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TAM L E L E MENT
N
CEYLON CULTURE.

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TAMIL. ELEMENT N
CEYLON CULTURE
By Kalaipulavar K. NAVARATNAM,
(Secretary, The Society of Arts and Letters, Jaffna. Vice-President, Jaffna Historical Association.)
Published by TH E E E L A KE S A R P O N N A H
MEMORAL PUBLICATION SOCIETY KURUMPASDDY : TELPALA : CEYON.
* 959

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English Series: No. 2.
(Copyright Reserved)
Frned A He RUMAKA press, cHUNNA-AM, ceylon.

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DEDICATION
--
To the Sacred MeIIlory of
SHR PONNAMBALAM RAMANATHAN, Kt.
K.C., C. M. G.
(PATRIOT, SCHOLAR STATESMAN
S. PHILANTHROFIST)
who lived and laboured to greate a United Ceylonese Nation.
I-485 - 2-11-1930

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PREFACE
The culture of a country is judged by the attainAnents of its people in the fields of religion, art, literature and social structure. Viewed from this point, Ceylon may be said, to possess a culture equal to that of any civilized, country in the world. Europe, in spite of its linguistic differences, has built up a common culture based on the Graeco-Roman traditions. Similarly, Ceylon in spite of her linguistic groups: has evolved a common culture based on Buddhist and Hindu traditions.
There are signs of a new tendency on the part of some writers on cultural subjects in South Ceylon, to ignore the contribution of the Tamils to the culture content of this country and to maintain that the culture of Ceylon is purely a product of the Sinhalese, because they form the majority of the population. Such activities can only create distrust in the minds of the Tamils of their fellow countrymen and undermine the goodwill and fellowship between the two major communities, of the Island. What Mahatma Gandhi said about the Indian civilization applies to Ceylon as well. "Indian civilization is a mingling of the cultures represented by the different faiths and influenced by the geographic and other environments in, which the cultures have met. It is neither Hindu, Islamic nor any other, wholly. It is a fusion

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viii
of all and essentially Eastern. And 'everyone who calls himself or herself an Indian is bound to treasure that culture, be its trustee and resist any attack upon it.' ,
The Tamils and the Sinhalese should live in peace and amity and evolve a united Ceylonese Nation. The Tamils have a very legitimate place in the future set up of this country in virtue of their birth-right, and therefore, wise leadership should guide them towards the realization of this ideal. The two communities should learn to understand and appreciate each other's cultural hackground and be prepared to co-exist as children of a common motherland.
The purpose of this book is to record what the Tamils as a cultural group, have contributed to the cultural development of Ceylon during the course of her history. It is true that there had been wars between the Sinhalese kings and the Tamil kings of South India and Jaffna. South India was then, divided into kingdoms known as Chera, Chola, Pandya and Pallava and it is a well-known fact of history that these kings, though they spoke the same language and followed the same religion, fought against each other, occasionally with the help of Sinhalese kings, for the expansion of their iterritorial and political power. Apart from this, there are rer ferences in the Ceylon chronicles to civil wars when South Indian kings had come to the aid of one or the other of the Sinhalese kings who sought their help.

ix
Ceylon was not the only country in the ancient world which had experienced political invasions. The Christian nations of Europe had fought against each other. Hindu kings of North India had done so. Even the great king Asoka invaded the neighbouring states and brought them under his rule and created an empire. Ambition for power and the desire to rule over extensive territories have urged kings and emperors, at all times to fight against each other. No country in the world was free from this menace. Even today, this attitude of mind is visible in the political ideologies of the great powers of the world.
In spite of foreign invasions and civil wars, Ceylon has evolved a culture and civilization worthy of respect and admiration by the nations of the world. The cultural groups which have contributed largely towards this great achievement are the Sinhalese and the Tamils When two cultural groups live together within a geographical area, it is natural that they should influence each other, in their religious social and other everyday activities. The influence of Christian and Islamic cultures on modern Ceylon cannot be denied. These are inevitable factors in the cultural evolution of a country.
A united Ceylonese nation came into existence as a result of the British rule. The Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and the Muslims have lived together for more than one hundred and fifty years in fellowship and cordiality and have built up a unity worthy of any country. This unity should be preserved to render greater achievements possible in the future.

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Χ
It is my duty to express my indebtedness to the various authors from whose books I have quoted in support of my theme. I also wish to express my thanks to the Eelakesari Ponniah Memorial Publication Society, Kurumpasiddy, for undertaking the publication of this book solely with the aim of serving the cause of knowledge and culture. My thanks are also due to the Thirumakal Press, Chunnakam, for the care and trouble they have bestowed in printing the book in an elegant and attractive form.
The book is dedicated to the sacred memory of the great Tamil leader Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Kt. K. C., C. M. G., who lived and laboured for more than fifty years to create a united Ceylonese Nation.
'Santi-niketan
B. A. Thamby Lane.
Jafna, 23-4-1959 OC (llavaralnam.

CONTENTS
-male-m
DRAVID ANS -25
Sinhalese - Tamils - Nagas - Yakkas - Dravidians and South India - Dravidians and Ceylon — Davidians and Aryans
TAMIL INFLUENCE 26-79
Ceylon in Tamil Literature - Hinduism in Ceylon - Non-Buddhistic Elements in Buddhism - Sinhalese Architecture and Arts - Sundaramoorthy Swami — Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy - Sinhalese Language and Literature - Dance and Music' - Social Structure - The Legal System.
RACE, LANGUAGE AND RELIGION 89 zo
APPENDCES
I. Pre-Historic People of Ceylon ... 86-87 II. Nagas in History * as ao o 88-93 III.. Lanka and the Ramayana ... 94-00
IV. Ceylon's Geographical Isolation 10-06 BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 07-1

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ERRATA
On Page 51 foค 'M. D. S. read. Righl. Hon. M. D. S

D R AVIDIANS
INDIA and Ceylon have a cultural and religious connection extending over a period of 2500 years. Evidences to this connection can be found in abundance in the legends and folklore of both the countries, in the historical anecdotes and epigraphical records of both lands and in the artistic monuments of Ceylon. The cumulative effect of this long connection is visible even now, in the social and cultural life of the people of Ceylon both Sinhalese and Tamils.
The two important racial groups which have contributed largely towards the evolution of Hindu Culture are the Dravidians and the Aryans. In the same way, the evolution of Ceylonese Culture is the result of the interactions of the cultural elements of the Tamils and the Sinhalese.
sINHALESE −
The majority of the people of Ceylon are the Sinhalese and next to them come the

