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Pre Anuradhapura Period
The Pre-Anuradhapura period of Sri Lankan history begins with the gradual onset of historical records in the final centuries of the prehistoric period and ending in 437 BC. According to the Mahavamsa, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka are the Yakshas and northern Naga tribes. Sinhalese history traditionally starts in 543 BC at the arrival of Prince Vijaya, a semi-legendary king who was banished from the Indian subcontinent with his 700 followers, and is recorded in the Mahavamsa chronicle. This period was succeeded by the Anuradhapura period. Overview Periodization of Sri Lanka history: Background According to folklore, the Naga people were one of the groups of original inhabitants of Lanka. They were said to have ruled Nagadeepa, or Jaffna Peninsula and Kelaniya. Naga people were snake-worshipers. The word Naga was sometimes written in early inscriptions as Nāya, as in Nāganika – this occurs in the Nanaghat inscription of 150 BC. Until the third century BC t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prehistory Of Sri Lanka
The prehistory of Sri Lanka covers the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron Age of the country until the Pre Anuradhapura period in 543 BC. There is evidence of Paleolithic (''Homo erectus'') people in Sri Lanka from about 300,000 BP and possibly even as early as 500,000 BP. There is strong evidence of prehistoric settlements in Sri Lanka by about 125,000 BP. Evidence of a transition between the Mesolithic and the Iron Age is scant. Fluctuations in sea level led to Sri Lanka being linked to the Indian subcontinent from time to time over the past million years. The last such link occurred about 5000 BC.Deraniyagala (1996) Overview Periodization of Sri Lanka history: Stone Age The stone age had approximately existed from 125,000 years ago to 1800 BC minimum. Palaeolithic Findings at Iranamadu indicate that there were Paleolithic people in Sri Lanka as early as 300,000 BP.Pichumani (2004) There is definite evidence of settlements by prehistoric people in Sri Lanka by about 12 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kelaniya
Kelaniya ( si, කැලණිය ta, களனி) is a suburb of Colombo in the Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is known for the Buddhist temple built on the banks of the Kelani River, which divides the suburb from Colombo District. The temple is also a religious centre for veneration of the figures Vibhishana and Avalokiteshvara. Historical and cultural significance Kelaniya (''Kalyanam'') is mentioned in Ramayana and in the Buddhist chronicle, the Mahawansa which states that the Buddha visited the place in the 5th century BC, after which the dagoba of the temple was built.Wilhelm Geiger (Tr), ''The Mahavansa, or The Great Chronicle of Ceylon'', Oxford, OUP, 1920. Sri Lankan Buddhists believe that the Buddha visited Kelaniya in order to quell a quarrel between the Nāga leaders of two warring factions: Chulodara (literally "the small-bellied one") and Mahodara (literally "the big-bellied one"). They were quarrelling over a jewel-encrusted throne. After the Buddha showed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paranavithana
Senarath Paranavitana ( Sinhala:සෙනරත් පරණවිතාන) (26 December 1896 – 4 October 1972) was a pioneering archeologist and epigraphist of Sri Lanka. His works dominated Sri Lankan archaeology and history in the middle-part of the 20th century. He became the Archeological Commissioner in 1940, following H. C. P. Bell, and Don Martino de Zilva Wickremasinghe in that position. Life Paranavitana was born on 26 December 1896 at Metaramba, Galle, and had his early education at the Metaramba Government School. He later entered Buona Vista College in Galle. He studied Oriental languages at Ranweligoda Pirivena in Heenatigala and was a school teacher at the Udugampola Government School. Paranavitana joined the Department of Archaeology in 1923. He married in 1930. Paranavitana received his Ph.D. degree in 1936 from the University of Leiden and was appointed Archaeological Commissioner on 1 October 1940 in which capacity he served diligently till Dec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism.Stargardt, Janice. ''Tracing Thoughts Through Things: The Oldest Pali Texts and the Early Buddhist Archaeology of India and Burma.'', Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2000, page 25. Early in the language's history, it was written in the Brahmi script. Origin and development Etymology The word 'Pali' is used as a name for the language of the Theravada canon. The word seems to have its origins in commentarial traditions, wherein the (in the sense of the line of original text quoted) was distinguished from the commentary or vernacular translation that followed it in the manuscript. K. R. Norman suggests that its emergence was based on a misunderstanding of the compound , with being interpreted as the name of a particular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vedda People
