty. All that remains of it today is a group of over a thousand granite monoliths. A more enduring achievement was the Golden Sand Stupa (Ruwan Weli Seya).

The Prophesy The Arhath Mahinda, who had arrived at Mihintale, during the reign of King Devanam Piya Tissa, had proclaimed that the location of Ruwan Weli Seya was a place consecrated by all four Buddhas, & that in time to come a great stupa would be built here to enshrine the relics of Gautama Buddha. Having heard the prophesy, King Devam Piya Tissa was taken up with the idea of proceeding with the ambitious task himself but the Arahat Mahinda had stayed him. Arahat Mahinda foretold that one the descendant of King Devanam Piya Tissa named King Duttha Gamini, six generations, later would be the one to construct the dagaba. Thereupon, King Devanam Piya Tissa erected a stone pillar with the prophecy engraved there on the spot.

Six generations later, on a gold plate hidden in a chest in the palace King Duttha Gamini, found a prophecy that he would build the Golden Sand Stupa (Ruwanweli dagoba) on a site in the Mahamegha Garden designated by Arahat Mahinda to a King Devanam Piya Tissa.

Golden Sand Stupa (Ruwan Weli Seya)

King Duttha Gamini, (King Dutugemunu) ultimately fulfilled this prophesy & built the spectacular stupa referred to in the histories at various times as the Maha Thupa, Hemamali Stupa, Swranamali stupa & Ratnamali stupa. It was built not by forced but by paid labour, having regard to the heavy taxes entailed by the wars against the Tamils. Its foundation stone, iron & copper, reaching down100 feet, have supported their mighty burden to this day. Buried in the heart of the dagaba was the relic–chamber, replete with gem-studded images of gold & silver of the Compassionate one & much wealth besides. Miraculous deposits of silver, copper & jewels occurred al over the island. Accidental Silver to finance the Golden Sand Stupa, the location of the Silver Temple is just one of the numerous instances. Since Duttha Gamini wished to acquire all the merit for work, he decreed that the builders should be paid for the labours as at the building of the Brazen Palace. Heaps of clothing, gold, & food & food were placed at he city gates for this purpose. Great elephants, their feet bound with leather, trod the foundation, the boundary of the mighty shrine was traced by a high official with a turning-staff silver tied to a post of gold. Special ‘fat-coloured” stone imported from India formed the walls of the relic chamber, which was in the upper part of the dome. In this chamber was a Bo-tree with a silver stem & leaves & fruit of gold & jewels, a canopy festooned with pearls, golden Buddhas on thrones, a magnificent couch for the relics, & other riches without number.

Death of the Hero of the Nation

Before the shrine was completed Duttha Gamini fell sick. He sent for his brother Saddha-Tissa, who covered the dagaba with a white cloth & erected a temporary spire of bamboo. The dying king was then carried to a spot from which he could see both the brazen Palace.There, for a while he bowed in worship amidst a crowd of priests. The priest Theraputtabhaya, who had formerly been on of his ten Samson–like commanders, stood near his dying leader. “In times past’, said the king, “I was supported by thee in war; now single-handed must I begin my fight with Death. This enemy I shall not be able to overcome.”

“Maharajah,” replied the priest, “the power of Death cannot overcome unless the enemy Sin is first subdued. Call to mind thy many acts of piety, & comfort shall surely be given thee.”

The secretary was commanded to bring the register of the king’s pious deeds, & to read aloud the long list of viharas & other buildings made by the kings; of the numerous festivals duly observed; of the arrangements made for regular religious preaching; of the garments, food, & gifts bestowed on the priests; & of the hospitals built & endowed for the poor. Gemunu had been indeed, as he himself said, the “slave of the priesthood,”-so much had he done for them.

But the comfort he obtained from the recital of his good deeds was small. ‘All these things.” he said, were given when I was prosperous. The thought of them gives me no relief. Only two offerings made when I was in adversity bring comfort to my mind.”

While, yet gazing at the noble buildings to which he had devoted the last years of his brave & pious life, the hero of the nation died. Crown prince Saliya, son of King Dutugamunu having forfeited to the right to crown by marrying lower caste Asokamala of Lanka, Prince Sadda-Tissa was crowned the king of Sri Lanka.

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: THE EARLIEST INSCRIPTIONS

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: THE EARLIEST INSCRIPTIONS
Part 1
Since 1883, when Dr. Edward Muller compiled & published for the Ceylon Government the first complete account of the ancient inscriptions then known in the island, much progress in copying others has been made, especially by Mr. H. C. P. Bell of the Ceylon Civil Service, the present Government Archaeologists, whose excellent & systematic work is of the greatest antiquarian value in preserving complete records of the constructive & epigraphical work of the ancient Sinhalese. There were numberless sites in the jungle where inscriptions have been cut that neither the lamented Dr. Paul Goldschmidt, who was the first to completely overcome the difficulties attending their decipherment,(1) nor his successor, Dr. E. Muller, had heard of; & up to the present day many fresh inscriptions continue to be discovered, & doubtless others will be found for many years to come. This is especially the case with those inscribed on rocks lying on the slopes of the less known hills isolated in the depths of the wild jungle, & often at considerable distances from any villages. Even where such sites occur in the immediate neighbourhood of the jungle hamlets it is generally found that little is known of them by the inhabitants, who have no inducement to make a systematic search for ancient remains.

