Lanka Nature Trails

  FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY Buddhism  Before the rise of Buddhism in the sixth century B.C., India had gone through a long process of religious thought and philosophical speculation; the formulation of the doctrines of Buddhism and the beliefs and practices of the early Buddhists were in great measure due to the religious milieu in which this faith was first preached to the people. A review, perforce very brief, of the religious thought and life in India before Buddhism arose, is therefore necessary for the student of history to appreciate the great spiritual and intellectual upsurge created by that religion, says Prof. S. Paranavitana.  It is not possible to speak with any degree of certainty about the religion of the people of the Indus civilization until its script is deciphered: but, from the examination of the material remains unearthed at Mohenjo-daro, Harappa and other sites, it has been ascertained that certain aspects of Indian religion, with which we are familiar during h

  FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY King Pandukabhaya At her touch, these leaves, it is said, turned into golden vessels. Remembering, a prophesy of his teacher, Pandukabhaya carried her away to be his consort. She was named Pali, but due to her golden touch, she was surnamed Suvannapali. Having heard of this happening, her father sent his soldiers against Pandukabhaya, but the latter routed them. Five of her brothers who came to avenge the insult, lost their lives in an encounter with Canda, son of the Brahmana Pandula. Though victorious in these encounters, Pandukabhaya thought it prudent to withdraw across the Mahaweli Ganga and set up his camp at the Dola Mountain, where he remained four years. His uncles came forward against him, and from their camp at Dimbulagala conducted operations against the rebel. They were not successful, and Pandukabhaya captured their stronghold at Dimbulagala which he turned into his own headquarters, having driven them across the river. After the failure

  FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY Myths, Legends and Folklore II In order to overcome this difficulty, it has been proposed to take Lata of the chronicles to be the same as Radha in Western Bengal, and to locate Sinhapura in the place known as Singur. But, if a band of immigrants started from a port in Bengal, it is very unlikely that they would have touched land at a place on the north-western seaboard of Ceylon, where Tambapanni was. And there was no need for them to have come to Supparaka or Barukachcha – ports on the western coast of India – before they arrived in Ceylon. On the other hand, if they started from Gujarat, Barukachcha and Supparaka were on their route to Ceylon. And, in Gujarat, there was in the olden days a place known as Sinhapura, now called Sihor. This uncertainty resulting from an examination of the traditional history has led scholars to compare the Sinhala language with the Aryan languages of India, in order to ascertain the region from which the ancient Sinhales

  FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY Advent of Vijaya Vijaya grew up to be a wayward youth, collected a band of ruffians about him and harassed the people who complained to the king. Sinhabahu warned his son thrice, but Vijaya did not give up his evil ways. The king thereupon apprehended Vijaya and seven hundred of his followers, had their heads half shaven as a punishment, and sent them away from his kingdom in a ship. Their wives were sent away in a second ship and the children in a third. The ships drifted apart in the sea, the ship with the women on board touching land in Mahiladvipa (the Island of Females) and that with the children arriving at Naggadipa (the Island of the Naked Men, possibly the Nicobars). The ship with Vijaya and his followers on board touched at the port of Supparaka (Sopara, north of Bombay), but their behaviour was such that they were driven out and put out to sea once more. According to one account, the port of Barukachcha (Broach, near Surat) was the place wh

  FROM THE PAGES OF HISTORY Legend of Ravana However involved in legend and myth there is no reason to doubt but that the great Indian Epic of the Ramayana has preserved for us the record of events which actually did take place in the early dawn of the history of Lanka. Ravana, the fierce Island King, had captured the beautiful Sita, the wife of a North Indian prince, and to avenge the insult her husband Rama Chandra, from whom the princes of Odeypore, the proudest family on earth, claim descent, led a mighty army across the water to the invasion of the fabled land. At Pallansena the army of Ravana appeared to dispute the passage of the Maha Oya, but after a fierce battle was driven back in confusion, taking with it the dead body of its commander Ingrutila; Rama Chandra thereupon advanced to the fortress of Ravana, and after a tedious siege succeeded in killing the latter and rescuing the princess. The magic of the defeated king, says a dim tradition, has hidden from mortal eyes th