Buddhism in Sri Lanka

Category: Buddhism by Regions

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

An ancient Buddha statue from Aukana Sri Lanka

Religion in Sri Lanka is as varied as ethnicity. 70% are Buddhist.

Buddhism arrived from the Indian subcontinent in the 3rd century BCE. The Bhikkhu Mahinda, son of Buddhist Indian Emperor Ashoka, was sent to Sri Lanka as a missionary; he is said to have converted the Sinhalese King Devanampiyatissa at Mihintale. The Sinhalese population at large subsequently became Buddhists.

The country's written history is almost exclusively Sinhalese-Buddhist, but since the earliest times the presence of Tamil-speaking people in the island is mentioned in the chronicles. There is no clearly established date for the arrival of Dravidian people on the island, which is thought to have occurred soon after that group reached South India. While there is no mention of wars between the Sinhalese and Tamils of Sri Lanka, there are many reports of conflicts between the Sinhalese and South Indian kingdoms which invaded Sri Lanka on several occasions because of the prosperity of the country. Parts of the island, especially areas close to India, were ruled at times by Dravidian dynasties such as the Cholas, Pandyas, Cheras and Pallavas. The island was also invaded and ruled by Kings of Kalinga and Malay Straits. Several times, South Indian kings were expelled from the island by Sinhalese rulers from the South; the most famous story is that of the victory of the Sinhalese prince Dutugemunu over the Tamil king Elara of Anuradhapura in 161 B.C.E. Over the centuries, several Sinhalese kingdoms with different capitals existed, often simultaneously. At least by the 13th century B.C.E., a Tamil kingdom with the capital Jaffna had been established in the North, but it did not last long.

The ancient and famous Sri Dalada Maligawa or "Temple of the Tooth" is the principal Buddhist Temple in Sri Lanka, and by tradition houses the Tooth of Buddha. It is visited every year by millions of pilgrims. There are many other famous religious institutions in Sri Lanka that attract many visitors daily.

The island is the home of two main traditional cultures: the Sinhalese (centered in the ancient cities of Kandy and Anuradhapura) and the Tamil. In more recent times a British colonial culture was added, and lately Sri Lanka, particularly in the urban areas, has experienced a dramatic makeover in the western mold. Until recently, for example, most Sri Lankans, certainly those in the villages, have eaten traditional food, engaged in traditional crafts and expressed themselves through traditional arts. But economic growth and intense economic competition in developed countries has spilled over even to much of Sri Lanka, producing changes that might variously be identified as progress, westernization, or a loss of identity and assimilation.

Religion plays an important part in the life and culture of Sri Lankans. The Buddhist majority observe Poya Days, once per month according to the Lunar calendar.

Prehistory

The earliest inhabitants of the island now known as Sri Lanka were probably the ancestors of the Veddas, indigenous people now numbering around 3,000 and living in remote mountain areas. Modern Human(Homo sapiens) remains dating back to ~30000 years and Paleolithic human settlements have been discovered at excavations in several cave sites in the Western Plains region and the South-western face of the Central Hills region. Paleo-anthropologists have shown that burial rites and certain decorative artifacts exhibit similarities between the first inhabitants of the island and the early inhabitants of southern India. One of the first written references to the island is found in the Indian epic Ramayana. The main written accounts of the country's history are the Buddhist chronicles of Mahavansa and Dipavamsa.

Ancient history

According to ancient texts, the history of the Sinhala people of the island began with the arrival of an Indian prince named Vijaya and his followers. They state, when Vijaya arrived, there were people (referred to as Yakshas) already living there. Vijaya took as his consort Kuveni, the queen of these people, who gave birth to a son and daughter. This story is generally accepted to refer to the North Indian immigrants intermixing with the indigenous Vedda population to a certain extent. Later, however, Vijaya is said to have married a Pandyan princess from South India, from where he had more women brought as wives for his followers. Vijaya's origins according to the Mahavamsa lie in "Lal" region, sometimes identified as Radh in the North-East of India, while linguistic evidence in Sinhala suggests the North-West (the region of today's Sindh or Gujarat). Researchers believe that the term Sinhala and the national identity of the Sinhalese as one people developed only at a later stage, after non-Aryan immigrants and indigenous people had been absorbed into the population.

King Devanampiyatissa

• First country in the world to have established a dedicated hospital (Mihintale, 4th century BC)
• The world's first recorded wildlife sanctuary was at Mihintale. It was established by King Devanampiyatissa in the 3rd century BC.