It would be easy to mention many instances of the annoying manner in which comparatively long inscriptions elude observation even when in close proximity to others that are well known. On many rocks one may walk over an inscription without suspecting its presence, until some ray of sunlight illuminating one side of the shallow letters & throwing the other into shadow makes the whole stand out in comparative clearness. This fact indicates one of the difficulties of correctly copying the more worn inscriptions. It is often necessary to have light from two different quarters in order to read them; the morning rays catch one side of some letters, the afternoon rays to display others. It too often happens that the passing archaeologist finds it impossible to devote so much time to the decipherment.
In my own experience an excellent illustration of this difficulty occurred. On two mornings I had examined an inscription ( No. 83) cut on the flat top of a rock at a distance of four miles from my temporary station, & had obtained a satisfactory hand-copy of three lines of it; yet though it was evidently incomplete & I had had considerable practice in copying such letters I failed to see any continuation of it. On paying it a third visit one afternoon I found that the light, falling from a different direction, lit up the whole remaining line in such a manner that it could be copied with ease.
A trained eye is also necessary in order to distinguish slight artificial cuts from the natural markings of weather-worn rocks. On one occasion I pointed out to a friend who had accompanied me a very early shallow inscription about five feet from the ground on a weathered vertical face of a large rock, & proceeded to copy it without difficulty; yet my friend assured me he was unable to distinguish a single word of it. All appeared to him like the natural hollows in the face of the rock.
Dr. E. Miller ascribed the earliest inscription known in Ceylon up tp 1883 to either King Duttha Gamini (161-137 B.C.), or King Wattha-Gamini (88-76B.C.); & stated without giving reasons for his opinion, that the king's title. "beloved of Gods", rather pointed to the latter monarch. (2) The date of the first one known at the present day is certainly the third century B.C., & almost contemporary with these of the celebrated Indian emperor Asoka.
End of Part1
Above is an extract from Ancient Ceylon by H. Parker Year 1909 AES reprint ISBN 81-206-0208-0
Footnotes by H. Parker
(1) Translations of some inscriptions had been made by Professor Rhys Davids before that time.
(2) Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon, p 25
End of Parker's footnotes
bunpeiris's footnotes
(a) For 'beloved of Gods", third century B.C. & Indian emperor Asoka, please click & refer Mihintale
(b) Ancient Inscriptions in Ceylon Collected & published for the Government by Dr. Edward Muller. London. Trubner & Co. , Ludgate Hill Year 1883.
PLATES & TEXT in two separate volumes AES reprints Yer 1984

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: King Wattha Gamini Abhaya

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: King Wattha Gamini Abhaya (Valagambahu)

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History repeats
In the days of Pandukhabhaya, the son of famous princess Unmada Chithra & prince Diga gamini, stood Tittharama monastery of Jain ascetics. It was still allowed to flourish during the reign of Wattha Gamini Abhaya, nephew of the hero of the nation, King Duttha Gamini,
Having heard the great splendour of the city of Anuradhapura & prosperity of the island nation, once again the marauding Dravidian in great forces had invaded the island of Sri Lanka bent on construction of Buddhist Temples, stupas & rainwater reservoirs than building up defence forces.
As was in the epic battle of Sri Lanka during the reign of King Dutugemunu, his nephew too had to defend the island The King was defeated in a great battle outside the northern gate of the city. King Dutugamunu's son Prince Saliya had forfeited the right to crown by marrying lower caste Asokamala of Lanka.

Honour the decree even while on the run for the life
King Watta Gamini while fleeing from those maruading Dravidian Invaders from Southern India, got off from his chariot & in deference to King Dutugamunu's (Duttha Gamini) proclamation made sixty years before, honoured the Dravidian invader Elara by passing his monument on foot.

Return the favour
For next fifteen years in exile, the king was supported by the Buddhist monks. Dambulla caves became his refuge for the time. Upon regaining his kingdom, following a great battle against the marauding Dravidian invaders from southern India, the king in gratitude, converted the natural caves into a monastery. The golden sheen inside the caves resulted in the temple being known as Golden Dambulla Rock Temple,a World heritage Site.

Retain the purity
As he fled past Tittharama Jaina monastery, the high priest, Giri, taunted the royal fugitive, saying “the great black Sinhalese is on the run for the life”, The king stung by the impertinent remark of the ungrateful Dravidian who had been allowed a heretic Nigatha’s monastery in the land of Buddha’s heritage, even while fleeing made a vow to regain his kingdom & destroy the monastery
For fifteen years the great king roamed the hilly forests south of Anuradhapura building up formidable Sinhalese forces to wage war against the Dravidian invaders. During that time, five of the Tamil Chiefs, who had defeated King King Watta Gamini Abhaya, each successively killing his predecessor, occupied the kingdom of Anuradhapura. At the end, the lion –hearted nephew of hero of the nation, King Dutugamunu, defeated the marauding Dravidians in battle at Anuradhapura regained his kingdom.

Like Uncle, Like Nephew
King Watta Gamini Abhaya, like his uncle King Dutugamunu, was an ardent follower of Buddhism. Following his victory, the pious king built the Abhayagiri Dagoba, the greatest monument of its kind in the world -360 feet in diameter, & 405 feet in height.
The king then gave the Abhayagiri monastery to Thera Mahatisa, previously the abbot of the Vessagiri monasteries. He was subsequently charged with a serious breach of the rules & expelled from the Order.
It was at the Abhayagiri Dagoba the that the Vaitulya heresy found soil & grew into powerful Dhammaruci sect, which became supreme in the reign of King Mahasena Later he was joined by other ‘heretics’ to form a community following the Mahayana Buddhism. This doctrine, born of schism from the Theravada school, introduced the concept of the bodhisattva. Bodhisattvas are men who have reached the stage of Buddhahood but, by compassion & for altruistic reasons, postpone their entering into nibbana to help the others on the difficult way of enlightenment.
Although Buddha has seized to exist, the sublime Dhamma which he unreservedly bequeathed to humanity still exists in its pristine purity. Although the Master has left no written records of His Teachings, His distinguished disciples had preserved doctrine by committing to memory and transmitting them orally. The king fearing the effect of the new heresies decreed that the tenants of the faith as preached by Mahinda be written down & preserved.
It was at this convocation in Sri Lanka in 55 BC, while Julius Ceaser was invading the painted barbarians in England, the Tripitaka of Theravada Buddhism was committed to writing. Aluvihare, near Matale, Kandy, Sri Lanka