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2 TAMIL ELEMEN
Tamils. The Sinhalese according to the traditions recorded in the Mahavansa, are the descendants of Vijaya, a prince from Central India, and his followers. Vijaya and his comrades over-powered the original inhabitants of the island - Yakkas and Nagas - with the assistance of a Yakka Princess and established their sovereignty over the whole island. After establishing himself as the sole ruler of Lanka, Vijaya drove out his first wife Kuveni, the Yakka Princess, and took as wife a Pandian Princess from the royal house of Madurai in South India. The followers of Vijaya also took their wives from South India. These matrimonial alliances brought into the country, not only ladies of noble birth but also other classes of people who were required to form a stable society that could provide itself with all the necessary amenities of life both economical and cultural. According to the chronicles of Ceylon, the Sinhalese are the descendants of these alliances.
Modern writers on Ceylon history, consider the Sinhalese to be the descendants of Aryans who settled in Ceylon from the central part of India. Mr. G. C. Mendis writes, "The Aryan settlers probably came to Ceylon about 500 B.C., from the west and east coasts of

N CEYLON CULTURE 3
India in merchant vessels that travelled along the Indian coast, and were no doubt attracted by the fertility of the soil, the hospitable climate, the open plain extending inwards from the coast on all sides, the harbours which are safe for the small vessels, and the many navigable rivers which afford easy access into the interior." He further writes, "There is no definite information which sheds any light with regard to the character of these Aryan who settled in Ceylon apart from the fac that they spoke an Aryan dialect. Hence i is not possible to state whether they wer Aryan by blood or whether they were non“Aryan people who had adopted an Aryan dialect as their language.'* " It seems that the Sinhalese were a people of predominantly nonAryan descent, with a way of life substantially identifiable as akin to that common in modern South India."
TAMALS
The Tamils of Ceylon are the direct descendants of the early Dravidian settlers who occupied Ceylon long before the advent
1. Early History of Ceylon, p. 7 2. bid p. 7. 3. University of Ceylon - Review Wol, XIV.
No. 3 & 4 1956. p. 148,

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4. TAML. EEMENT
of the Aryan colonists. In the Mahavansa itself, there are sufficient references to the fact of the Tamils coming into Ceylon at different periods of her history.
Before proceeding to discuss about the Dravidians, let us inquire into the pre-historic people spoken of in the Mahavansa. The Mahavansa mentions the Nagas and the Yakkas as the original inhabitants of Ceylon, and from the references found in it, they appear to have possessed a culture of their own distinct from that of the Aryan colonists who came later into the island. The Mahavansa classifies the Sinhalese people into various groups as Sinhala (Lion), Moriya (Peacock), Tarachcha (Hyena), Lambakarna (Goat), Balibhojaka (Crow) and Kalinga. These names show that the particular tribes took their clan names from the totems or emblems they worshipped or adored. Totemic worship was unknown among the Aryans and therefore, these tribes with totemic names must have belonged to the non-Aryan races of India which occupied the country before the advent of the Aryans. The omission of the Nagas and the Yakkas in the above groups shows that they belonged to a period earlier to that of these tribes,

N cyLON CULTURE 5
NAGAS
The Nagas as a civilized group of people were found throughout India before the time of Lord Buddha. "They were ' writes (Sir) P. Arunachalam, "a branch of a prehistoric, probably Dravidian, race which colonised South India and Ceylon." They must have occupied a part of North India and with the advance of the Aryans moved South and settled in some parts of the Tamil country and the northern and western portions of Ceylon.
There was a Naga Dynasty ruling in Magadha during the time of Buddha. Sisunaga and Bimbisara were Naga kings who ruled in Magadha in the 6th Century. B. C. In the early Buddhist sculptures of India we find the figures of Naga Chiefs and Naga emblems. Even in modern Hinduism, there are to be found doctrines and objects of worship pertaining to the culture of the Nagas.
There are references to a class of people who were associated with serpents. Mr. K. R. Subramaniam, M. A., writes, "The Dasyus are associated with serpents. One of the greatest foes of Indra was Vritra. And in a few passages
l, Sketches of Ceylon History. p. 7,

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6 TAMIL ELEMENT
(Rig. l. 7. 2), Vritra is spoken of as Ahi (serpent). This famous Dasyus leader was the son of Danu. This Danava was the head of the Kalakeyas according to the Mahabharata. Serpents are referred to as foes of Indra and the Devas in a few other passages. Arbuda was another serpent enemy of Indra. ' The term Naga (serpent) must have had primarily a totemistic significance. Mc Lennan has shown that the primitive society was a net-work of totems each of which had an emblem. Obviously the Naga totem in India had a large population spreading in all directions. * These peoples reverenced and worshipped the symbols of their totems. Thus the Nagas would float the Naga banner when they went to. war or rejoiced in peace. They would not harm a snake and would even entertain the fond belief that the snake too would not harm them. There is no place in India without its Naga stories.” '
"The nether regions have been assigned to the Rakshasas and the Nagas by the Puranas and so, South India and Ceylon being the farthest land limits of India must have appealed
1. The Origin of Saivaism and its History in the
Tamil Land. p. 3,

ÎN CEYLON CULTURE
to the Northerners as Patala. Sthalapuranas in the Tamilakam mention Naga chiefs as worshipping at some of the Saiva Shrines. The Mahabharata narrates the flight of some of the Nagas of the Khandava forest to Ramanaka (Parasuramanaka i. e. Malabar) whose people are described as handsome and rich and as devotees of Yakshas. According to the Bhagavata Purana, the original home of Kaliya (serpent-king) was Ramanaka.'
According to the Mahavansa, Nagas are said to have held sway over the northern and western portions of Ceylon as far south as Kelaniya. "Nagas, for certain, living along a belt of country extending from Kelaniya as far as Nagadipa near Mannar must have migrated from South India long before the Vijayan invasion.' They had organized forms of government and had armies and strongholds. " In spite of its general attitude of scorn and contempt for the aborigines of Ceylon, the Mahavansa could not conceal the fact that they were well advanced in civilisation."
1. The Origin of Saivaism. and its History in the
Tamil Land. p. 13.
2. Ceylon Historical Quarterly, Vol. I. No. 3.
p. 172,173.
3. Tamil Culture, Wol. I. p. 33.

