{"id":96740,"date":"2019-12-22T15:16:55","date_gmt":"2019-12-22T22:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=96740"},"modified":"2019-12-22T15:16:55","modified_gmt":"2019-12-22T22:16:55","slug":"the-etymology-of-sinhala-language-related-to-paddy-cultivation-in-sri-lanka-is-vital-anthropological-and-archaeological-evidence-of-the-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/22\/the-etymology-of-sinhala-language-related-to-paddy-cultivation-in-sri-lanka-is-vital-anthropological-and-archaeological-evidence-of-the-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The etymology of Sinhala language related to paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka is vital anthropological and archaeological evidence of the history"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong><em data-rich-text-format-boundary=\"true\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Kudaligamage Geethanjana<\/span> <\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p><strong>Rajapakses, Geopolitics, \u2018Eurocentric Developmentalism,\u2019 and the western hegemony\u00a0<\/strong> <strong>(Part 22)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The etymology of Sinhala language\nrelated to paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka proves the ethnicity of the people\nwho lived in this island since time immemorial and who built this splendid\ncivilization. Paddy cultivation is the Jewel in the Sri Lankan cultural crown;\ntherefore, paddy farmers must be appreciated and crowned with due cultural\nrecognition. Protecting and conserving paddy cultivation in the island is equivalent\nto not only defending the nation\u2019s heritage but also upholding the ownership of\nthe people who inhabited the island beyond known history and who built this\ncivilization to what it is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we carefully analyze the elements\nof Sri Lankan culture, we can find that most of the elements are originated\nfrom a central activity of survival, paddy farming, and Chena cultivation. Not\nonly that; most of the art forms also originated from the same roots. For\ninstance, traditional dancing in Sri Lanka largely related to the activities of\npaddy cultivation. Kohomba (Paddy) Kankariya, or Riddi (Water) Yagaya is a part\nof the rituals related to Paddy farming. No difference in traditional music as\nwell. There are innumerable poems, vannams, folk songs to name a few that\nrelated to agricultural activities in Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Above all, however, there is a\nsignificant political aspect related to paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka. In the\nbackdrop of the public statement of the separatist \u2018Wig\u2019-naswaran, (The god\nIshvara wearing a blond \u2018wig\u2019) who contested the Sinhala race\u2019s historical\nrelationship to the island, it might be timely and appropriate to bring this\ninformation to the public discussion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u0dc0\u0dd2\u0d9c\u0dca\u0db1\u0dda\u0dc2\u0dca\u0dc0\u0dbb\u0db1\u0dca\u0da7 \u0dbd\u0dd0\u0db6\u0dd4\u0dab\u0dd4 \u0db4\u0dca\u200d\u0dbb\u0dad\u0dd2\u0da0\u0dcf\u0dbb\u0dba - Hiru News\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JjNTRPERfIc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-lankaweb-com\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"Tr8seWL1uv\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/17\/wigneswarans-doctored-history\/\">Wigneswaran\u2019s doctored history<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Wigneswaran\u2019s doctored history&#8221; &#8212; LankaWeb.com\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/12\/17\/wigneswarans-doctored-history\/embed\/#?secret=jQ08XaFM2e#?secret=Tr8seWL1uv\" data-secret=\"Tr8seWL1uv\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Paddy\nfarming, the main and most important part of food production<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like many Asian countries, rice is the\nmain staple food in Sri Lanka. Seemingly, the Sinhalese had seriously\nconsidered from ancient times that sustaining a steady supply of rice to their\ncommunities as the most important and essential aspect of prosperity. It seemed\nto be the highest priority for them. For that fundamental reason, most of their\ncultural elements had revolved around this central economic activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the language used in this