{"id":104147,"date":"2020-07-01T17:14:01","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T00:14:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=104147"},"modified":"2020-07-01T17:14:01","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T00:14:01","slug":"sampanthan-and-the-five-ishwarams-of-lord-siva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/07\/01\/sampanthan-and-the-five-ishwarams-of-lord-siva\/","title":{"rendered":"Sampanthan and The Five Ishwarams of Lord Siva"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prof. N.A.de S. Amaratunga<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

TNA leader S.Sampanthan in his letter to the President\nregarding the Presidential Task Force for Archaeological Heritage Management in\nthe Eastern Province makes reference to a statement made by Paul E Peiris about\nthe five Ishwarams of Lord Siva which are to be found  in the coastal regions of Jaffna,\nTrincomalee, Mannar, Chilaw and Devinuvara (The Island, 18.06.2020). Peiris’\nstatement is as follows; Long before the arrival of Vijaya there were in Lanka\nfive recognized Ishwarams which claimed and received the adoration of  all India\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peiris made this statement  in a treatise he wrote in the Journal of  The Royal Asiatic Society, Vol.XXVI No. 70,\n1917.  It has two parts and the relevant\nstatement that Sampanthan quotes appears in Part 1 Chapter IV.  However, these Ishwarams have hitherto not\nfeatured in serious discussions pertaining to the Tamil ethnic problem and\nconnected issues such as the history of Tamil settlements, the first\ninhabitants in the island, etc. As this matter has now been raised not only by\nSampanthan but previously also by the former Chief Minister of the Northern\nProvincial Council, C.Vigneshwaran and as there is an intended political\nimplication in their claims the subject needs serious attention. Further a\ndiscussion of the subject  may be\ncritical at this juncture as the TNA in these election times is making\novertures to the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The absence of mention of these Ishwarams in serious\ndiscussions up to now could mean that there is no evidence to prove these\nkovils existed prior to the arrival of Vijaya. Eminent scholars of the calibre\nof  K. Indrapala, K.M.de Silva,\nG.H.Peiris, K.N.O. Dharmadasa and others who had written about the early Tamil\nsettlements, the Tamil Homeland issue, demographic changes in the Eastern\nProvince, and the history of the claim that Tamils were the first inhabitants\nin Sri lanka do not mention these Ishwarams. They have not mentioned anything\nabout these kovils though they do make reference to the work of historian Paul\nE. Peiris.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this regard first it may be pertinent and critical\ntoo to place  Peiris’ statement in its\ncontext. We must also see whether or not there is acceptable evidence that\nsupport his idea. Peiris’ extensive treatise was titled Nagadipa and Buddhist\nRemains in Jaffna\u201d  and is an analysis of\nthe findings of his archaeological explorations in the Jaffna peninsula. There\ncannot be any doubt about what Peiris found in Jaffna and his intention in\nwriting about them. Peiris had found irrefutable archaeological and epigraphic\nevidence to show that Sinhalese and Buddhism were a strong presence in the\nNorth until the region was invaded by South Indians. In several villages listed\nin a document called Nam Potha\u201d which gives the names of  places of Buddhist worship he had found ruins\nof dagobas, stupas and temples.  He says\nin summary  I think I have sufficiently\noutlined the intimate connection which existed through eighteen centuries\nbetween the Sinhalese and their religion and the North of Ceylon\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason why Peiris mentioned these Ishwarams which\nhave no bearing on his work in Jaffna was that he was looking for a seaport at\nthe Northern tip of Jaffna peninsula from where the ambassadors of King Devanampiyatissa\ncould have embarked on their journey to the court of King Dharmasoka in\nPataliputhra in Northern India and also where Meheni Sangamitta could have\ndisembarked on arrival with the Bo sapling. Peiris’ theory is that\nNaguleshvaram kovil which is one of the Ishvarams in Jaffna was built near a\nseaport in Kankasanthurai to cater to the religious needs of the merchants who\nused that seaport to travel to and from North India. Similarly all other\nIshvarams have been built near seaports for the same reason. Those who\ntravelled to South India used the seaport in Mannar and worshiped at the\nKethiswaram kovil. Peiris’ reasoning regarding the geographical position of the\nIshwarams may be acceptable but it does not prove that the Ishvarams existed\nbefore the arrival of Vijaya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On what evidence does Peiris base his opinion about the\nIshwarams? Of the five Ishawarams only Thirukoneshwaram at Trincomalee is\nmentioned in Mahawansa which was written in the 5th<\/sup> Century AD.\nDeepawansa which was compiled earlier does not mention these kovils.  Royal Kotte Kingdom inscriptions mention\nMunneshwaram at Chilaw and Tondeshwaram at Devinuwara. The Galle Trilingual\nInscription also mentions the Tondeshwaram kovil. Kokila Sandeshaya describes\nMunneshwaram at Chilaw and Tondeshwaram at Devinuvara. Tondeshwaram is\nmentioned in Tissara Sandeshaya and Paravi Sandeshaya also. These Sandesha\nKavya were written in the 15th<\/sup> Century AD and most of them by\nThotagamuve Sri Rahula. None of these historical texts support the idea that\nthe Ishwarams existed before the advent of Vijaya. Neither do they give any\ninformation regarding the history or the probable period of their construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ramayana and Mahabharata the epics of ancient India\nmake reference to Ishwarams in Lanka in their mythological tales. Mahabharata\ncontains an abbreviated kind of Ramayana. It is in the story of Rama, Sita and\nRavana in both these epics that Lanka is featured. Ishwarams are mentioned but\ntheir exact location cannot be determined from the descriptions and remains\nlargely a matter of conjecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further there are no epigraphic or archaeological\nevidence which supports the theory. On the other hand according to T.Sabaratnam\n(2004) there is archaeological evidence that shows there was a Buddhist temple\nat the site where Koneshvaram was built. No ancient ruins which resemble those\nat Anuradapura and Polonnaruwa are to be found at the sites of these Ishwaram\nkovils. Demala Seya for instance looks much older than these kovils. These\nIshavaram kovils look more like modern kovils in Colombo. It is probable that\nthe Ishvaram kovils in Jaffna were built after the Tamil invasions which\nstarted with the Chola invasion in 993 AD and they may have built the one at\nMannar and perhaps at Trincomalee also. The Ishvarams at Chilaw and Devundera\nwere probably built by Sinhala kings who had Tamil connections. Unfortunately\nthese kovils has undergone much change due to repeated renovations and\ntherefore their dating by modern methods may not be possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yalpana Vaipava Malai, the earliest Tamil publication\nby a Sri Lankan, written by poet Mailvaganam in 1736  talks about the five Ishvarams and positions\nthem accurately in the coast of the island. Though this book attempts to\ndistort the history of Jaffna it indirectly establishes the fact that Sinhalese\nwere inhabitants of Sri Lanka before the Tamils arrived.  Peiris may have been influenced by this work\nas it provides for a seaport at Kankasanthurai and moreover did not contest the\nfact that Sinhalese had arrived in the island before the Tamils.  Further all this would be in accord with the\nhistory of the country as described in the ancient chronicles and may have\nsuited Paul E.Peiris’ mission quite well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. N.A.de S. Amaratunga<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prof. N.A.de S. Amaratunga TNA leader S.Sampanthan in his letter to the President regarding the Presidential Task Force for Archaeological Heritage Management in the Eastern Province makes reference to a statement made by Paul E Peiris about the five Ishwarams of Lord Siva which are to be found  in the coastal regions of Jaffna, Trincomalee, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-n-a-de-s-amaratunga"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104147","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=104147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104147\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}