KAMALIKA PIERIS The location of Valmiki’s ‘Lanka’ had been keenly discussed by Indian scholars. Indian academics cannot agree on the location of the ‘Lanka’ in the Ramayana. Romila Thapar says the matter has been disputed by Indian scholars for centuries and Lanka remains unidentified. The term Lanka is some Indian languages means island and Sagara […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS A strong Buddhist lobby should be set up to support the return of Buddhism to north and east. That lobby should firstly   ensure the protection of Buddhist ruins in north and east. That will not be easy, because there are so many ruins and they are scattered all over, but the Buddhist Lobby […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Tamil Separatist Movement has shown an open lack of respect for Kurundi. Tamil activists entered Kurundi twice, while conservation was going on. They successfully disrupted the ceremony for enshrining relics, and then sometime later, said they wished to conduct a Pongal on the stupa premises. They behaved in a rowdy manner showing disrespect […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Tamil Separatist Movement is scared that Buddhism will become popular in the north and east. That it will catch on and the Hindu population will decrease. That is one of the reasons for the strong resistance to Buddhistization. The Hindus do not permit low castes to enter their best temples. Buddhists allow anyone […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS When the Eelam war ended, the Southern Sinhalese Buddhists took the opportunity to travel to  Buddhist sites in the north that had long been inaccessible. As a result, busloads of Sinhalese Buddhists flocked to the Northern parts of Sri Lanka. The A9 highway, which connects the North and South of Sri Lanka, was […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS It is absurd to argue that Sri Lanka has to wait for three hundred years to receive Buddhism.  Buddhism would have come into Sri Lanka in the time of the Buddha (6 BC). There was close contact between the Ganges area (Gangetic plain) and Sri Lanka during this time.  Buddhism was officially installed […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The restoration of Kurundi vihara has brought up the question whether   Buddhism has the right to move into the north and east of Sri Lanka.  Supporters of Eelam see this as intrusion and conquest, while those against Eelam see it as natural, long delayed   return.  In Sinhala Buddhist nationalist discourse, the expansion is […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS When the rest of the world is getting Buddhistized, why not   the north and east of Sri Lanka, asked critics and why not by the Sinhala-Buddhists. There is a worldwide emphasis on Buddhism today specially at Wesak  Sri Lanka  plays an important role in these celebrations. Two UN organizations   recognize  Wesak.  United Nations […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The bhikkhus, who have gone into the north and east and tried to re-introduce Buddhism there, in modern times, usually start off alone. They do not seem to have the support of the Maha Sangha, at least initially. They do have quiet support, they could not survive otherwise, but there is no visible […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The ancient Buddhist monastery at Kurundi in the Mullaitivu District is probably one of the most discussed ancient monasteries and heritage-related topics in recent times, said Ama H. Vanniarachchy. Kurundi got into the news because of its location. Kurundi is the first ancient Buddhist temple to be conserved in Mullaitivu. Mullaitivu is the […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS There are several dimensions of anti-Buddhist activity   in the north and east which the Buddhist lobby must deal with, if it wishes to ‘Buddhistize’ the north and east. Firstly, there is the legal dimension. Law suits are used to obstruct or delay work on Buddhist sites in the north east. Kurundi is an […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Kurundi is the first ancient Buddhist temple to be conserved in Mullaitivu. Mullaitivu is the one district that links the Northern Province to the Eastern Province. The bogus Tamil ethnic group declared that the north-east of Sri Lanka is their Eelam. Buddhist worship in Mullaitivu will hamper the rise of this Eelam. Therefore […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Tamil objections to Buddhist temples in the north-east are not confined to Kurundi. Tamil Separatist Movement   is attacking all the Buddhist temples in key locations in the northeast. Therefore a   strong Buddhist lobby is urgently needed, to fight on behalf of the   Buddhist temples which are under threat all over the north and […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS This essay   provides some information on three Buddhist centers in the north east, Tiriyaya, Kantarodai and Jaffna. Like Kurundi, Tiriyaya also had links with Anuradhapura kingdom. It is the closest temple to Kurundi. Tiriyaya is 82 Km from Mullaitivu, 2 hours drive by car. Tiriyaya vihara has asked for more land. Department of […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Tamil Separatist Movement is continuing to oppose what it calls Buddhistization”   of the north and east of Sri Lanka. They object to theBuddhistizing of sites that had not previously been exclusively linked with Buddhism.” They disrupted the work and the ceremonies at Kurundi. The direction to Kurundi name board at Nedunkerni-Tanduvan junction was […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The Tamil Separatist Movement focuses