The Ultimate Loss
The ultimate misfortune of King Wattha Gamini Abhaya was to lose the Begging Bowl of Gautama Buddha, which the marauding Dravidian invaders from Southern India carried of to India. The venerated relic of the Begging Buddha Bowl of Gautama was brought into Sri Lanka by Theri Sanghamitta together the Sacred Relic of Tooth following the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka by Maha thera Mahinda at Mihinitale

In his flight he took with him his first & second queen, his son & his nephew. The car was over laden & could make but slow progress. The second queen, the beautiful Somadevi, was left at the sanctuary of the Kadambappuppha forest, at her own request, & with a portion of the Crown jewels. But she was captured by a Tamil chief of the marauding Dravidian invaders, who was enamored of her beauty that he took her back to India.

Fifteen years later the king retrieved his captive queen & in memory of her sacrifice, erected in her honour, to commemorate the event the Manisomarama monastery & The Queens Pavilion on the spot on which she left the chariot.

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: SRI LANKA’S LITERATURE

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: SRI LANKA’S LITERATURE by bunpeiris

Origin of Sinhala language of Sri Lanka

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“As to the linguistic character of Sinhalese it is now generally admitted by scientist that it is one of the Indo-Aryan Vernaculars like Marathi, Bengali, and Hindi etc”
Dr. Wilhelm Geiger: A Grammar of the Sinhalese Language. AES Reprint ISBN 81-206-1134-9

Philological evidence shows that Sinhala, the language of Sinhalese of Sri Lanka, is ultimately derived from old Indo-Aryan (Sanskrit) through middle Indo-Aryan or Prakrit (whose best representative is Pali, the language of the Buddhist scriptures). The Sinhala language is therefore a member of the Aryan family of languages, which is a member of a still larger family of languages known as Indo-European. The Indo-European family of languages, which is by far the largest and the most widely distributed linguistic group in the world, includes such modern languages as German, French, English, Persian and Hindi. The parent Indo-European speech, which is the source of all these languages is believed to have flourished about 5000 years ago in central or Eastern Europe.

Pali Works in Sri Lanka
Pali, a classical Indo-Aryan language is a literary form of the vernacular which the Buddha used in his discourse.
3^rd century B.C.
Thera Upatissa compiles, in Pali, Mahabodhivamsa, the history of Bodhi branch at Anuradhapura, originally brought from the parent tree at Bodhi gaya in India
4^th century AD
Dipavamsa, the oldest Pali chronicle of Sri Lanka, begins with Buddha’s life in brief & his visit to Sri Lanka. Ends with the rule of King Mahasena in 4^th century AD. It is not the continuous work of one individual, but a heterogeneous collection of material by different people who, lived at different periods in different parts of the Island.
5^th century AD
Thera Mahanama compiles the first part of epic poem Mahvamsa ( Great Chronicle”) in Pali.
{{ According to Prof. Gunapala Peiris Malasekera who edited the commentary to the Mahawansa, Dr. Wilhelm Geiger who translated the Mahawamsa & Dr. Anada Guruge who, there was an earlier Mahawansa-in the Sinhala language titled ‘Sihalatthkatha Mahawansa” It is now accepted by scholars that Maha = Vansa are both Pali words derived from Sanskrit. According to the authoritative Pali-English Dictionary edited by Prof. T. W. Rhys-Davids & Dr. William Stede, the word Mha is derived from the Vedic Mahant meaning “great, extensive, big, and important”. According to the same dictionary Vansa is derived from Vedic Sanskrit Vanasa & means ‘lineage, race, family” Scholars have accepted that Theravada means the Doctrine (Vada) of the Elders (Thera) both Pali words, occurring in the Pali cannon. Mahayana means Maha (the great), Yana (vehicle), both words being common to Sanskrit & Pali also borrowed into Sinhala.

There Mahanama compiles “The Mahavamsa–Tika”, the commentary on the Mahavamsa called Vamsatthappakasini

13^th century AD
Ven Dhammakirti compiles the second part of Mahavamsa in Pali

Origin of Sinhala script
Sinhala script is derived from the Brahmi script, in which the famous edicts of Great Mayuran King Asoka of India were written. With the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka under the aegis of the King Asoka the Brahmi script too was introduced. All the early inscriptions in Sri Lanka are inscribed in Brahmi script. With the passage of time with the material on which the writing was done changing from stone & rock faces to copper plates, & later on to ola leaves, the script became curvilinear.
304-240 BC. Ven. Mahinda who preached Theravada based on the Sthaviravadin School of Buddhist thought & established Mahavihara (Great Monastery) of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka teaches first of the Tipitaka commentaries in the Sinhala language, having translated them from Pali.
{{The Magadhi language, which Arhant Mahinda Thera at Mihintale spoke, would have been similar to Sinhala. The Asokan inscriptions are similar to Sinhala inscriptions of the 3^rd century B.C.}}

