{"id":103630,"date":"2020-06-17T15:44:23","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T22:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=103630"},"modified":"2020-07-02T15:35:30","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T22:35:30","slug":"ven-ellawala-medhananda-part-8b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/06\/17\/ven-ellawala-medhananda-part-8b\/","title":{"rendered":"VEN. ELLAWALA MEDHANANDA Part 8B"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Revised\u00a0 20.6.20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda also went on exploration to the Northern Province and wrote his findings in his book Pacina passsa, uttara passa, nagenahira palata ha uturu palate Sinhala Bauddha Urumaya\u201d. Ven. Ellawala Medhananda was not able to explore the North as much as he would have liked, due to LTTE control. The Northern Province consists of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu and\u00a0\u00a0 Vavuniya districts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda   gave the historical background to the\nBuddhist civilization of the North. He  \nstated that Jaffna, Elephant Pass and the islands around\nit was known originally as Nagadipa. Ptolemy had\ncalled it   \u2018Nagadiboy\u2019.  Vallipuram manuscript of Vasabha called it\nNakadiva. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda declared that the North was part of\nthe Sinhala kingdom. It was part of the Rajarata there was a main road from\nJambukolapatana to Anuradhapura. The Raja rata was divided into uttara passa (north) dakkhina, (south) pacina, (east) and pajjima (west). Uttara passa consisted\nof today\u2019s Vavuniya,\nMullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Mannar, and Jaffna. Each division was ruled by officer appointed by king. Tonigala\nand Mannar inscriptions speak of uttara passa .  Periyakulam inscription says that during the\ntime of Devanam Piyatissa, Vavuniya was ruled by \u2018Naga\u2019 and \u2018Uti\u2019 and Mannar\nwas ruled by \u2018Kana\u2019.\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Vasabha\u2019s time (111-14) Jaffna was ruled by\nVasabha\u2019s Minister Isigiri. Nelugala inscription indicated that a minister,\nalso named, Asgiri administered the north under Bhatiya Tissa II   (143-167) and Kanitta Tissa (167-186). Sigiri\nGee (5th-8th century) contains   verses\nwritten by \u2018Uturupasa vasi Samanal bati\u2019 and \u2018Uturupasa vasi Agalabati\u2019 . They\nwrote in Sinhala.  Inscription  of Kassapa IV(914-23) at Kadurugoda said\nKassapa was the ruler of the south as well as the north.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mannar was a part of the  Sitawaka kingdom. During\nthe time of Rajasinha  I, (1581-93)  Manamperi Mohottala administered Mannar.  The Udarata kingdom included the north and\nthe east, said Medhananda .Baldeus (1632-72)  writing during the Dutch occupation, gave a\nlist of places under the Sinhala king. It included Trincomalee, Mannar,\nBatticaloa,  and Jaffna. Kokila sandesaya\ngives a route from Kotte to Jaffna via  \nMannar.  The \ninscriptions in Ichchalampaththai \n( date not provided) show that these were Sinhala villages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another way of showing that the  North was ruled by the Sinhala king was by\ncomparing the language and script in northern inscription and those elsewhere,\nsaid Medhananda . Medhananda  found 2\ninscriptions dated to 2 century AD at Kandakudichchi aru ruins. The script and\nlanguage resembled  inscriptions at  Ritigala, Vessagiriya,  Mihintale. \nHe found that the language  and\nscript were the same in the Mailagastota ,   \nKallampattuva  and  Tunukai \ninscriptions   . Mailagastota was\nin the   south,  Kallampattuva in the east and  Tunukai \nin the north of Sri Lanka . \nMedhananda  said that\ninscriptions  of Kassapa IV were found in  south, east and northwest  of the island. The script and language was\nthe same.