{"id":87833,"date":"2019-04-28T04:01:25","date_gmt":"2019-04-28T11:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=87833"},"modified":"2019-04-28T04:01:25","modified_gmt":"2019-04-28T11:01:25","slug":"sri-lankan-sinhalese-heritage-day-celebrated-in-canadian-parliament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/04\/28\/sri-lankan-sinhalese-heritage-day-celebrated-in-canadian-parliament\/","title":{"rendered":"SRI LANKAN SINHALESE HERITAGE DAY CELEBRATED IN CANADIAN PARLIAMENT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rajendra Alwis<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

(This article is to mark the Sri\nLankan Sinhalese Heritage Day celebrated in the\nCanadian Parliament on 2019.04.27)<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka is a tropical island with a landmass\nof 65,610 km2<\/sup> (25,332 sq. miles) separated from the\nsubcontinent of India, situated in the Indian ocean, latitude between 6 and 10\nNorth  and longitude 80 and 81 East. The total population of Sri\nLanka, at present, is 21.44 million and the Sinhalese people accounts for 75%\nof it, and Ceylon Tamils and Indian Tamils, Moors, Malays, and Burghers make up\nthe balance 25% of the population. In view of the majority of the Sinhalese\npeople in the island\u2019s population, during the classical times, Sri\nLanka was known as Heladiva\u201d meaning the country of the Sinhalese\npeople. The Sinhalese   Language and its scripts are not spoken\nor used anywhere in the world other than Sri\nLanka since it is solely a unique creation of\nSinhalese people.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhalese nation possesses an\nunwritten history of millenniums and a written history of 2500 years.\nFossilized human remains that are compatible with the\nanatomical features of the  modern\nman have found in several Sri Lankan caves such as Fa Hien-lena, Batadomba-lena, Beli-lena, Bellanbandi Palassa, providing undisputable archeological\nproof that the country was inhabited by man as long as one\nmillion years  ago. These prehistoric humans that had been\nliving in Sri Lank are referred to as \u2018Balangoda maanawaya\u2019 (Homosapien Balangodensis) in popular parlance, derived\nfrom his being responsible for the Mesolithic Balangoda culture\u201d\nfirst defined in sites near Balangoda. Thus the history of Sinhalese\npeople stretches back to millenniums with acceptable archeological tell-tale\nevidence. Further, in the light of the excavations done by Prof.\nRaj Somadeva, professor of Archology Kelaniya University, \u2018Balangoda Man\u2019 is\nthe earliest reliably dated record of anatomically modern humans in South\nAsia and hence Sri Lanka receives an important place in the study of human\nevolution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof. Nageswara Rao, the vice-chancellor\nof Andhra University, addressing the Indian Science Congress, in January2019,\nexplained that King Ravana of ancient Sri Lanka had invented the airplane and\nhad 24 types of\naircrafts. Explaining the scientific achievements of ancient\nSri Lanka, particularly in the sphere of technology, he\nfurther said that Sri Lanka at that time had several air\nports as well. Still there is a village in Sri Lanka\nnamed as Variyapola, meaning the Airport, believed to have used by\nKing Ravana.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The written history of Sri Lanka dawns\nwith the arrival of prince Vijaya who came from India with his\nsupporters in Sri Lanka which was then known as Tambapanni. According to Mahavansa, the\nancient chronicle of Sinhalese royalty written in the 5th. <\/sup>Century\nC E, his landing in this new destination coincided on the\nday of passing away of the Buddha. On his arrival, he has heard\nthe sound of an orchestrated music of a nearby wedding reception. This\npiece of historical information about a formal wedding avec musical\nentertainment is an undeniable proof of a rich\ncultural heritage.  The very first\nimportant person that prince Vijaya and his men have encountered in\nthe island, according to the historical records, was Kuveni, the Yakka princess who represented\nthis rich culture with the kith and kin of her clan, which we\ntoo have inherited vicariously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