Translation of Sinhalese Buddhist works into Pali language
5^th Century AD
Quote Mahavamsa
Addressing Ven. Buddhaghosa of India, his teacher Ven Revate said, “Here only the Pali text has been preserved. There is no commentary here & likewise no Theravada, for that has been allowed to go to pieces & no longer known. However a Sinhala commentary still exist which is pure. It was rendered into the Sinhala tongue by the learned Mahinda since his arrival at Mihitale, Sri Lanka. Go there & after you have learnt it translate it into the language of the Magadha (Pali) that will bring benefit to the whole world”.
Unquote Mahavamsa
It was only after Mahavihara monks were satisfied with Ven. Buddhaghosa’s capabilities which he proved by writing the encyclopedic Visuddhi Magga (the path of Purification), that he was given the ancient Sinhala commentaries.
The most outstanding author in the history of Pali literature, Ven Buddhagohasa studied the various Sinhala commentaries (including the tipitaka commentaries of Ven. Mahinda) on the Theravada cannon-drawing primarily on the Maha atthakatha (Great Commentary) preserved at the Mahavihara- & translates them into Pali. Ven Buddhagohasa’s tremendous contribution made Sinhala Buddhist scholarship available for the first time to the entire Theravadan world & marks the beginning of what will become, in the centuries to follow, a vast body of post –canonical Pali literature. One of his works Samantapasadika , a commentary on the Vinaya Ptika of Tipitaka was translated into Chinese in 489 AD. By way of his numerous scholary works in Pali, Ve. Buddhaghosa firmely established the language in the Buddhist world.

Sanskrit Literature
Sanskrit inscriptions and the existence of extensive Sanskrit literature attest to the importance of Sanskrit in Sri Lanka’s cultural and religious life. One of the earliest texts written in the 4^th century was Sarartha-sangraha by King Buddhadasa. Sanskrit grammars and lexicographical texts were introduced from India to facilitate the study of Sanskrit and sometimes served as models of Sinhalese texts. Not only was Candragomin’s grammar Candra Vyakarana studied in Sri Lanka but was used by Moggallana as a model for his Pali grammar. Sariputta who lived between the 9^th-12^th centuries composed a Sanskrit grammar Padavatara. Another great scholar during the period 1153-86 was Dimbulagala Mahakasyapa who wrote the Sanskrit grammar Balavabodhana.

There were also Sanskrit treatise on Silpa-sastras, particularly on statuary art e.g. Sariputra. In about 1245 a Brahmin scholar from Gauda (Bengal) named R Kavibharati arrived in Sri Lanka became Buddhist, received a title of Bauddhagama Cakravarti for writing a work titled Bhakti-sataka. He is also credited with the composition of Vritta-ratnakara-panjika, which is a commentary on the famous Indian Sanskrit texts on prosody called Vrtta-ratnakara by Kedara Bhatta.
Sinhalese Buddhist monks of the Mahayana Cannon made use of Sanskrit as a vehicle of their ideas and studied the language and its literature extensively.

Sinhalese Literature
Of the extant Sinhalese Literary works, the oldest is Siyabasalankara, a text on poetics composed in the 9^th century after the Kavyasarsa of Dandin. Works of Kalidasa of India were very popular in Sri Lanka. Kalidasa’s masterpieces like Meghaduta, Raghuvamsa were regarded as models of poetic composition and were an inspiration to SH writers and poets.
Although writers of the Polonnaruwa period 9-12th centuries showed greater inclination to promote the study of Sanskrit and Pali some important Sinhalese works were composed during this period. Such works include Sasa-davata, which is a versification of the Pali Sasa Jataka and was probably composed around 1197 AD. The famous work called the Amavatura is a sort of prose poem composed by Gurulugomi, narrating the progress of Buddhism. There were numerous other works in Sinhalese literature that contains innumerable references to and quotations from Buddhist – Sanskrit texts.
A novel feature in the late medieval Sinhalese literature was the introduction of the sandesa-kavyas influenced by Kalidasa’s Meghaduta. The reign of Parakramabahu (1348-60) witnessed the appearance of the first sandesa-kavyas in Sinhalese.
The foregoing survey makes it abundantly clear that Pali and Sanskrit literatures not only inspired Sinhalese scholars and writers to compose excellent works in these languages, but also led the growth of a fairly extensive literature in the language of the land, which shone with multi-faceted brilliance. The Contribution of South Indian languages particularly Tamil, in the evolution of SH language cannot be ignored.
12^th century A.D.
Ven. Rajaguru Dhammakitti compiles Dathavamsa , the History of Sacred Tooth Relic based on an earlier Sinhala work.
14^th century AD
Ven. Dharmakirti the second compiles Nikayasangraha, the history of Buddhism from Buddha’s final extinction to the reign of King Bhuvanaikabahu the fourth (1360-1391AD).

Lost treasures
Numerous Sinhala Buddhist literary works in Pali, Sanskrit & Sinhala had been set on fire by the rash of marauding Dravidian invaders from India during the ancient & medieval times & then again by the Portuguese, Dutch & British during the period of western colonial times in Asia. Priceless manuscripts at Buddhist Library at Aluvihare temple, Kandy was destroyed by the British colonialists.

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: MARUADING INVADER KALINGA MAGHA

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: MARUADING INVADER KALINGA MAGHA

Kalinga Magha, the marauding Dravidian Invader from Southern India (1215-36 AD)
Following is an excerpt from CULAVAMSA being the more recent part of the Mahavamsa
Translated from Pali by Dr. Wilhelm Geiger

