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