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8 TAM İL ELEMENT
The history of Ceylon as narrated in the Mahavansa begins with the account of the visits of Lord Buddha to Ceylon. The first visit was to the Yakkas in the Bintenne division of Uva. Gautama Buddha is said to have descended on the agreeable Mahanaga garden, the assembling place of the Yakkas, in Mahiyangana (Alutnuwara), (Note the name Maha - naga). The second visit was to NagadipaJaffna Peninsula-and the third was to Kalyani (Kelaniya) another stronghold of the Nagas. According to the Mahavansa, it is the Tamil speaking Nagas of Nagadipa and Kalyani who accepted the teachings of Buddha before Buddhism spread in Ceylon through Mahinda. Rev. Fr. H. Heras writes about a Naga invasion of Egypt from India led by Garuda (Hawk). The Nagas spoken of in Indian and Ceylon histories and legends are a civilised group of people who spoke the language of the area in which they lived and evolved a culture of their own, very many elements of which are, even today, found in the daily social and religious customs and rituals of the people of India and Ceylon. "Among the
l. Studies in Proto-Indo-Mediterranean Culture,
Wol. I. p. 364,

fN cEYLôN cULTURÈ 9
Indus relics is a peculiar seal, composed of two serpent heads, which was the characteristic symbol of the oldest historic people of India-these serpent worshipping Nagas whom the invading Aryans found in possession of the northern provinces, and whose descendants still linger in the remoter hills.'
The Nagas who lived in the northern and western parts of Ceylon before the advent of Vijaya into Ceylon, spoke the Tamil language. In the Tamil Anthologies compiled during the Sangam period of Tamil literature, appear names of many Naga poets as authors of several poems. Ilaththu Poothan Thevanar. enjoys the honour of having some of his poems included in the antholoiges known as Narrinai, Kurunthokai and Aha Nanooru.* Mr. A. Mootootamby Piliái, mentions Mudinagarayar, la Nagar, Musiri Asiriyar Neelakandanar as poets of Elam who had connections with the Tamil Sangam. The Nagas of Kalyani also must have spoken the Tamil language. Because it is said that Maniakkhika the king of Kalyani was the
l. The Story of Civilisation. p. 396. 2. Pulavar Charithram by Kumaraswamy Pulavar. 3. Tamilian Antiquary Vol. II. No. 1. p. 93.
2

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10 TAM II, ÉLERMENT
uncle of Mahodara the king of Naga Dipa. According to the Mahavansa there was another Naga king at Kanthamathana (Rameswaram) who was a nephew of king Mahodara.
The early kings of Ceylon had marriage aliances with Naga princesses. Duttugemnu's mother Vihara Mahadevi, was a Naga princess of Kalyani. Mudaliyar C. Rasanayagam, author of Ancient Jaffna, maintains that the Anuradhapura kings married in the Naga royal families of Nagadipa.
Naga shrines and Naga names are still in existence in the Jaffna peninsula. There is a temple dedicated to Naga Thambiran (Lord of the Nagas) at Nagercoil, in the eastern coast of Jaffna, and another one dedicated to Nagammal (Consort of Naga Thambiran) in the island of Nainativu, on the west coast of
Jafna.
YAKKAS
The Yakkas spoken of in the Ceylon chronicles and legends are an earlier group to that of the Nagas and they are often referred to in the Hindu Epics and Puranas under the name of Rakshasas. According to the Ramayana, Kubera was the chief of the Yakkas and he was dethroned by his half-brother Ravanna. The
Sketches of Ceylon History. p. 7.

NGEYLON, CULTURE
modern representatives of this ancient race are the fast dwindling Veddas or wild men of Ceylon and Bhils, Santals and other tribes of India. Kuveni, with whose help Vijaya became the ruler of Lanka, belonged to the Yakka group.°
As the recorded history of Ceylon, for all practical purposes, begins with the advent of Vijaya, very little of importance is found about the Nagas and Yakkas in the chronicles of Ceylon. What we know of the culture and life of these people are informations gathered from the scattered references found in the Epics, Puranas, the Mahavansa and other Buddhist books.
Compare the Modern Weddas with the jungle tribes of Southern part of India, viz., Malavedans, Irulas and Sholagas. A remarkable similarity still prevails. What can be the answer? Migrations of such tribes from India must be the most likely anSW Ser. - The people of Ceylon, p. 44.
2. Sketches of Ceylon History.
“Taking this ancestry to be true it still remains that the able monarch during a reign of sgenty years befriended the Yaka people. The cülture then that Pandukabaya's Anuradhapura handed down to the Sinhalese race was a Yaka Culture."
- Traditional Sinhalese Culture, p. 39,

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2- TAM IL ELEMENT
Speaking of Tarachcha, Lambakarna and Balibhojaka tribes, Dr. Mendis observes : " It is possible that these tribes of Ceylon were also peoples of another stock who had occupi2d India before the arrival of the Dravidians." This statement of Dr. Mendis compels us tc eview the problem of the original home of the Dravidians which is still being debated by scholars. The consensus of opinion today is' that they migrated from India to other parts of the world. DRAviDIANS AND souTH INDIA
The excavations in the Indus valley and the study ởf the culture of Mohenja Daro and Harrappa, have brought to the forefront the question of the original home of the Dravidians. Because of the resemblance of very many elements found in Dravidian culture with those of the Mediterranean people, some scholars have come to the conclusion that the Dravidians were a Mediterranean people and that they migrated into India before the Aryans, through the North Western frontiers. This view has not received the full support of all those who have studied the culture of both areas. Prof. P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar, M. A. writes, "Moreover the artefacts and other
 

NiCEYEON CULTURE 13
relics of ancient times discovered so far in Southern india form an unbroken series, showing that there has been in this country a regular evolution of Culture, which was never rendered discontinuous by any catastrophe, from the lowest palaeolithic state to the latest age of metals. The Tamil language existed in South India during the course of this evolution. The words necessary for the linguistic expression of every stage of this culture, are found in the earliest strata of Tamil, and the customs of these early ages continued sufficiently long to be enshrined in the earliest extant specimens of Tamil literature. "it may therefore be taken as fairly certain that the Tamils were indigenous to South India.' Dr. Hall writes : "It is by no means improbable that the Sumerians were an Indian race which passed certainly by land, perhaps also by sea through Persia, to the valley of the two rivers. It was in the Indian home (perhaps the Indus valley) that we suppose for them that their culture developed." Dr. Chatterji writes, “It would be established, provided Hall's theory of Sumerian origins be true, that civilisation first arose in India, and
1. History of Tamils, pp. 2 & 3,

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14 TAM L ELEMENT
was associated probably with the primitive Dravidians. Then it was taken to Mesopotamia to become the source of the Babylonian and other ancient cultures which form the basis of modern civilisation.'
According to Sir John Evans, Southern India was probably, the cradle of the human race. He says, "Investigations in relation to race show it to be possible that Southern India was once the passage ground by which the ancient progenitors of Northern and Mediterranean races proceeded to the parts of the globe, which they now inhabit. Human remains and traces have been found on the east coast of an age which is indeterminate, but quite beyond the ordinary calculations of history. . . . . . . . . . . . The people who have for many ages occupied this portion of the peninsula are a great people influencing the world not much perhaps by moral and intellectual attributes, but to a great extent by superior physical qualities.'
T. R. Shesha Iyengar, after reviewing the various theories relating to the origin of the Dravidians, wrote in 1933 thus: " In our
l. Dravidian India. 2. Presidential Address of the British Association --Science of Man. Aug. 190l,