Quote Magha, an unjust king sprung from the Kalinga line, in whom reflection was fooled by his great delusion, landed as leader of four & twenty thousand warriors from the Kalinga country & conquered the island of Lanka. The great scorching fire-King Magha-commanded his countless flames of fire–his warriors- to harass the great forest–the kingdom of Lanka. While thus his great warriors oppresses the people, boasting cruelly everywhere; “We are Kerala warriors’, they tore from people their garments, their ornaments & the like, corrupted the good moral of the family which had been observed for ages, cut off hands & feet & the like (of the people), destroyed many houses & tied up cows, oxen & other (cattle) which they made their own property. After they had put fetters on the wealthy & rich people & had tortured them & taken away all their possessions, they made poor people of them. They wrecked the image houses, destroyed many cetiyas, ravaged the viharas & maltreated the lay brethren. They flogged the children, tormented the five (groups of the) comrades of the Order, made the people carry burdens & forced them to do heavy labour. Many books known & famous they tore from their cord & strewed them hither & thither. The beautiful, vast, proud cetiyas like the Ratanavali (-cetiya) & others which embodied as it were, the glory of former pious kings, they destroyed by overthrowing them & allowing alas! many of the bodily relics, their souls as it were, to disappear. Thus the Damila warriors in imitation of the warriors of Mara, destroyed in the evil of their nature, the laity & the Order. Hereupon they completely invested Pulatthinagara & captured Parakkrama, that man of great might & valour. They put out the Monarch’s eyes & plundered all his treasures, pearls, jewels & so forth. Unquote

CULAVAMSA being the more recent part of the Mahavamsa
Translated from Pali by Dr. Wilhelm Geiger AES reprint ISBN 81-206-0430-X 81-206-0432-6

Besides the Dipavamsa & the Mahavamsa chronicling the unbroken civilization of the island of Sri Lanka since 543BC written in Pali Language, there have been numerous ancient & medieval works in Sinhala too. Rajavaliya, meaning ‘genealogy of rulers’ is one of those. The period spans from the earliest times up to about the end of reign of King Vimaladharmasuriya the second. (1687-1706 AD)

Following is an extract from Rajavaliya
By kind courtesy of Dr. A. V. Suraweera Rajavaliya Translated by Dr. A.V. Suraweera ISBN 955-599-210-X

Quote Kalingu king landed in the island of Lanka with twenty thousand strong warriors & established fortifications. He subdued Polonnaruwa, & having captured the Pandi king plucked out his eyes. He caused the destruction of the people & the religion, broke into the Ruvanvali Dagaba & other dagabas as well. He got the Tamils to destroy the fame like unto the bodies of the faithful kings which resembled the dagabas. He also got the Tamils to destroy the crowns of these kings, which resembled the pinnacles (of the dagabas) the flesh resembling the precious stones, their lives resembling the relics enshrined therein. He brought about degrdation of the people of high birth, brought about intergration among different castes & reduced the nobles to poverty. He converted Sri Lanka into a country embracing false faith, seized those who were virtuous & reduced them to poverty. He converted Sri Lanka into a country to appear like a house on fire, settled Tamils in different villages & reigned nineteen years by force of arms. Unquote

Defeating Tamils & regaining the kingdom of Sri Lanka by a Sinhalese king
Following is an extract from Rajavaliya

Quote When this island of Lanka was being destroyed, king Vijaya Manu a descendent of the Sri Sangabo clan, which had brought the noble Sri Maha Bodhi, sprang up like unto a light that emerged in darkness, residing in the Maya Rata & raising Sinhala army began to subdue the Tamil strongholds spread out in different places. Attacking Polonnaruwa, & driving away the Tamil forces that were in Vanni region, the king caused to reconstruct the Thuparama & Ruvanvalisaya dagabas, set the pinnacles in them & made great offerings. He caused to be cleared, all the Viharas destroyed by the Tamils, in the whole of Sri Lanka, & rebuilt the Kalani Vehera. For the reason that the Tamils had destroyed all virtuous monks in Lanka he sent invitations to Dambadiva & having got down then monks of good conduct & got one thousand monks ordained. The king united the three divisions of the country including Maya Rata & caused them to pay tribute. Meanwhile, from Karavuruva to the places between Polonnaruwa & Urataota, the Tamils had their fortifications. While king Vijayabahu was reigning from Mayarata he called his two legitimate children close to him & asked, “Will two of you conduct yourselves with identical thoughts like Dutugamunu & Saddhatissa?” The on examining the horoscope of Parakrambahu, the king learnt that he was possessed of the power of his meritorious deeds to destroy the enemies & bring Sri Lanka under one umbrella. (King Vijayabahu) while he was ruling the country from Maya Rata in the city of Samurdhipura after pursuing the enemies & killing the Tamils, he learned from the inhabitants that the bowl relic, the auspicious spear & the noble tooth relic had been hidden in Kotmale. He was greatly delighted & with respectful offerings he proceeded to Kotmalaya & took possession of the noble tooth relic. The king was so delightful as if he were to receive an offering of seven kinds of precious stones, he brought back the tooth relic with respect, making offerings at every village & caused to be built a house for the noble tooth relic & also the Beligal Vihara in order that it will not undergo any harm from any enemy during a period of possible anarchy. He caused the noble tooth relic to be hidden on the mountain top in a place that could not be reached by an enemy, constructed wells & all else & made arrangement for making offerings & other forms of respect regularly on Poya days without any break. Because the books have been destroyed by the Tamils, the king got the learned men to write the preachings of the Buddha, consisting of eighty four thousand (texts) & made numerous offerings. He assembled the entire community of monks; gave alms & also the eight requisites, built the Vijayabahu Vihara after his own name, & made great offerings to it; caused to rebuilt the Kalani Vihara destroyed by the Tamils & crowned it with a pinnacle. Having performed numerous meritorious deeds, he entrusted the kingdom to Parakrambahu, the elder prince, & appointing the younger prince as the Yuvaraja reigned twenty four years. Unquote
Rajavaliya Translated by Dr. A.V. Suraweera ISBN 955-599-210-X

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: UTTER CRUELTY TO TURTLES IN THE 19th Century. Protection today

THE UTTER CRUELTY TO THE ANCIENT CREATURES, THE TURTLES Hambantota, Sri Lanka, year 1843.Today Turtles are a protected species in Sri Lanka Holidays. Visit the pristine beaches of the tropical Island of Sri Lanka.