main\neconomic activity is the key here. Although the language used in paddy\ncultivation is one of the most important anthropological evidence to identify\nthe people who lived in this island nation for many millenniums, it had never\nbeen received deserved attention by the researchers. The paddy cultivation is\namongst the most attentive and oldest occupational human activity in the\nisland. The vocation demanded tons of knowledge comprising the research of the\npaddy plant, identifying its varieties, climatic and weather conditions that\nrelated to growing different varieties of the plant, required soil types for\ndifferent paddy varieties, seed production and preservation, cross-breeding of\ndifferent varieties and most importantly, irrigation and water management. When\nit comes to irrigation and water management, this complex task required\nengineering knowledge including surveying and leveling to construct large scale\nreservoirs and waterways. And these tasks are technological as well as\nscientific in nature. Sinhalese had developed the necessary technology to\nhandle these tasks to the ultimate refinement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This proves that paddy cultivation is a\nhuge institution of knowledge. This knowledge had been preserved and\ndistributed, transferred and communicated with a specific language. That\nlanguage is none other than Sinhala. There are hundreds of thousands of\noriginal uncorrupt (Elu) Sinhala words to address all aspects of the vocation;\ntherefore we can consider that Sinhalese had advanced the art of paddy farming\nand hydraulic engineering way before the Vijayan conquest occurred: because the\nSihala language went through drastic changes in the post-Vijaya-conquest and\nafter the introducing of the great doctrine Buddhism in 3<sup>rd<\/sup> century\nB.C. In addition, if this particular knowledge developed in the post-Vijaya\nconquest, then the language related to paddy cultivation and Vapi culture must\nbe having Indian language connotations. The Sinhala words used in the paddy farming\nactivities and ancient irrigation work are the oldest versions of Sinhala\nlanguage and which has no Tamil, Pali, Sanskrit or any other Indo-European\nlanguage origin in it. Paddy cultivation and Vapi culture and its related\nlanguage are the living etymological testimony that can find in the island to\nprove who inhabited the land throughout history and beyond. There are no other\nlanguages related to this vocation with such a historical relationship to the\ndistant past of the inhabitants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It resonating again and again that\npaddy farming is archaeological and anthropological evidence that proves that\nthe Sinhalese were inhabiting this island beyond the known history. Therefore\nrituals and customs related to it deserves due protection and preservation as\none of the oldest archaeological and anthropological specimens of human\nactivities in this land. The paddy farmers must be paid an appreciative stipend\nfor still occupying in the vocation and maintaining this ancient knowledge and\ntraditions. The culture of paddy cultivation must be well documented,\nwell-looked-after in similar care to that of Sigiriya or any other\narchaeological site because, on one hand, it possesses a living knowledge and\non the other hand, it holds the true story of the man who lived and built this\nmarvelous civilization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, sadly, paddy farming is in the\nrapid decline in Sri Lanka. Paddy farmers have become a football kicked around\nby politicians. Paddy farmers lived in the fringe of the society for so long\nbecoming useless species and even patients suffering from CKDU kidney decease\ntoday. Our politicians have been failed at least to ban the deadly chemicals\nthat suspected for causing these sicknesses. Wouldn&#8217;t that be a part of the\ndesign of some unknown agenda of destroying this ancient activity and to\ncompletely erase the ethnocultural evidence it holds once and for all?