King Pandukabhaya (474 BC – 367BC) is the\nfounder and the first ruler of the Anuradhapura kingdom and he\nestablished the system of Local Government in Sri Lanka for the first\ntime in the world, according to the great chronical of Sri Lanka\nMahavansa. In his tenth year of\nreign the king demarcated all the villages in the country\nand fixed the boundaries. Subsequently, introduced Gam-Sabhas (Village Councils)\nto administer the local affairs, and address people\u2019s grievances and\nsettle minor disputes. The royal functionaries entered villages only to arrest\nand indict high criminals. Major towns were administered by\n\u2018Nagara Guttikas\u2019, meaning Mayors, on behalf of the\nking. Their principal duties were water management, land allocation and\nmaintain the law and order of their administrative peripheries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, King\nPandukabhaya established lying-in homes and hospitals in various\nparts of the country. This is the earliest historical evidence we\ncome across on the establishment of a hospitals anywhere in\nthe world. The Sinhalese medical tradition dates back to well\nover 2000 years. Besides there are number of medical discoveries that\nare now being acknowledged by western medicine. According to\nMahavansa the ancient Sinhalese kings are responsible for\nintroducing the concept of hospitals to the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the reign of King Devanampiyatissa,\nArahath Mahinda son of Indian Emperor, brought Buddhism to  Sri Lanka in\n247 BC, an event which marked the beginning of the classical era of the\ncountry. King Devanampiyatissa who had already heard of Buddhism from his\nfriend Emperor Asoka received the Buddhist missionaries with great respect\nand reverence.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their first conversation,\nVenerable Mahinda, in order to gauge the king\u2019s intelligence and capacity to\nunderstand the Buddhist doctrine, posed some questions to him and the\nking answered them all quite rationally. This test is regarded as the first\nintelligence test recorded in the world history.  After this IQ test, we\nhear the next recorded IQ test in only in 1916, after more\nthan 2000 years when French psychologist Alfred Binet developed\nan IQ test at the request of the French government to identify the students who\nneeded assistance to pursue their education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka is the first country in the\nworld that a diplomat has been sent to a foreign\ndestination by the Sinhalese King Devanampiyatissa, in 247\nB.C., for a diplomatic service. That was prince Arittha, the nephew of King, who was\nsent to India to meet Emperor Asoka and to make necessary\narrangements for his re-coronation.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later on, the sapling of the sacred Bo\nTree, known as the Sri Maha Bodhi, under which the Buddha attained the\nenlightenment was brought to Sri Lanka by Sangamitta Therani, full sister of Arahath Mahinda. The Sri\nMaha Bodhi has existed in Anuradhapura for over 23 centuries and it is the\noldest historically documented tree on the earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this context it is noteworthy that\nthe Sinhalese clergy and laity are very respectful of other religions\npractised in the country. During the colonial times the Buddhist monks had\naccommodated Catholic missionaries in their temples and\nhave even provided transport by allowing them to use the bullock\ncarts owned by the temples. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a fitting occasion to\nmention that another world record regarding the interfaith cordial\nrelationship prevailing among the Sinhalese Buddhists.     Venerable Ittapane Dhammalankara Thero, Maha Nayaka of Kotte Chapter,\nSri Lanka, has written a biography on Fr. Marcelline Jayakody\ntitled <\/em>Malpele<\/em> <\/em>Upan<\/em> <\/em>Pansale<\/em> <\/em>Piyathuma<\/em>\u201d<\/em> and\nthis is the first book in the world written by a Buddhist prelate on a Catholic\npriest.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many intellectuals in the world have\ntermed Sri Lankan civilization as a hydraulic\ncivilization. A renowned British author R.L. Brohier (1935)\nrecords that the ancient Sri Lankans produced hydraulic engineering\ncapable of building some of the largest man made irrigation works in the world.\nIn fact, the development of irrigation system in Sri Lanka was not a\nprocess influenced by any written knowledge, but based on insight,\nexperience and utilizing the thoughts of our ancestors. It is\nevident that Sinhalese people, more than 2000 years ago have\nmeticulously considered the ways and means of storing\nwater, including its delivery and management. It is\nclearly evident from the gigantic reservoirs like Parakrama Samudra\u201d, Kalawewa\u201d Minneriya\u201dand the like.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are about 30,000 small reservoirs\nscattered throughout the North Central Province, and its\noutskirts, generally termed as Rajarata or Dry zone, supporting the\nagricultural communities. There is also a network\nof large cannels, some are more than 50 miles long and 40\nfeet wide, linked to the city of Anuradhapura and played an\nintegral part in the development of the ancient capital. It is\nstill a technological marvel that the gradient of some of these canals like\nYoda-ela is only one inch slope per\nmile.