Ceylon & It’s Capabilities An account of its natural resources, indigenous productions & commercial facilities J. W. Bennett, Esq., F.L.S. Late Ceylon Civil Establishment. London 1843.
Following is an extract from the above motioned volume first published in the year 1843.

Leaving that “hell upon earth”, Kattregam, the tourist, if he intend to proceed direct to Hambantota, after having crossed the Parapa-Oya at the ford, will take the road through the villages of Mahagama & (crossing the Kirinde-Oya) Boondelle, to Hambantota, a distance altogther of about 30 miles;-but, as by doing, the opportunity of visiting Ahamadewe, orTurtle Cove, would be lost, let it be supposed, that he does not diverge from the sea coast, but, after having crossed the Yalle river at the ferry, resumes his original & direct route to Ahamadewe, which is about 10 miles from Yalle.
When the turtle season approaches, the fish renter of the district assembles his people at Ahamadewe, where they construct huts, & a sort of temporary bazaar, for the sale of the usual articles of their simple diet, which are daily brought in by the villagers residing within eight or ten miles of the Cove.
As the turtles land only at night, the fishers (who are ever on the qui vive for the sport) begin to look out for their expected prey soon after the sun set; &, as much depends on the state of the night, they distribute themselves, early or late, as those best accustomed to the habits of the animals may determine, along the edge of the low jungle bordering the Cove, where they lie ambushed until the signal be passéd for them to act.
If the night be fine, & very little wind stirring, the turtles are generally observed to land just as
“The pale moon, from out her cloudy cave,
Drops her still anchor in the twilight wave,’
& soon commence the flapping noise, most agreeable to the ears of the expectant “turtling gang” by which they know that the “Hawk’s-bill” are busily engaged in preparing holes in the sands, for the reception of their numerous ova, which often amount to a hundred at one time, & are very wholesome, not withstanding the noxious properties of the flesh.
Although these reptiles are undisturbed during the process of incubation, the experienced Headman knows so well when sufficient grace has been allowed for that purpose, that he seldom omits giving the signal at the right proper moment; this is done by whisper along the whole line of he ambuscade; from whence, a simultaneous onset is made by the whole gang, each carrying stout Bamboo pole, & ligatures of the twisted bark of certain jungle trees, for the purpose of securing the turtles, as they are turned upon their backs, by trying the opposite fins, or rather feet, together; without which precaution, this species (the Hawk’s-bill, Testudo imbricate, L., Chelonia Caretta, C., & Lili-kas-bewa of the Singhalese) from its feet being longer, & back, or shield, more convex than those of the other varieties, would easily regain its natural position, & probably escape; for it depends itself with great fury, & bites severely, as many a Singhalese fisherman knows to his cost.

The fishers having secured as many turtles as they can, fires are lighted upon the spot; a bamboo pole is then passed longitudinally between the tied feet & breastplate of each turtle, by which it is suspended over the blazing fire, until the dorsal plates (or scales, as they are usually called) become heated & start from their horizontal position, when they are rapidly stripped off, beginning with the plate nearest the head, which is the largest, until the whole thirteen plates that cover the disk, are removed; but the marginal plates, of which are twenty five, are seldom taken, unless unusually large; & as soon as the stripping is over, the despoiled animal is liberated, & allowed a free egress to the sea.

Although one would naturally infer, from all the circumstances of so apparently cruel a process, that instant would prevent the same turtles from re-visiting the place of their former despoliation, the fact is otherwise; for those that survive the intermediate dangers which everywhere beset them, return to the Cove at the same season (viz. from the middle of April to the end of May) in the ensuing year.
The fact was fully ascertained by a Dutch gentlemen, who had charge of the district in 1794; who, to satisfy his doubts upon the point, caused brass rings, marked with the dates of the capture of the turtles, in Dutch & Malay, to be attached to a fin of a certain number selected for the purpose; &, in 1826, the fish renter of the district brought me one for these rings, which he had removed from a turtle of 400lbs weight. The ring was about two-thirds of an inch in width at the largest part, & had been riveted on. But the characters were obliterated by the action of the water; & the renter positively affirmed, that the same turtle had, to his knowledge, revisited the Cove for thirty two successive years. As soon as the ring had been engraven with my initials, in Singhalese, & dated 1826, by the second Moodliar’s Liene Aratchy, or Ola writer, (who did it as deeply as he could with his iron style,) it was replaced upon the turtle, which was allowed to depart without further molestation.

The turtle season may be said to continue till the end of June; & any quantity of “tortoise shell” of the harvest may be purchase of the fish renter, upon the spot, at 100 percent, less than the cost of the same article at Galle. The brown & black shell, which is invariably the thicket, is most valued; & the foremost plate of the disk, which is the largest in point of size, of quadrangular shape, & the anterior part convex, is considered the best.
Ceylon exports tortoise-shell, both in raw & manufactured state, the natives being very expert at making betel & sniff boxes, cigar cases, combs of every description, tea caddies, & writing desks; for which latter purposes, they flatten the shell, by means of steam, into thin veneers.