The Vedda ( si, වැද්දා , ta, வேடர் (''Vēḍar'')), or Wanniyalaeto, are a minority indigenous group of people in Sri Lanka who, among other sub-communities such as Coast Veddas, Anuradhapura Veddas and Bintenne Veddas, are accorded indigenous status. The Vedda minority in Sri Lanka may become completely assimilated. Most speak Sinhala instead of their indigenous languages, which are nearing extinction. It has been hypothesized that the Vedda were probably the earliest inhabitants of Sri Lanka and have lived on the island since before the arrival of other ethnic groups in India. The Ratnapura District, which is part of the Sabaragamuwa Province, is known to have been inhabited by the Veddas in the distant past. This has been shown by scholars like Nandadeva Wijesekera. The very name ''Sabaragamuwa'' is believed to have meant the village of the ''Sabaras'' or "forest barbarians". Place-names such as ''Vedda-gala'' (Vedda Rock), ''Vedda-ela'' (Vedda Cana ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuveni
Kuveni(කුවේණි / குவேணி) also known as Sesapathi or Kuvanna or Leelawathi, was a Yakshini queen in Sri Lanka mentioned in the ancient Pali chronicles Mahavansa and Dipavansa of the Sinhalese people. The primary source for her life-story is the Mahavansa. She is venerated as Maha Loku Kiriammaleththo by the Veddas. Other names for her varying with Veddas habitats are ''Indigolle Kiriamma'', ''Unapane Kiriamma'', ''Kande Kiriamma'', ''Divas Kiriamma'', ''Wellasse Kiriamma'', ''Kukulapola Kiriamma'' and ''Bili Kiriamma''. Kuveni was a wife of Sri Lanka's first recorded king Vijaya and she had two children, a son named Jeevahatta and the daughter as Disala. According to the genesis myth of the Sinhalese people, recorded in the Mahavansa, the Veddas - Sri Lanka aboriginal population are descended from Kuveni's children. Kuveni, on the other hand, is regarded as a descendant of the Rakshas of the Ramayana and of Ravana, who also dwelled in Lanka. According t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yaksha
The yakshas ( sa, यक्ष ; pi, yakkha, i=yes) are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts, as well as ancient and medieval era temples of South Asia and Southeast Asia as guardian deities. The feminine form of the word is or ''yakshini'' ( sa, यक्षिणी ; Pali:Yakkhini). In Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts, the has a dual personality. On the one hand, a may be an inoffensive nature- fairy, associated with woods and mountains; but there is also a darker version of the , which is a kind of ghost ( bhuta) that haunts the wilderness and waylays and devours travellers, similar to the . Early yakshas Several monumental yakshas are known from the time of the Maurya Empire period. They are variously dated from around the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century BCE. These statues are monumental ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Tambapanni
The Kingdom of Tambapaṇṇī ( si, තම්බපණ්ණිය රාජධානිය, Tambapaṇṇī Rājadhāniya) was the first Sinhalese kingdom in Sri Lanka. Its administrative centre was based at Tambapaṇṇī. It existed between 543 BC and 437 BC. According to the Mahavamsa, the Kingdom was founded by Prince Vijaya and his followers. Name Tambapaṇṇī is a name derived from ''Tāmraparṇī'' or ''Tāmravarṇī'' (in Sanskrit). This means the colour of copper or bronze because when Vijaya and his followers landed in Sri Lanka, when their hands and feet touched the ground they became red with the dust of the red-earth. Therefore, the city founded on that spot was named Tambapaṇṇī. A derivative of this name is Taprobane (Greek). Background According to the '' Mahāvamsa'', a chronicle written in Pāḷi, the inhabitants of Sri Lanka prior to the Bengali migration were Yakkhas and Nagas. Ancient grave sites that were used before 600 BC and other signs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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