ÎN CEYLON CULTURE
enquiry regarding the probable primeval home of the ancient Dravidians we notice two definite schools of thought emerging out of the interminable discussions and endless controversies. It seems to us, that the arguments advanced on behalf of the indigenous theory are unanswerable. ' It is not too bold to assert that future discoveries and dispassionate researches may ultimately lead to the universal acceptance of the view that the Dravidians were living in South India from the remotest antiquity.' Prof. V. R. Dikshitar, M. A. of Madras University, writing on the question of the Origin and Spread of the Tamils, says in 1947, "If we take into consideration all these circumstances, and examine them critically, one has to assume that the authors of these early cultures in the East Mediterranean were emigrants from South India speaking the Dravidian dialects. The language migrated and with it the peoples who spoke that language. So my humble thesis is that civilization of the future was born not on the shores of the Mediterranean but on the coasts of the Indian Peninsula and on the banks of its mighty rivers the Kaveri, Tampraparani, the Periyar
l. Dravidian India.

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t6 TAM L ELEMENT
and Amaravati, not to speak of the Kistna, Godaveri and Narmada. * * We therefore conclude that the so called Mediterranean race had its origin in Peninsular India, which was part of the original Dravidian home which was in the submerged continent that connected South India with Africa, when the Indo-Gangetic basin had not probably been formed. So the Dravidian element is not to be found in Indian culture alone but is largely traceable in Cretan, Aegean, Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Polynesian and other cultures of ancient world."
Leaving aside the conclusions of modern research, when we turn to the Sangam Classics and the traditions enshrined in them, we find South India to be the original home of Tamil Culture and Civilization. The Tamils always considered themselves as the original inhabitants of the territories bounded by the two seas on the east and west and by the Venkata Hill on the north and submerged rivers Pahruli and Kumari on the South. The Tamils were mot only indigenous to South India, but from there spread as far as the Mediterranean Sea in the West, and Sumatra, Java, Bali and
l. Origin and Spread of the Tamils. pp. 27 & 29.

N. CYON CULTURE 7
other Islands in the Far East, carrying their language, trade, religion and culture.
"The so called Dravidians were the sons of the soil and natives to South India. It was from here that they filled the whole of India and even beyond.''
"The idea promulgated by some European writers and avidly followed by Indian Scholars that the Dravidians were an earlier group of settlers from outside, who brought civilization to the Deccan, has no evidence of any kind to proof it and can be explained only by the acceptance of an unstated premise that the people of India cannot develop independent of outside help. In fact all available evidence and the results of investigations into prehistory go to establish that what we call Dravidian Civilipation developed independently and without outside influence in the peninsula.' 'south INDIA AND FOREIGN countries
it is admitted by all competent scholars that the Tamils of South India had trade connections with the peoples of the Mediterranean before B. C. 3000. The discovery of l. Castes in South India Dr. M. Arokiaswamy, M. A., Ph.D.-Tamil Culture, Vol. 3. p. 327. 2. A Survey of Indian History, p. 59
3

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8 TAMIL ELEMENt
South Indian teak in the ruins of Ur (Mugheir) which was the capital of the Sumerian kings in the IV millennium B. C., and use of South Indian ivory, clothing and other articles in Egypt in B. C. 2000 are unmistakable proofs of the ancient trade connections of South India with Babylonia, Egypt and other regions round the Mediterranean Sea.
The 5000 years old civilization of the Indus Valley is said to be more Dravidian in form and structure. Rev. Fr. H, Heras in his last book, writes, "Thus the external and internal evidence of the inscriptions of the Indus Valley shows that the inhabitants of those cities were Dravidians who spoke a Dravidian Language. The Mohenjo Daro civilization was not a civilization restricted to the Indus Valley; it was a civilization that extended all over India, and eventually we should find relics of this civilization similar to those of Mohenjo Daro, all over the Indian sub-continent." Speaking of the spread of Dravidian civilization, he writes, "We are therefore, forced to acknowledge that the Dravidians of India, after a long period of development in this country travelled westwards
- Proto-Indo-Mediterranean Culture p. 129.

N CEYLON CULTURE 9
and settling successively in the various lands, they found their way from Mesopotamia up the British Isles, spread their race - afterwards named Mediterranean owing to the place where they were known anthropologicallythrough the west and made their civilization flourish in two continents, being thus the originators of the modern world civilization.' According to Dr. J. J. Crowley, the religious ideas and doctrines of the Pentateuch, are traceable to the culture of the Indus Valley. He writes, “Mohenjo Daro has a very large contribution indeed to offer to archaeology comparative religion and biblical studies. ", The affinity of the Indus culture with those known as Mediterranean is established, but evidence is inclining some studies to make the indus older than any of them. May we hope that we have advanced another step towards the common origin of the cultures from which our Pentateuch came and towards the revelation of which it speaks. ' However that may be (and if it be true, then we may well be in touch with a source of the Pentateu. chal story far more ancient than that offered
by the Marduk myth of the Tygris and Euph
l, Proto-Indo-Mediterranean Culture p. 21,

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20 TAM IL ELEMENT
rates) we are certainly brought face to face with a people whose recorded culture and religion reach as far back as that of any other known race.'
“The indications are that Mohenjo Daro was at its height when Cheips built the first great pyramid; that it had commercial, religious and artistic connections, with Sumeria and Babylonia and that it survived over three thousand years, until the third century before Christ."
"Investigators have been struck by the fact that similar seals found both in Babylonia and in India belong to... the earliest (pre-Sumerian) phase of the Mesopotamian culture, but the latest phase of the Indus civilization - which suggest the priority of India. Recent excavations near Chitaldrug, in Mysore, revealed six levels of buried cultures, rising from stone age implements and geometrically adorned pottery apparently as old as 4000 B. C., to remains as late as 1200 A. D."
lf the Dravidians had carried their language culture and civilization from. South India to far of lands across seas and oceans, will it be wrong to state that the original inhabitl. The Indus and the Pentateuch -- Blackfriars
· XXVII. p. 265
2, The Story of Civilization, pp. 395, 96,