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the 1990s there were some\ndiscussions held in the ministry of finance with representatives from the\nAmerican embassy and other world bodies about the future of paddy cultivation\nin Sri Lanka. The idea floating around was that Sri Lanka would be better off\nif it abandons paddy cultivation due to high production cost and to advice that\nimporting rice from the world market at a cheaper price would be a better\nsolution. (As they suggested, the USA would be a potential supplier of cheaper\nrice) And in parallel, there were some other discussions going on in the same\nministry and other relevant authorities to privatize water resources in the\nisland as well including ancient reservoirs. A brilliant plan for destroying an\nentire history of people. If my memory serves right, Dr. P.B. Jayasundara was\nthe secretary of finance at that time. I hope Dr. Jayasundara might have\nabandoned those types of stupid and destructive neoliberal economic policies\nand agendas by now, otherwise, I believe he wouldn\u2019t be able to become current\nPres. Gotabhaya\u2019s secretary. Because we firmly believe that Pres. Gotabhaya\nwill revers all harmful neoliberal economic policies of our country and keep\nthat beast within arm&#8217;s length. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new president seems to understand\nthe sensitivities of the relationship between paddy cultivation and Sri Lankan\nculture. It wouldn\u2019t be an exaggeration to say that the relationship between\nthe paddy plant and the inhabitants of the island is much older than that the\nrelationship between Buddhism and Sinhalese. They built marvelous irrigation\nsystems for paddy cultivation and consumed rice as their staple food much\nearlier than the known history of Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was born and raised in Colombo city,\ntherefore, I know nothing about paddy cultivation other than the knowledge I\nhave cultivated through the association of paddy farmers and through reading\nand direct association of my village friends. If I can understand the\nimportance of paddy cultivation within our cultural heritage, then our policy\nplanners in high echelons cannot have excuses not to. Personally, I know some\nof our high-level bureaucrats who are even in top-level positions today,\nbelieve that paddy cultivation must end in Sri Lanka due to high production\ncost. These ignoramuses think importing rice from the USA or any other country\nat a cheaper price might be a solution to the problem rather than finding\nsolutions to cut down the cost for the rice-production in Sri Lanka. In the\nsame breath, they even ready to negotiate to privatize water resources in Sri\nLanka. They did so during Chandrika administration and the privatization of\nwater had extended even including the ancient reservoirs. They are so insensitive\nnot to recognize the relationship between Sri Lankan culture with the culture\nof paddy cultivation and water preservation and ancient irrigation system. They\nare so blind therefore could see this issue only through the supply and demand\nrules of economics. They wouldn\u2019t bother to do the research to understand the\nrelationship between the culture of Sri Lanka and the paddy plant and water\nmanagement. Why Sri Lankan culture is so attached to paddy cultivation and\nrelated rituals?&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Paddy and\nVapi culture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sri Lankan culture is largely shaped up\nby the interrelations of paddy farming and the ethos and mythos of <em>Vapi <\/em>culture,\ntogether with related social norms that are still prevailing in the hinterland\nof the island. First of all, if we look into the history of the paddy plant, that\nalong goes beyond the known history of mankind and the plant was here in Sri\nLanka way before Vijaya conquest and Buddhism was introduced to the island. It\nis said that when prince Pandukabhaya dispatched his armies to engage the\narmies of Vijaya\u2019s relatives, prince Pandukabhaya had to cross a vast patch of\npaddy fields in the present-day northwestern province. I assume this area must\nbe the famous rice bowl in the region. Paddy cultivation and <em>Vapi <\/em>culture\nare not two different things but evolved parallelly in the same evolutionary\nscheme as it has been revealed by traditional language use in paddy farming and\nreservoir related activities, rituals and customs. The language used in paddy\ncultivation in Sri Lanka is based on pre-Vijayan \u2018<em>Elu\u2019<\/em> language roots\nand it has kept its unique form intact even to date. If the entire <em>Vapi <\/em>culture\nwas a development of post-Buddhist civilization, the words used in the culture\nof paddy cultivation and reservoir related customs must have some language\nconnotations of Endo-European languages. If there is anything that doesn\u2019t have\nany relationship to post-Buddhist culture and language, it is the original\nSinhala language used in paddy cultivation and Vapi culture in Sri Lanka.