mainly on Buddhistization, but there are fleeting references to Christianization at well. The end of the Eelam war, led to the    arrival of Christian sects into the newly liberated north and east. This has not received publicity, because Tamil Separatist Movement is hospitable to Christian conversion. Many Tamil […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The Hindu religion has been given a visible boost in Sri Lanka in the past two decades. It received state patronage. Hindu festivals were   celebrated at President’s House and Temple Trees. In 2003 Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had for the first time directed that a National Deepavali celebration be held. It was held […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Kurundi vihara’s troubles are not over. First it was the stupa, now it is the pilimage. Work on the stupa at Kurundi vihara is complete.  The relics have been deposited and Kurundi stupa is ready for worship. The next step is renovation of the pilimage.  The Archaeology Department said that they could reconstruct […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Kurundi vihara is the first monastery to be conserved in Mullaitivu district, as far as I know. This alone makes Kurundi special. The other thing that makes Kurundi special is that it is right   in the middle of Eelam. So Kurundi is political as well. Ruins like Kurundi are reminders of an earlier […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS This essay is a continuation of the previous essay which ended with the statement that Kurundi vihara had its own web site.  This website contains a booklet on Kurundi.  This booklet can be downloaded from the website. https://www.kurundi.lk/kurundi-booklet/. The text   is wide ranging, it explains what happened at Kurundi, and also comments on […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS It is suggested that since the north and east of Sri Lanka have become Hindu and Tamil, Tamil opposition to Buddhistization should be given serious consideration. The restoration of archaeological monuments should be done in such a way that the interests of the Tamils living near them are not affected. Since they are […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The Himalayan declaration met with immediate opposition from Tamil Separatist Movement. The Himalayan move drew swift condemnation from TNPF MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam and former MP Suresh Premachandran (EPRLF) while the TNA distanced itself from it.  An influential section of the Tamil community, and some prominent nationalist organizations, also rejected the Declaration, said Shamindra Ferdinando. […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The Himalayan Declaration”, was sprung on the public in 2023, as a solution to the ethnic issue. It was prepared by an assortment of Sangha   and an assortment of Tamil Separatists working together without any publicity. The Buddhist assortment, called Sangha for Better Sri Lanka (SBSL) is a group of Maha Sangha from […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The arrival of Buddhist monks in the north and east is not something new. Buddhist monks were reclaiming the North and East for Buddhism during the period of British rule too. Ven. Kohukumbure Revata went into thick jungle amidst many difficulties in search of the Dighavapi chaitya, said Ellawela Medhananda. He had cleared […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The Tamil Separatist Movement has met the claims of the Buddhists, by issuing a counter statement which is a mirror image of what the Buddhists are saying.  Buddhists say that Buddhists was there in the north and east before the Tamils. The Buddhists built the Buddhist monuments. Then these monuments were destroyed by […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Tamil Separatist Movement has managed to create a doubt in the minds of the public regarding the Buddhist claims for the north and south.   The word Kovil” has now come into discussions on Buddhist sites in north and east. That is something new. Tamil Separatist Movement claims that there were ancient Hindu kovils […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The Kurundi issue has created an interest in the archaeology of Sri Lanka. Siran Deraniyagala said that   Sri Lanka’s archaeological heritage is divisible into Prehistoric (Stone Age) Protohistoric (Iron Age) and historical periods. This covers an estimated 1 million years or more. The Iron Age appeared at about 1000 BC and the historic […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Buddhists in Sri Lanka should be made aware of the stature of Buddhism in the Asian region when discussing the Kurundi issue. Buddhism enjoys a unique place in Asian history as the single shared experience among half the world’s population. No other movement has equaled the degree to which Buddhism has affected nearly […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS Eelamists maintain that Koneswaram kovil in Trincomalee is a very ancient kovil. The British accepted that statement without question. Pridham in his book ‘Historical, political and statistical account of Ceylon’ (1849) wrote about Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee, saying it was regarded with great reverence by its devotees.   The temple is said to have […]

KAMALIKA PIERIS The Tamil settlers   brought in by the British administration in the early 20th century, to colonize the north and east, entrenched the Hindu religion in those two areas. Then they started to say that Hinduism had been in the north and east from ancient times. They said that according to legend there were […]