N'CEYLON CULTURE 2
ants of Pre-Vijayan Ceylon might have also been Dravidians settled in the country from the very earliest times coeval with South India. "They (Dravidians) may have been in the island from the earliest times and have merged with the Sinhalese population," writes Dr. M. B. Ariyapala."
in view of what we have so far said, we may not be far from the truth if we maintain that the tribes mentioned in the Mahavansa and referred to by Dr. Mendis also may be taken as different groups of Dravidian people who came into Ceylon at various periods of her long history. DRAVIDIANS AND CEYLON
if the theory, that the original home of the Dravidians was in the submerged continent, is accepted, then there is every reason to believe that the original inhabitants of Ceylon were also the descendants of those people who lived in the submerged continent. Megasthenes who was the Grecian ambassador at the court of Chandra Gupta, wrote about 300 B.C, that Taprobane (Ceylon) was separated from the mainland of India by a river and his statement indicates that during his
l, Society in Medieval Ceylon p. 3,

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time, the Indian peninsula extended further southwards, and that the sea which divided it from Ceylon so narrow as to be called a river. According to traditions recorded in the Tamil Sangam Classics the Tamil country extended very far beyond the present Cape Commorin. Kapadapuram, the ancient capital of the Pandyan kings of the first Sangam period and the adjoining territorities were submerged under the sea. Present Lanka, therefore, is a portion of the old Tamil country which escaped the catastrophe.'
"Both the Skanda Purana and Ramayana represent Ceylon as a huge continent, a tradition not unsupported by science. The geology and fauna of the Island point clearly to a time when Ceylon was part of an Oriental Continent, which stretched in unbroken land from Madagascar to the Malay Archipelago."
DRAVIDIANS AND ARYANS
The Dravidians, occupied India earlier than the Aryans. "Farther south the land was occupied by a dark skinned broad nosed people whom without knowing the origin of the word, we call Dravidians. They were already
l. Silappadikaram, Canto, XI. 18–20. 2, Sketches of Ceylon History, p. 5,

ÎN CEYLON CULTURE 23
a civilized people when the Aryans broke down upon them; their adventurous merchants sailed the sea even to Sumeria and Babylon and their cities knew many refinements and luxuries."
The Rig Veda, the oldest existing Literary document of the Aryans, speaks of a highly civilized people of black complexion called the Dasyus. Scholars are of the opinion that these people were the Dravidians who later divided themselves into groups, speaking Tamil, Telugu, Canarese, Malayalam and Tulu.
"The evolution of Peninsular India in the earlier periods seems to have been unconnected with Ariyavarta. Civilization, it is now recognized, developed independently in the area south of the Vindhyas and pre-history shows definite stages of evolution towards a higher type of culture in different centres. Highly organized communities with knowledge of mining and metallurgy seem to have come into existence in different areas of the south long before recorded history begins."
"One thing, however, is certain" writes, Dr Pannikkar," and can no longer be contestedcivilization did not come to India with the Aryans. This doctrine of the Aryan origin to
l. The Story of Civilization, p. 396 2. A Survey of Indian History, p. 59

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24 TAM L ELEMENT
Indian civilization which finds no support in Indian literature, which does not consider the Dasyus as uncivilized, is the result of the theories of the 'Indo-Germanic' scholars who held that everything valuable in the world originated from the Aryans. Not only is Indian civilization pre-Vedic, but the essential features of the Hindu religion as known today were present in Mohenja Daro." .
Dr.S. K. Chatterjee writes, "It was believed that all the better elements in Hindu religion and culture - its deeper philosophy, its finer literature, its more reasonable organization, everything in fact which was great and good and noble in it - came from the Aryans as a superior white race; and whatsoever was dark and lowly and superstitious in Hindu religion and civilization represented only an expression of the suppressed non-Aryan mentality. This view is now being gradually abandoned. It has been generally admitted, particularly, after a study of both the bases of Dravidian and Aryan culture through language and through institutions, that the Dravidians contributed a great many elements of paramount importance in the evolution of Hindu civilization, which is after all (like all other great civilizations) a composite creation and that in certain
l. A Survey of Indian History p. 4

Nice LON CULTURE 25
matters the Dravidian and Austric contributions are deeper and more extensive than that of the Aryans. The pre-Aryans of Mohenjo Daro and Harrappa were certainly in possession of a higher material-culture than what the semi-nomadic Aryans could show.'
It is the considered opinion of many scholars that modern Hindu culture is a synthesis of Dravidian and Aryan cultures. "In the present-day texture of Hindu culture a religion the warp appears to be Dra. the weft Aryan. Puja with flowers, leavi water was, so far as the i first i Aryans Viri came to India were concerned, an alien rite, a local "native' usage, not to be approved, much less adopted, by the Brahmanas and others who claimed to be true. Aryans. But * Greece captured her captor. The native or local cults and creeds did not die- on the other hand the exotic homa largely became moribund, being kept up artificially among limited groups of Brahmanas and Kshatriyas, and the puja came to assume its, present important place in the religious life of the mixed Hindu people which resulted from the fusion of the Aryan and the non-Aryan
l. The History and Culture of the Indian People
ʻ t: WoI. I. pp. 157 - 8.
2. Ibid, p. 16l.
4.

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26 TAM L ELEMEN’t
TAMIL INF IL UE N CE
The influence of Dravidian culture on the Sinhalese is now an admitted fact of history. "Another stock of people" writes Dr. G. C. Mendis, "who helped to form the Sinhalese race was the Dravidians. There is no evidence to show when they first came to this island, but they undoubtedly came from the earliest times onwards, either as invaders or as peaceful immigrants. ' There is sufficient evidence to prove that in the early centuries of the Christian era the Dravidians helped to form the Sinhalese race." It is difficult to gauge the extent of Tamil blood among the Sinhalese, but there is no doubt that it is considerable. Otherwise it is difficult to explain why the Sinhalese language, not only in its vocabulary but also in its structure, shows the influence of Tamil so strongly, and why the Sinhalese caste system is so similar to the caste system of South India." During a continuous period of centuries the Tamil
l. Early History of Ceylon, pp. 8, 9, 10.