Year 1843. J. W. Bennett, Esq., F.L.S. Late Ceylon Civil Establishment, London,
AES reprint ISBN 81-206-1168-3

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS ;TRUE GREATNESS OF A NATION

The true greatness of a nation

The true greatness of a nation is not measured by the vastness of its territory, or by the multitude of its people, or by the profusion of its exports and imports; but by the extent to which it has contributed to the life and thought and progress of the world. A man's greatness is not estimated by the size of his body or of his purse; not by his family connections or social position, however high these may be. He may bulk large in public estimation today, but tomorrow he will be forgotten like a dream, and his very servants may secure a higher position and a name lasting possibly a little longer.
A man's greatness is estimated by his influence, not over the votes and empty cheers of a changing and passing crowd, but by his abiding, inspiring influence in their bidden thoughts, upon their ways of thinking, and consequently of acting. That is why the Wycliffes, Shakespeares, Miltons, Newtons, Wesleys, and Gladstones of English history live, and will live, in everlasting memory, while lesser men are remembered only through them, and the crowd of demagogues, pretenders, and self-seekers are named, if ever named, only to "point a moral, or adorn a tale."
So with nations. A great nation is not one which, like Russia, has an enormous territory ; or, like China, has an enormous population. It is the nation which gives mankind new modes of thought, new ideals of life, new hopes, new aspirations; which lifts the world out of the rut, and sets it going on a cleaner and brighter road.

-L. E. Blaze, Lecture at the D. B. U. Hall, November 26, 1926

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: BUDDHA & BUDDHISM

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: BUDDHA & BUDDHISM

Tour the beautiful island of Sri Lanka with Riolta Sri Lanka Holidays. Total Holiday Experience awaits you in The Land of Delights.

Following is an extract from “The Revolt in the Temple” written by D. R. Wijewardhana in 1953. The rare copy in my possession, which belonged to my father, is signed B. Donald Benedict Peiris & dated 13^th March 1967. B. Upul N. Peiris, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

“The Buddha,” says Hari Singh Gour in The Spirit of Buddhism, “was not only the earliest exponent of the new social system, but He was equally the first in the world to elaborate it. It was He who first proclaimed the equality of man, their fraternity & universal brotherhood. It was He who first denounced the worthlessness of sacrifice to the gods, & taught man the value of social service. It was He first denounced the worthlessness of the sacrifice to the gods, & taught man the value of social service. It was He who emancipated man from the thralldom of religion. It was He, again, who released man from the iron heel of a confederacy of priests. And it was He who first told man to exercise reason & be not the dumb driven cattle meekly following the dogma of religion.’
The Buddha addressed Himself, not to select disciples, but to all people, & proclaimed a deliverance from the sins & sorrows of life by self-conquest & universal love, & to his message was added the magnetism of His personality & the undying influence of a noble life. That was the secret of His marvelous success. While denying the existence of any external being or God, who could interfere with the immutable law of cause & effect, His teaching linked together mankind as parts of one universal whole, & denounced the isolated self-seeking of the human heart as the heresy of individuality. Its mission was to make men moral, kinder to others, & happier themselves, & not to propitiate imaginary deities. It accordingly founded its teaching on man’s duty to his neighbor, instead of on his obligation to gods.
The Buddha was a far greater heretic & rebel, from the point of view of Brahmanism or orthodox Hinduism, than Christ was with regard to Judaism. The outstanding intellectual achievement of the Buddha was the overthrow of the foundation of Brahmanism, as of most other religion, the belief in God. Bertrand Russell calls the Buddha, “the greatest of atheists of all time.”
“In the Buddha,” writes H. G. Wells in The Three Greatest Men in History, “you seek clearly a man, simple, devout, lonely, battling for light-a vivid human personality, not a myth. Beneath a mass of miraculous fable I feel that there also was a man. He, too, gave a message to mankind universal in its character. Many of our best modern ideas are in closest harmony with it. All the miseries & discontents of life are due, he taught, to selfishness. Selfishness takes three forms-one, the desire to satisfy the senses; another the craving for immortality; & the third is the desire for prosperity, worldliness. Before a man can become serene he must cease to live for his senses or himself. Then he merges into a greater being. Buddha in different language called men to self-forgetfulness five hundred years before Christ. In some ways he is nearer to us & our needs. He was more lucid upon our individual importance in service than Christ & less ambiguous upon the question of personal immortality.”
The Buddha’s teaching, unlike these of theistic teachers, has not in any manner got into conflict with modern science. In truth, it has been quite the contrary. For, the findings of science have often supported & vindicated His own views about the world & the nature of existence.
“A wonderful philosophy of dynamism was formulated by Buddha 2500 years ago,” says Professor Radhakrishnan in his Indian Philosophy, “a philosophy which is being recreated for us by the discoveries of modern science & the adventures of modern thought. The electro-magnetic theory of matter has brought about a revolution in the general concept of nature of physical reality. It is no more static stuff but radiant energy. An analogous change has pervaded the world of psychology, & the title of a recent book by M. Bergson, Mind Energy, indicates the change in the theory of physical reality.
‘Impressed by transitoriness of objects, the ceaseless mutation & transformation of things, Buddha formulated a philosophy of change. He reduces substances, souls, monads, things to forces, movements, sequences & processes, & but a series of manifestations of becoming & extinctions. It is a stream of becoming. The world of sense of science is from moment to moment. It is recurring rotation of birth & death. Whatever be the duration of any state of being, as brief as a flash of lighting or as long as a millennium, yet all is becoming. All things change. All schools of Buddhism agree that there is nothing human or divine that is permanent.”
Buddhism attempted to shift the centre from the worship of God to the service of man. The Buddha was more keen about teaching a new sense of duty than about founding a new theory of the universe. He started a religion independent of dogma & priesthood, sacrifice & sacrament. He made it clear that salvation did not depend on accepting doubtful dogmas or doing deeds of darkness to appease an angry God. It depended on perfection of character & devotion to the good. With this message of morality & love, Buddhism addressed itself to kings, princes & Brahmins as well as to the poor, the lowly & the disinherited.
For twelve years Buddhism held sway in the land of its birth. During this period it radiated its light to all quarters of the then accessible world. Alexander the Great, in his conquering march upon India (327-374 B.C.), returned with the priceless booty of Buddhism, the tenets of which became a favourite theme for discussion among he wise men who usually thronged his camp. These philosophers, & the Jews who had followed Alexander after the fall of Jerusalem, returned with this great treasure, which they had discovered in India.
Three centuries before the birth of Christ, Alexander’s short life was over. Fourteen years was the span of his reign; & in it he altered the whole course of the world’s history. To Europe & to the Middle East brought from Buddhist India new ways of looking at the world, a far wider range, a new sympathy for men of alien race, the need of a new philosophy, a new necessity for re-thinking all the old conceptions of religion.
Like the sun, Buddhism entered alike the palaces of kings & the little huts of the poor, beautifying & ennobling them. Within a few years after the enlightenment, the Doctrine had spread far & wide, attracting all & sundry by its piety, its wisdom, & its consolation. Within a few hundred years after the Buddha’s death, his gospel had scaled the Himalayas & crossed mighty rivers & vast deserts & great oceans, bringing the glad tidings of deliverance to nation after nation. Recent archaeological discoveries in Central Asia & elsewhere have revealed Buddhist Empires, vast & populous, in regions now waste & desolate; nations whose very names are lost, but whose high culture may yet be guessed from their archaeological remains. Ceylon & Burma, Siam & Indo-China, Java & Sumatra, China & Tibet, & Korea & Japan revered its ennobling influence & were bathed in its purifying radiance.
But soon the night fell-in obedience to the inevitable law of impermanence, which the Buddha Himself had repeatedly emphasized-night, filed with heavy slumber, & with weird & futile dreams sometimes; & in realm after realm the faded, flickered & died. The historical fact is that Buddhism instituted a spiritual & social democracy which was dissatisfied to the priestly caste who had held the common people in bondage for so long; & and also that, when about the 6^th century of the Christian era, caste again became dominant, Buddhism faded out of India.
Although the ‘Prophet’ was thus not ultimately honoured in His own land, the ‘Wheel of the Law’ which He set in motion, through love of humanity, in order to release it from unhappiness, held out in other kingdoms-the eternity of its universal hope, the immortality of its boundless love, the indestructibility of the element of faith in final good, & the dignity of the proudest assertion ever made of human freedom.
In those kingdoms it flourished & triumphed, & one such kingdom was this Sri Lanka of ours.