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda says\nthe North is full of Buddhist remains, every hill, every mound has a\nBuddhist   building.  Every village had an aramaya.  Medhananda \nsaid that there were over 1500 Buddhist archaeological sites in the\ndistricts of Vavuniya, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Mannar. Each time I went to  Vavuniya and Mullaitivu  I found new ruins. He\nhas found foundations of buildings, lived in caves, inscriptions, pada lanjana\nand bricks. He says there are\nmany more sites. Medhananda  said there are more than 20  archaeological sites on  the small Dollar Farm village alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vavuniya is \nfull of Buddhist  ruins. There\nare  hundreds of  Buddhist ruins In Vavuniya there are three sets of\nruins in a straight line, at Mahakachca kodiya,    Erupotana, \nand  Periyapuliyam kulam malai. Odiamalai, Thadda malai, Kurundam malai had \ninscriptions. Kurundammalai ,  originally\nKurunvashoka vihara, had\na  lot of ruins. Medhananda said that this was the\nplace  where he saw the most ruins.\nHave not seen so many ruins in any other place I  have gone to. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vavuniya and Mullaitivu Buddhist  ruins have not been examined  fully by anyone., said Medhananda . Most\nof these are not  recorded by Department\nof Archaeology.  \u2018We have never explored\nthese areas, said Medhananda . Our\narcheology only concentrated on Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa   and a\nfew other places. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Jaffna to Wilpattu, all along the ocean\nstrip, one sees places with over 100 ruins. No\nexplorations have been done in this area. These sites were never examined carefully,\nother than presenting a random report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book Pacina passsa, uttara\npassa, nagenahira palata  ha  uturu palate Sinhala Bauddha Urumaya\u201d Medhananda\n gives a list of Buddhist ruins seen by\nhim  in the Northern Province. The\nviharas seen by Medhananda in his northern explorations include Atambagaskada\nkiri vihara , Buddhanehela Raja Maha Vihara , Galgiriyagama kanda vihara ,  Iratperiyakulam vihara ,  Kadurugoda vihara ,  Kurundammalai vihara ,  Madukande Dalada vihara , Mahakachcha kodiya\nvihara,   Mangana vihara, Piyagukatissa vihara , Paribhoga chaitya,\nSalavana vihara ,  Tonigala vihara ,   Valli vihara and  Vedikinarimalai Vaddamana parvata vihara . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda \ngives  48 places  in Jaffna where he has seen Buddhist ruins He\nsays there are others as well. the places listed are Algiriya, Anai kottai,\nAnalativu,Ariyalai,  Atchuveli,\nBuddhatottam, Buddhawalawwa, \nChakaveli,  Changanai,\nChulipuram,  Chunnakam, Delft,  Elavativu, Gotamalu watte,  Karaitivu,Kodiyavatte Mahiyapiddy,  Mallakam, Manipai, Marattamadam,Mavaddipuram,  Nagachcha kovil precincts,   Nagarkovil, Nainativu,Nallur, Neelavarai,\nPinwatte, Ponnalai, Poonaryn,  Pukuditivu,\nPuloli, Puttur,Sambaturai,Tellipilai, \nTennavali, Tiruadanilai,   \nTisamalai,   Tunukai, Udupiddy, Uduvil,  Uratota,Uraturai, Vadukkodai, Valikamam and Valvettiturai. Medhananda says these ruins show\nbricks, tiles, statues, potsherds, inscriptions.   Most are in private lands, Medhananda\nobserved.. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Vavuniya and Mullaitivu Medhananda has\nexplored the following places: Ariyamadu,Atambagaskada,  Bogaswewa, Buddha kovil,  Bumaya, Chelliyar villu, Chenkal veddi\nkulam,Chenmadu, Dollar farm, Eeratperiyakulam, Erupothana, ,   Iluppu kulam,  Iranai illupun kulam, Iranamadu, Irasattiram\nkulam,Iruvil,Kachchilamadu, Kallaru, Kalnattan kulam, Kalukundammaduwa,\nKanagarayam kulam, Kanchiramuddai, \nKaradikulam,  Karavil kulam,   Karidikkulam, Kokkavelliya, Kongaraya\nkulam,  Kontaka karnakulam, Kovil puliyan\nkulam,Kumbakarna malai,Kurum puliyan kulam, Madukanda, Mahakachchkodiya,Mahamailan\nkulam, Mamaduwa Manikai,  Maniyar\nkulam,Mankalkeni,Mannan kadal,Manthri vihara, \nMaradamadu,Maratamadu, Menik farm, Mohonnan kulam, Molliyavela,  Mudaliyakulam,Namban kulam, Navagama\nKirivehera,  Nayaru,Nedunkerni, Nelukkulam,\nNochchiya moddai,Oddusuddan, \nOdiyamalai,  Olumaduva, Omandan,\nPaddikudiirippu, Padivettukulam, Palamoddai, Panaiyan kulam,Panangama,   Patta kattuveli,  Pavattakulam, \nPeriyakulam,  Periyamar\niluppai,Periyauttukai, Pokkaravanni \ntunukai, Pudukudi iruppukulam,Puleliya, Pumaduva,   Puravasan kulam,  Puvarasankulam, Ruvanmadu, Samalankulama,<\/em> Sirappanmaduva,Tachcankulam,Tadikkulam,  Tambankulama, Tapassavellliya,  Tiranamadu, \nTiraviyamalai,Tonigala,Tukkumarattadi, Tuntimuruppu wewa, Udavelikulam,\nUlakkulam,Unjaral kaddi, Vadamarachhci, Variyakuddiuru, Veherabanda  wewa, Vettilkulam,  Vettiyakulam and   Yakumadu yaya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Mannar  Ven. Medhananda has visited Arippu , Cholayan\nkaddu,  Compotukki,      Ilukpeyikadachei, Irantivu, Kadappiditti\nkulam,   Kohala wewa, Kunchi kulam,\nMagana, Malikai kulam, Mannankulam, Mantota, \nModeragam ara, Mudalikulam, Mukkarayakulam, Mulliyakkulam, Musali, Na vehera,  Olivettikulam, Pachcha addappan wewa,  Paniyankulam, \nPannankamam, Periyanavakkulam, Pesalai, Puliyankulam, Rajakulama,\nRajamaduva,Rakkha vihara, \nSamadetiya,  Talaimannar,\nTiruketiswaram, Ttuvavali,  Valli\nvihara ,  Vachinikulam\n   and\nVellantarai.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda has\nalso  found ruins of some 1538 tanks form\nVavuniya, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Elephant pass, Pooneryn Omanthai and Mannar.\nMedhananda had also made a list of the\nwewas found in the Northern Province. They are listed by name in his book. He\nhas listed 340 wewa in Vavuniya, mostly called kulam, and 15 wewa in Mannar\nIranamadu\nin  Kilinochchi district,  was \noriginally Ranmadu wewa.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medhananda has given  a detailed description of the sites he has\nvisited. In Vavuniya,  Medhananda   explored Buddanehela  Raja Maha Vihara  . Ruins are fast   deteriorating he said. Galkiriyagama\nkande vihara, had  remains of a huge\nstupa , a  Siripatula and ponds.\nInscriptions show king Uththiya\u2019s queen had \nbuilt   a structure here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirivehera\nat   Atambagaskada, 6 km from Vavuniya,\nhas a Samadhi Buddha statue, which is \nfar superior to those found in this area. According to villagers was brought from\nelsewhere. It is 2\u2019 21\/2\u201d high,   the\nhead dress or ketumala is unique. Eeratiperiyakulam   ruined vihara, Vavuniya, ruins show avasa,\nvihara and 150 year old  Bodhi tree. Medhananda had found a stylish\nstatue in pieces and  had put it\ntogether.  ( continued)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Revised\u00a0 20.6.20 Medhananda also went on exploration to the Northern Province and wrote his findings in his book Pacina passsa, uttara passa, nagenahira palata ha uturu palate Sinhala Bauddha Urumaya\u201d. Ven. Ellawala Medhananda was not able to explore the North as much as he would have liked, due to LTTE control. The Northern […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}