N CEYLON CULTURE 27
influence was seriously felt not only in social and cultural spheres but in the racial mixture as well.'
CYLON IN TAMIL LITERATURE
There are references to Ceylon as llam in the ancient Tamil Sangam classics. The word Ilam is a pure Tamil name by which Ceylon was known even before the advent of Vijaya.*
In the Tamil classics, the Tamil speaking areas are divided into Cheramandalam, Cholamandalam, Pandymandalam, " Eelamandalam (Ceylon) and Thondamandalam.
Pattinapalai, one of the Ten Idylls contains the following reference to Ceylon: -
' The Ganges and the Caveri bring
Their yield: Ilam provides its food.' Silapadikaram mentions King Gaja Bahu of Ceylon :
Kaya Bahu, the king of sea-girt Ilankai, Prayed reverentially to the deity. In the Manimekalai there are references to Jaffna peninsula and the mainland. The mainland is referred to as Ratna Dipa and the peninsula as Manipallavam:
1. The People of Ceylon, p. 35. 2, Tamil Culture, Wol. I. p. 137,

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Close to this in the Ratna Dipa there is the sacred Foot of him who preached the Dharma, on the top of Samantha (Adam's Peak).
There is a reference in Manimekalai to Naga Dipa in the story of the Chola king Killi Valavan's marriage to Peeli Valai, the beautiful daughter of Valai Vanan, the king of Manipallavam. t
The Devara Hymnists who lived in the Pallava period of South India (7th century AD.) have sung in praise of the shrines of Thirukonamalai and Thiruketheeswaram. Saint Arunagirinather, a contemporary of Williputurar, has sung in praise of Kathirgamam and Thirukonamalai. The Thiruvasagam of Saint Manickavasagar contains referencesto a controversy between Manickavasagar and some Buddhist monks from Ceylon HINDUISM IN CEYLON
In pre-Buddhist Ceylon, side by side with religious beliefs of a lower level of culture, there existed Siva worship and the worship of other gods of the Hindu pantheon. "In v. 102 of the tenth chapter of the Mahavansa, it is said that Pandukabhaya, built here and there in ancient Anuradhapura, houses named Sivikasala and Sotthisala. The latter name we

IN CEYLON CULTURE 29
have already dealt with, The first word has been explained by the commentator as "a shrine housing a Sivalinga'; ' In the time of Pandukabhaya, phallic worship formed part of the religion of the people." Siva and Muruka worship found an important place in the religion of the ancient Tamils. These forms of worship spread to other parts of India and the adjoining areas from South India. in the Devarams, Ravanna, the great king of Lanka, is praised as a devotee of Siva. Saint Manickavasagar praises Mandothari, the wife of Ravanna, as a great devotee of Siva. The ancient Hindu shrines of Ceylon Thirukonamalai, Thirukovil in the Batticaloa district, and Muneswaram near Chilaw are associated with stories connected with Ravanna. 3.
Scholars maintain that phallic worship existed among the Dravidians of the Indus Valley. Mr. Paranavitana states: "Proper names such as Siva, Mahasiva and Sivaguta occuring in the earliest inscriptions show that this god was worshipped by the Sinhalese of the earliest period.'
... Pre-Buddhist Religious Beliefs, Journal of the
Royal Asiatic Society Ceylon, Wol. XXXI. p. 326. 2. Ibid., p. 327.

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The Yalpana Vaipava Malai, history of Jaffna, states that King Vijaya, as soon as he assumed the overlordship of Lanka, rebuilt the Siva temples at Thirukonamalai, Thiruketheeswaram, Thiruthambaleswaram (Keerimalai) and Theivanthurai (Dondra). We can with certainty maintain that the predominant religion of the enlightened section of the people of Ceylon before the advent of Buddhism was Hinduism. But after the introduction of Buddhism it ceased to be the religion of the majority.
After the Christian era, Ceylon came frequently under the political influence of the Chera, Pallava, Chola and Pandya kings and during these periods there were revivals of Saiva religion and culture. Many Hindu shrines were built during these periods Though the Sinhalese kings were Buddhists, there were instances of their having marriage alliances with Hindu Royal families of South India. Because of these connections. Hinduism enjoyed all the facilities and freedom as a religion of a particular section of the population. Sinhalese kings treated the Hindu subjects with justice and equality. "When Vijaya. Bahu l, became king of Rajarata he did not deprive the Hindu shrines of their

N CEYLON CULTURE 3.
revenue; and the kings after him, who were children of princes and princesses of Pandya or Kalinga, not only observed Hindu rites but also built Hindu Temples. '
Although Buddhism was the religion of the Sinhalese, yet they adopted many Hindu and Brahminic rites and ceremonies, and included them in their own Faith. "The chronicles also often refer to the Hindu cults, beliefs and practices that were followed in Ceylon, and to the various kings who practised them side by side with their own religion or as a part and parcel of the latter. The presente of a purohita itself shows to what an extent the kings indulged in Brahminic rites. The literature of the period refers copiously to indu gods, brahmins, heretics, ascetics, Vedas iiid sacrifices. NoN-BUDDHISTIC ELEMENTS IN BUDDHISM
The religion of Gautama Buddha is a pro
test against the irrational ritualism of the ve ic Religion of the Aryans. He preached a religion based on ethics and reason.
He chalked out a path of knowledge that will
l. Early History of Ceylon, p. 85. 2: Society in Medieval, Ceylon p 131.

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lead one ultimately to Nirvana or Liberation. He never considered rituals, ceremonies and temples as indispensable factors for the attainment of Nirvana. He placéd before his disciples a path of discipline based on selfcontrol, right understanding and meditation and advised them to follow it rather than pin their faith on him or on any god or on any rituals. Buddha steered clear of profitless metaphysics. He denied the divinity of gods and undermined the authority of the Vedas. He taught men how to liberate themselves without depending on individuals, institutions and scriptures. This was too much for the ordinary man to follow. He required something concrete to worship and pray to. Therefore, the converts to the new religion while adoring Buddha as a great teacher and guide for the attainment of Nirvana, retained the old gods and religious institutions for their material prosperity and healthy living. The enlightened and the educated among the people followed the rational path of self-control and meditation for spiritual advancement. The masses prayed to their gods and conducted ceremonies and festivals in honour of them to obtain boons and mercies. The needs of the masses brought

N. cer LoN CULTURE 33
into Buddhism temples, images, festivals and ceremonies. Mahayana Buddhism is the result of the influence of Hindu ritualsm on the ethical and rational religion of original Buddhism.
Temple worship and consecration of images and symbols for religious worship were unknown to the Vedic religion of the pure Aryans. The Smirthis which lay down the rules and rituals for the three higher castes do not prescribe temple worship as a daily duty. “The religion of the Veda knows of no idols“, writes Prof. Max Muller, "One can say without much fear of contradiction that the religious practices among the higher strata of the Vedic Aryans did not include the worship of images in the house or in temples." writes Prof. P. V. Kane, M.A., L. LB, author of the History of the Dharma Sastras.
Temples as religious institutions existed in the Ancient Tamil Society. References to temples and images of Gods are found in plenty in the Sangam Classics of the Tamils. Tholkappiam, the oldest existing Tamil grammar contains directions as to how images should be consecrated. (Thol. Puram. Sutra. 60). "They (ancient Tamils) acknowleged
5