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I said repeatedly, the language use,\nbelief systems and rituals related to <em>Vapi <\/em>culture and the traditions of\npaddy cultivation have no connection whatsoever with Indo-Aryan languages or the\nSanskrit language origin. They are not even having any Dravidian languages\norigin either. For example, <strong>\u0dc0\u0d9a\u0dca\u0d9a\u0da9<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>&nbsp;<em>Wakkada<\/em>, <strong>\u0db1\u0dd2\u0dba\u0dbb<\/strong>\n<em>&nbsp;Niyara, <\/em><strong><em>\u0dbd\u0dd2\u0dba\u0dd0\u0daf\u0dca\u0daf<\/em><\/strong><em> Liyadda, <\/em><strong><em>\u0db6\u0dd2\u0dad\u0dca\u0dad\u0dbb<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd3<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0d9c\u0dd9\u0da9\u0dd2\u0dba<\/em><\/strong><em>&nbsp;\nBittara Vee gediya <\/em>(they\nnever called it a seed)<em>,<\/em> <strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0da7\u0dd2<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><em>&nbsp;&nbsp;wati, <\/em><strong><em>\u0d9a\u0ddc\u0dc3\u0db9<\/em><\/strong><em> Kosamba <\/em><strong>\u0d9a\u0ddc\u0dc3\u0db9\u0dcf<\/strong><strong> <\/strong><strong>\u0db1\u0dd4\u0dc0\u0dbb<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>(<em>Kosamba Nuwara<\/em> means\nnot a city of <strong>\u0d9a\u0ddc\u0dc4\u0ddc\u0db9<\/strong> Kohomba trees, but a region of paddy fields. Kosamba means\nPaddy or <strong>\u0d9a\u0dd4\u0db9\u0dd4\u0dbb\u0dd4<\/strong><strong>\n<\/strong><strong>\u0d9c\u0ddc\u0dba\u0db8<\/strong>\nKumburu\/goyama). <strong>\u0d9a\u0ddc\u0dc4\u0ddc\u0db9\u0dcf<\/strong><strong> <\/strong><strong>\u0d9a\u0d82\u0d9a\u0dcf\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0dba<\/strong> <em>Kohomba Kankariya <\/em>(Goyam\nkankariya <strong>\u0d9c\u0ddc\u0dba\u0db8\u0dca<\/strong><strong>\n<\/strong><strong>\u0d9a\u0d82\u0d9a\u0dcf\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0dba<\/strong>\nor<em>Riddi yagaya<\/em><em> <\/em><strong><em>\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0daf\u0dca\u0db0\u0dd2<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dba\u0dcf\u0d9c\u0dba<\/em><\/strong><em>),<\/em> Riddi<strong><em>\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0daf\u0dca\u0daf\u0dd2<\/em><\/strong><em> <\/em>could be another word for <em>diya<\/em> <strong><em>\u0daf\u0dd2\u0dba<\/em><\/strong><em> <\/em>(water) because, <em>Ridee Bandilla<\/em> <strong><em>\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0daf\u0dd3<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0db6\u0dd0\u0db3\u0dd2\u0dbd\u0dca\u0dbd<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong>means, arresting water in <em>Vapi <\/em>language.) <em>Kohomba\nKankariya<\/em> <strong>\u0d9a\u0ddc\u0dc4\u0ddc\u0db9<\/strong><strong> <\/strong><strong>\u0d9a\u0d82\u0d9a\u0dcf\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0dba<\/strong> isa folk ritual traditionally\nplayed in <em>Kamatha<\/em> <strong><em>\u0d9a\u0db8\u0dad<\/em><\/strong><em> <\/em>after paddy harvesting, among other words,<em> goyama<\/em>\n<strong><em>\u0d9c\u0ddc\u0dba\u0db8<\/em><\/strong><em>\n, piduru <\/em><strong><em>\u0db4\u0dd2\u0daf\u0dd4\u0dbb\u0dd4<\/em><\/strong><em>, heeya<\/em> <strong><em>\u0dc4\u0dd3\u0dba<\/em><\/strong><em> , haama<\/em> <strong><em>\u0dc4\u0dd1\u0db8<\/em><\/strong><em> , da-kathi<\/em> <strong><em>\u0daf\u0dd1\u0d9a\u0dd0\u0dad\u0dd2<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><em>,<\/em><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0d87\u0db9\u0dd4\u0dbd<\/em><\/strong> Ambula, <strong><em>\u0db1\u0d9c\u0dd4\u0dbd<\/em><\/strong> Nagula, <strong><em>\u0d85\u0db8\u0dca\u0db6\u0dbb\u0dd4\u0dc0\u0db1\u0dca<\/em><\/strong> Ambaruvan\naresome of <em>Elu <\/em>words related to paddy cultivation of<em> Vapi\u2019 <\/em>culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then when we come to rituals and\nlanguage that is related to reservoir related activities, they also are not\nderived from any of Indo-Aryan languages, Sanskrit or Dravidian language. <em>Asta\n<\/em><strong><em>\u0d85\u0dc3\u0dca\u0dad\u0dcf<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\n<\/em><\/strong>is another word for <em>Wewa<\/em> <strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc0<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong>. <em>Ihastawa<\/em> <strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc0<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0d89\u0dc4\u0dc3\u0dca\u0dad\u0dcf\u0dc0<\/em><\/strong><em> = Iha+asta <\/em><a><strong><em>\u0d89\u0dc4<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>+<\/em><\/strong><a><strong><em>\u0d85\u0dc3\u0dca\u0dad\u0dcf<\/em><\/strong><\/a><em>\n<\/em>is the catchment area of the reservoir. <em>Iha<\/em><em> <\/em><em>\u0d89\u0dc4<\/em>\nmeans up and <em>Astha<\/em><em> <\/em><strong><em>\u0d85\u0dc3\u0dca\u0dad\u0dcf<\/em><\/strong> means <em>Wewa<\/em><em> <\/em><strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc0<\/em><\/strong><em>.<\/em><em> Therefore,<\/em>\n<em>Wewa<\/em> <strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc0<\/em><\/strong><em> <\/em>. <em>Ihastawa<\/em> <strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc0<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0d89\u0dc4\u0dc3\u0dca\u0dad\u0dcf\u0dc0<\/em><\/strong><em> <\/em>meaning upper part of the reservoir. <em>Horowwa <\/em><strong><em>\u0dc4\u0ddc\u0dbb\u0ddc\u0dc0\u0dca\u0dc0<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong>(Sluice) <em>Mada Horow<\/em> <strong><em>\u0db8\u0da9<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc4\u0ddc\u0dbb\u0ddc\u0dc0\u0dca<\/em><\/strong><em> and goda Horow<\/em> <strong><em>\u0d9c\u0ddc\u0da9<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc4\u0ddc\u0dbb\u0ddc\u0dc0\u0dca<\/em><\/strong><em> , Biso Kotu <\/em><strong><em>\u0db6\u0dd2\u0dc3\u0ddd<\/em><\/strong><em> <\/em><strong><em>\u0d9a\u0ddc\u0da7\u0dd4<\/em><\/strong><em>, Athul Wana<\/em> <strong><em>\u0d87\u0dad\u0dd4\u0dbd\u0dca<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dcf\u0db1<\/em><\/strong><em> <\/em><em>, Pita Wana <\/em><strong><em>\u0db4\u0dd2\u0da7<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dcf\u0db1<\/em><\/strong><em>, Isweti<\/em> <strong><em>\u0d89\u0dc3\u0dca<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0da7\u0dd2<\/em><\/strong><em> , Potaa Weti <\/em><strong><em>\u0db4\u0ddd\u0da7<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0da7\u0dd2<\/em><\/strong><em>, Kalingula or Kalingu Bamma <\/em><strong><em>\u0d9a\u0dbd\u0dd2\u0d9f\u0dd4\u0dbd<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc4\u0ddd<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0d9a\u0dbd\u0dd2\u0d9f\u0dd4<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0db6\u0dd0\u0db8\u0dca\u0db8<\/em><\/strong><em>, Kulu Wew<\/em> <strong><em>\u0d9a\u0dd4\u0dc5\u0dd4<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc0\u0dca<\/em><\/strong><em> or Pota Wew<\/em> <strong><em>\u0db4\u0ddd\u0da7\u0dcf<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc0\u0dca<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>,<\/em><\/strong><em> Wew Thaawulla<\/em> <strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc0\u0dca<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dad\u0dcf\u0dc0\u0dd4\u0dbd\u0dca\u0dbd<\/em><\/strong><em> , Weda Inamaluwa<\/em> <strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0da9<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0d89\u0db1\u0dca\u0db1\u0dcf<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0db8\u0dc5\u0dd4\u0dc0<\/em><\/strong><em> , Ala Weli<\/em> <strong><em>\u0d87\u0dbd<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dda\u0dbd\u0dd2<\/em><\/strong><em> , Pera Wati<\/em> <strong><em>\u0db4\u0dd9\u0dbb<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0da7\u0dd3<\/em><\/strong><em> , Biso Wew<\/em> <strong><em>\u0db6\u0dd2\u0dc3\u0ddd<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0dc0\u0dca<\/em><\/strong><em> , Rala Pana<\/em> <strong><em>\u0dbb\u0dd0\u0dc5<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0db4\u0db1\u0dcf<\/em><\/strong><em> , Ridee Bandilla <\/em><strong><em>\u0dbb\u0dd2\u0daf\u0dd3<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u0db6\u0dd0\u0db3\u0dd2\u0dbd\u0dca\u0dbd<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong>are some\nof the words<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>None of these words have been derived\nfrom Indo Aryan language streams, Sanskrit language or Dravidian languages.\nThis reveals that these activities were part of the life of pre-Buddhist Lanka.