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, the water-sealed toilet systems\nin Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, and\nornamental fountains at Sigiriya indicate high levels of\nskill in the management of urban water supply and waste\nwater disposal systems in ancient Sri Lanka.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka was\nunder colonial rule by three major western powers;\nchronologically Portuguese (1505\u20131658) Dutch (1658\u20131796) and British\n(1796-1948).  Except for a period of 133 years when it\nwas entirely under British rule Sri Lanka has been a Sovereign\nstate throughout the history. Its location in the centre of\nthe Indian Ocean while also being close to India Sri Lanka has attracted not\nonly invaders, but also traders, pilgrims, travellers from\nmany   neighbouring Asian countries, and Europeans as well, after\nthey discovered the East. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, even after centuries of\ncolonial domination for more than 443 years Sri Lankan culture\npreserved its identity despite the vicissitudes it was forced to face time\nand again. The British finally granted Independence to Sri Lanka on\nFebruary 4th I <\/sup>in 1948. These three major\nEuropean powers left behind three valuable souvenirs to Sri\nLankans which they have cherished to date, that is, from\nPortuguese Catholic religion, from Dutch Roman Dutch Law which is\nstill the law system in the country and the parliamentary system of\ngovernment by the British.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are eight World Heritage\nSites in Sri Lanka identified by the UNESCO, namely; the sacred city\nof Anuradhapura (1982), the ancient city\nof Sigiriya (1982), the ancient city\nof Polonnaruwa (1982), the sacred city of\nKandy (1988), the old town of Gale city\n(1988), Sinharaja Rain forest (1988), the Golden Temple\nof Dambulla (1991), and the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka\n(2010). These sites are the crowning glory of the Sinhalese people\nduly recognised by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhalese New Year is our main\nnational festival that falls in the month of April which is celebrated by both\nSinhalese and Tamils. Sri Lanka predominantly being an agricultural country,\npaddy cultivation is the main occupation of the majority of\npeople. Harvest comes with the dawn of the month of April.  When\nthe harvesting is over and the barns of the farmers are\nfull, elated people have compelling reasons to celebrate\nthe event. According to the Sinhalese calendar the month of April is\nknown in Sinhalese as \u2018Bak\u2019 the word derived from a word in Sanskrit\nlanguage \u2018bhagya\u2019 meaning fortune. Hence, it is this time of the\nyear in Sri Lanka many marriages take place in the villages, where this\nfestival is celebrated in all its orthodoxy. This is an ideal occasion for Sri\nLankans living throughout the world to rededicate themselves to\nthe task of reviving and sharing our time-honoured traditional values. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today many Sri Lankans, including all\nour brothers and sisters of all ethnic groups in the\ncountry are scattered all over the world.  And many of\nus have made Canada our second Motherland. Wherever they live,\nwhether that be an ultra-modern\ncity of a developed country or a remotest village of\na developing county, they always carry the precious gift\nthey have inherited from our Motherland, a friendly smile. Whenever,\nSinhalese people meet their friends they use to greet them by\nsaying \u2018Ayubovan\u2019, meaning \u2018long live\u2019. Traditionally, this word is\nused to welcome people at any time of the day, which is\nsimilar to the English word \u2018Welcome\u2019 or the French word \u2018Bonjour\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let me end up this write\nup by saying Ayubovan!<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rajendra Alwis (This article is to mark the Sri Lankan Sinhalese Heritage Day celebrated in the Canadian Parliament on 2019.04.27)  Sri Lanka is a tropical island with a landmass of 65,610 km2 (25,332 sq. miles) separated from the subcontinent of India, situated in the Indian ocean, latitude between 6 and 10 North  and longitude 80 and 81 East. The total population of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87833","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=87833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87833\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}