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the existence of God, whom they styled Ko king - a realistic title little known to orthodox Hinduism. They created to His honour a temple' which they called ko-il, God's house (koyil, kovil).ʼ*
It is the opinion of scholars that the Vedic Religion of the Aryans and the pure rational Buddhism of Gautama Buddha, in the course of history, absorbed non-Aryan and non-Buddhist forms of religious worship. In modern Hinduism, temples and images play a great part in all the religious ceremonies and rituals. Buddha has been deified and temples are built where his images are installed and worshipped.
In Ceylon among the Sinhalese Buddhists we find the practice of worshipping gods like Murukan, Vishnu, Ganesha, Brahma, Bairava, Aiyana etc. God Aiyana (Tamil Aiyanar) is worshipped as a deity presiding over Tanks. According to a tradition prevalent in the village of Tabbowa, 26 miles from Galgamuwa, Aiyanar landed in Ceylon at Tamannadaviya, about the same time as Vijaya. Aiyanar did away with the demon cult then prevailing under
l. History of Culture of the Indian People Wol. I,
p. 159.
2. Sinhalese Social Organization, p. 262.

N CEYLON CULTURE 35
Kuveni. Pattini worship, Mariamman worship and Vibiishana worship are also popular.
The ancient Tamils worshipped God in the name of Murukan and they built shrines for him on the top of hills. Tholkappiam speaks of the worship of Murukan (Seyon) and Vishnu (Mayon) by the ancient Tamils. Murukan was worshipped by the people of the Kurunji (Hilly) region and Mayon was worshipped by the people of the Mullai (pastoral) region. The ancient Sinhalese must have borrowed the worship of these gods from the ancient Tamils who were in Ceylon at the time of their arrival and after.
The custom of building Stupas or memorial mounds over the burials of kings and heroes, is a non-Aryan practice which existed even during the life-time of Gautama Buddha. " In the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, the Buddha is represented as saying that there were four classes of persons who were worthy of being honoured by having stupas built over their remains, namely, Buddhas, Pacceka Buddhas, Arhats, and universal monarchs.'
"Indian tradition knew of a number of universal (cakravartin) monarchs who, it was believed, lived a long time before the advent of the Buddha, arid some of the caityas which

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existed before the rise of Buddhism were possibly built over the remains of these monarchs who, though called universal, must actually have ruled over a portion of Northern India. ' Actual remains of pre-Buddhist stupas have been found at some places in North India; and it is, therefore, clear that both the Buddhists as well as the Jains adopted the stupa from earlier cults and gave it a new significance in keeping with the tenets of their respective religions.'
Ancient Tamils buried their saints, kings and heroes and built memorials over the burials. Even now it is the custom in South. India and Jaffna to bury the saints and place a Shiva Lingam on the spot and consecrate it as an object of worship. Very many of the Saiva Shrines of South India are built over the burials of Saints and Yogis. Cremation which is now being followed by the Saivaites of South India and Ceylon is a custom borrowed from the Aryans. Burial was the Tamil custom and there are references to the manufacture of urns in Tamil classics.* "Pot burials were also common in India from the time
1. The Stupa in Ceylon pp. 2 & 3. 2, Purananooru, 228,

IN CEYLON culture 37
of Mohenjo Daro. Definite evidence as to the prevalence of this custom may be found along the strip of country between 25 miles north of Putttalam and Mannar. The writer has been able to examine such pottery and the wide rims of large urns revealed by the erosion of the sandy soil but was unfortunate in being unable to excavate any.'
Tree worship forms an important part in the religious practices of the Buddhists. There is no Vihare in Ceylon without a Dagoba and a Bo . tree. The Bo tree is considered sacred because of the fact that Gautama Buddha attained Nirvana under the Bo tree at Gaya. But tree worship, as a form of religion, was prevalent throughout India long before Buddha. The incidents connected with the appearance of Sujata with a bowl of milk. rice, are a proof for the existence of Tree worship during the time of Buddha. "This tree was already an object of popular worship in India before it was appropriated by the Buddhists as a means of honouring their
master.' writes Dr. Paranavitane.
l. The People cf Ceylon, p. 26.
2. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon
Branch, Vol. XXXI., p, 318,

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38 TAM L ELEMENT
The same writer in another place writes: "The palmyrah palm seems to have been considered sacred in ancient India during the time of the Buddha. For, we read in the Vinaya Pitaka that on one occasion when the disciples of the Buddha cut down young palmyrah palms to make sandals out of their leaves, the people made an up-roar and complained that they were destroying 'life with one sense". The Buddha in order not to hurt the religious susceptibilities of the people forbade the use of sandals made of palmyrah leaves, with the remark "that the people believe that life dwells in a tree.'
In South India there is a Saiva Shrine by the name of Thirupananthal-Sacred Palmyrah Shrine. Palmyrah palm is the sacred tree attached to this Saiva Shrine.
In the religious history of the Tamils, the worship of Trees has played an important part. "Sir John Marshal has observed that tree worship was essentially a characteristic of the pre-Aryan population, and so the tree spirit has loomed far more important in prehistoric days among the peoples who originat
1. Journal of the Roya Asiatic Society Ceylon
Branch - Wol, XXI, p. 318,

N CEYLON CULTURE 39
ed this worship than it did later in an Aryanised India where tree-worship inevitably became subordinated to other cults alien or semi-alien.' Every important Saiva Shrine of South India has a tree of its own associated with the deity worshipped in the place. Such trees are called Sthalaviruchchams. There are legends attached to these trees.
Primitive man not only worshipped the heroes but also worshipped the objects of nature. He imagined that spirits resided behind the objects of nature and he tried to please them to obtain help from them and to prevent them from doing him bodily harm. Tree worship is one of the remnants of nature worship which has come down to us from pre-historic times. Hindus even now worship certain trees as sacred to Shiva, Parvati, Muruka, Ganesha, etc. Certain Saiva shrines in South India are known by the sacred trees connected with them. Some of them are Thirupananthal, Thiruvidaimarudhur, Jambukeswaram or Thiruvanaikha, Thirupathiripuliyur, etc...
Naga stones are found in Buddhist Viharas where worship is being offered to them.
l. Tree Worship or Ophiolatry, p. 3.