Above is an extract from “The Revolt in the Temple” written by D. R. Wijewardhana in 1953. The rare copy in my possession, which belonged to my father, is signed B. Donald Benedict Peiris & dated 13^th March 1967. B. Upul N. Peiris, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. The volume was composed to commemorate 2500 years of the land, the Race & the Faith.

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: WE REVEAL FOR YOU TO REVEL

SRI LANKA HOLIDAYS: WE REVEAL FOR YOU TO REVEL

OUR LAND, OUR NATION & OUR FAITH WILL PREVAIL
by B. Upul N. Peiris (bunpeiris), Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

On the day of his passing away, the Buddha preached the Dhamma in the city of Kusinara to the gods & Brahmas of the ten thousand worlds. He said, “My dispensation has capacity to last for five thousand years. The Bodhi by the name of Mahari of the Buddha Kakusanda who had attained Buddhahood in the past was planted in the island of Sri Lanka & his dispensation established;Bodhi Udumbara was planted & the dispensain of the Buddha Konagama was established; Bodhi Nigrodha was planted & the dispensation of the Buddha Kasyapa was established. And presently a Thera by the name of Mihindu would plant my Sri Maha Bodhi & establish my dispensation to last for five thousand years. So saying the Buddha called to his side from among the ten thousand Sakras, the Sakra who looked afer this blessed world & entrusted Sri Lanka into his care. Further the Buddha gave God Upulvan Pirit threads & Pirit water to be given to Prince Vijaya & having entrusted the guardianship of Sri Lanka to that God, attained Parinirvana.
Rajavaliya, A Comprehensive Account of the Kings of Sri Lanka
Translation into English by Dr. A. V. Suraweera IBN 955-599-210-X

Besides the Dipavamsa & the Mahavamsa narrating the unbroken civilization of the island of Sri Lanka since 543BC written in Pali Language, there have been numerous ancient & medieval works written in Sinhala too. Rajavaliya, meaning ‘line of kings’ or ‘genealogy of rulers’ is one of those chronicles. It is a historical narrative of rulers of this country beginning from the earliest times up to about the end of reign of King Vimaladharmasuriya the second. (1687-1706 AD)

“Not for the joy of sovereignty is this toil of mine, my striving (has been) ever to establish the doctrine of the Sambuddha.”
Mahavamsa, The Great Chronicle of Ceylon by Thera Mahanama translated by Dr. Wilhelm Geiger, PH. D. ISBN; 955-8540-83-8
“This effort of mine is not for the joy of sovereignty; it is for the establishment of the Faith of the Buddha forever.”
The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka, Mahavamsa Chapters one to thirty seven. An annotated new translation with prolegomena by Dr. Anada W. P. Guruge ISBN-955-20-8963-8
“My effort is not for the joy of sovereignity; it is for the establishment of the Faith of the Buddha forever.”
The Mahavamsa, The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka by Mahanama Thera. Modern text & historical commentary by Douglas Bullis ISBN 955-1266-09-9
“I am fighting not with any greed for a kingdom. I want to destroy the enemies & achieve victory for the sake of illuminating the Buddha Sasana that would last for five thousand years.”
Rajavaliya, A Comprehensive Account of the Kings of Sri Lanka
Translation into English by Dr. A. V. Suraweera IBN 955-599-210-X

King Dutugamunu during the epic battle of Sri Lanka against the marauding Dravidian invaders from Southern India.