\nIf the activities of <em>Vapi<\/em> culture are pre-Buddhist, then we will have to\naccept the fact that this pre-Buddhist culture must have had a highly developed\ntechnology. There is no reason to deny these facts since Indian mythology\nalready proved this in their epic <em>Ramayana.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That means<em> Vapi<\/em> culture and its highest technological\nmarvels are older than Buddhist Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then we find some evidence that proves the reservoir as a\npart of the landscape even before <em>Vijaya<\/em> conquest was taken place. This\nhas been revealed when the chronicles describe the meeting of <em>Kuweni<\/em> and\n<em>Vijaya. <\/em>According to which, <em>Vijaya <\/em>meets <em>Kuweni<\/em> by the\nside of a big reservoir while she was spinning cotton yarns for fabric weaving.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By avoiding to mention the existence of\na fully matured irrigational civilization prior to Vijaya conquest, even the\ngreatest Sinhalese epic Mahavamsa has done the greatest injustice to Sinhalese,\nthe true owners of <em>Vapi<\/em> civilization. This omission of pre-Buddhist\nculture eventually implies the entire achievements of Lankan civilization as a\nresult of the introduction of the great doctrine of Buddhism and the resultant\ninflux of cultural knowledge from India. But ironically, India doesn\u2019t have any\narchaeological evidence of hydraulic engineering marvels in a similar scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, Mahavamsa mentions that\nPandukabhaya built the city of Anuradhapura and many reservoirs after the\neradication of entire clan members of Vijaya regaining lost sovereignty of the\nnative. That statement proves that the technology was existing there in the\nisland before Buddhism was introduced. The evasion of Mahavamsa the details of\npre-Buddhist culture, naturally questions about the true intention of the\nauthor of Mahavamsa, and these arrays of omissions of this epic make it more\npolitical than a historical document. It might be a very innocent omission, but\nit would have been better and the justice would have been served if that\nomission was avoided. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In regard to the liberation struggle of\n<em>Pandukabhaya,<\/em> it is also said that when <em>Pandukabhaya<\/em> was\nadvancing his armies to engage the armies of <em>Vijaya\u2019s<\/em> descendants, he\nhad to cross a vast region of paddy fields; which obviously establishes a fully\nmatured culture of paddy cultivation in prior to Vijaya\u2019s arrival. In addition,\naccording to Mahawamsa, it is said that prince Anuradha built a reservoir south\nof Anuradhapura in the 4<sup>th<\/sup> century B.C. All constructions were\ncompleted way before Buddhism being introduced. But Mahawamsa is silent about the\nlarger part of pre-Buddhist history. We must understand that the history of Sri\nLanka is much longer than what Mahavamsa has recorded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If we really need to protect and\npreserve the heritage of the nation from being erased, we must \u2018modernize\u2019\npaddy cultivation to attract future generations into it. And above all, paddy\ncultivation and its related cultural heritage must prevail within the new era\nof neoliberalism. So it is the duty of our researchers to record all customs,\nrituals, and knowledge related to Paddy cultivation and related knowledge of\nthe <em>Vapi<\/em> culture for the reference of future generations. Therefore the\nculture and the language of paddy cultivation must be the subject matter and\nthe research topic of our intellectuals due to its political significance in\nthis era of separatism in the Indian Ocean region. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kudaligamage Geethanjana Rajapakses, Geopolitics, \u2018Eurocentric Developmentalism,\u2019 and the western hegemony\u00a0 (Part 22) The etymology of Sinhala language related to paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka proves the ethnicity of the people who lived in this island since time immemorial and who built this splendid civilization. Paddy cultivation is the Jewel in the Sri Lankan cultural crown; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geethanjana-kudaligamage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96740","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=96740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96740\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}