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Naga stones with Siva-Lingams are found in Hindu temples in Ceylon and India. Naga worship has no place in Buddhism. The Nagas who were converted to Buddhism must have retained this form of worship as one of their religious institutions. The influence of Naga culture on Saivaism is visible in the association of Naga emblems with Siva Lingams and the Naga Ornaments on the Image of Nataraja.
In the mode of worship of the gods in the Vihare, the Buddhists generally followed the practice prevalent among the Hindus. Dr. Wijesekara writes: "The mode of worship is by genuflections before the image of the deity combined with circumambulation around the shrine. Representations of the deities are set up in abodes specially prepared for their worship. Worshipful prostration by clasping the hands before the forehead can be reckoned as the common method of respect. The attributes of the worship are the offering of flowers and leaves, milk-rice, valuables, precious metals, images and cloths, burning of incense and lighting lamps. The worship before the Buddha or relics associated with the Buddha legend amounts to nothing more than veneration and remembrance."
1. The People of Ceylon, p. 194.

iN CEYLON CULTURE 4.
It is apparent from the above quotation that the practical religion of the people had closer ritual affinities to Hinduism.
sINHALESE ARCHITECTURE AND ARTS
The development of Arts in Ceylon was very closely connected with the art movements in the neighbouring sub-continent - India. Religious traditions and ideals played a great part in shaping the development of art in India. Likewise, the growth of art in Ceylon also was very much influenced by the ideals of religion. The art development of Ceylon may be grouped under four clear-cut historical periods. The first is the Anuradhapura period; second the Polonnaruwa period; third the Kandyan period; fourth the Modern period.
During the Anuradhapura period Ceylon art was influenced by the Buddhist Art of Magadha, Gandhara, Mathura and Amaravati. Influence of Gupta and Pallava Art also is evident in this period in the images of Buddha and the Isurumuniya sculptures.
in the Polonnaruwa period Chola and Pandya influence is visible in the monuments of this period. In the Kandyan period, we | find the influence of later Pandya and Vijayanagara styles. The influence of Vijayanagara and
6

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Nayaka styles on Ceylon Art is seen in the buildings erected during the Gampola and Kandyan periods.
During the British period, the old Kelaniya Vihara was rebuilt in the Kandyan style of architecture with the assistance of sculptors frain South India.
9. Ananda Coomaraswamy writes : "Numerous references to the importation of artificers from Southern India have been given in Chapter I; that the practice continued even into the eighteenth century is attested by contemporary records and sannas. The navandanno at any one time, speaking of the eighteenth and immediately preceding centuries at least, consisted partly of indigenous craftsmen, and partly of mewly-settled Tamil artificers, coming from Southern India, to work for the king, who showed them favour and made them grants of land. Hence it is that not only do we find the closest correspondence in detail and technique between South Indian (Tamil) and Sinhalese work; but also that
l. For a full survey of Souh Indian influence on Ceylon Art refer to Development of Art in Ceylon by Kalaipulavar K. Navaratnam and Mediaeval Sinhalese Art by Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy. "

IN CEYLoN culture 43
the artificer families have often Hindu names (such as Rajesvara Devasurendra), they preserve traces of Siva worship (such as Sanskrit slokas written in his praise), and of other Hindu ceremonies (netra mangalya, etc); their technical works are obviously a part of the Indian Silpasastra; some of their technical terms are corruptions of Tamil words: they make use of Hindu mantrams; they are occasionally referred to as Kammalar; and so forth."
Commenting on the exterior decorations of the Thuparama at Polonnaruwa Mr. Benjamin Rowland writes:
"The exterior decoration of the Thuparama Polonnaruwa shows a similar importation of Chola motifs, used here to decorate a Buddhist shrine.'
Commenting on Thuparama, Mr. Percy Brown, writes,
"One aspect of this may be seen in the Thuparama temple at Polonnaruwa of the twelfth century, built by the greatest of all kings of this line, Parakrama Bahu, and to whom much of the architectural glory of the capital was due. In the main obviously of Dravidian extraction inspired no doubt by the
Mediaeval Sinhalese Art. - p. 6

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style of those Siva temples of the Cholas which preceded it, yet it differs from its archetype in one important constructional particular, it is not built of stone, but of the Sinhalese mason's favourite material, brick. Apart, however, from the changes brought about by this difference of technique, the Thuparama is obviously a provincialised conception, an attempt to reproduce a classical type of building without the finished knowledge and experience necessary for such an effort. " In its mass there is a certain dignity and a sense of proportion, with an imposing tower-like structure surmounting the whole, but, the surface treatment is inclined to be crude and unconvincing. The Thuparama is significant because it marks a stage in the course of the building art of Ceylon, not
exactly a transition but the final of an
łA
architectural intrusion which both directly and indirectly affected to a degree the arts of the island generally. ' The Thuparama is a rectangular brick temple in Dravidian style.'
"The beautiful Buddhist Temple of Lankatilaka, near Gadaladeniya, a fine building of stone, in a Dravidian style with Kandyan roofs."
1. Indian Architecture, Wol. I. pp. 164, 2sr 2, Ibid, p. 166,

N CEYLON, CULTURE 45
Writing about the pannings of Polonnaruwa, Dr. Andreas Nell states: “These Polonnaruwa paintings show, as much as in its architecture and sculpture, the effect of the permeation of South Indian influences; the exterior of buildings is more of South Indian character."
Reviewing the paintings of the Kandyan period, Mr. D. B. Dhanapala, writes, * it is when we come to the Kandyan period that we find a new influence from South India taking possession in this composition of masses. .
"We owe most what remains of the Kandyan period painting to Kirti Sri Raja Sinha (747-1780) that great patron of art and religion. There is hardly a vihara of any importance in the old Kandyan Kingdom which was not restored by him or newly built.
“ Both Kirthi Siri and his brother Rajadhi Raja Sinha were of Tamil blood. And this perhaps explains how the South Indian style of mural painting gained ascendancy on the temple walls of Ceylon in preference to the real Ajanta style that had prevailed in Ceylon from the 5th century to the 14th century.'

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He further writes, "Side by side with these direct influences of Baharat there is in the family of the Sittara art primitive art forms prevalent independently in all parts of barbaric civilizations. These motifs resemble basketwork, simple cross-hatching, circles, dots and diamonds. These perhaps we inherited from our pre-Vijayan ancestors. This is not all. Along with the Dravidian art grafted on to the original Ajanta plant, the method of teaching drawing to the young Sittara as practised in the eighteenth century and seen until very recently was wholly Dravidian. A large number of Sittara murals are reminiscent o South Indian Painted cloths."
According to Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, South Indian craftsmen have moved from South India to Ceylon from the time of Vijaya to Kirti Sri. He writes, "Such workmen have moved from India to Ceylon in large numbers at various periods; the Mahavansa mentioned "craftsmen and a thousand families of the eighteen guilds" sent by a Pandyan king from Madura to o Ceylon in the time of Vijaya. Twentythree centuries later the same process was going on in the
l, The Story of Sinhaless Painting pp. 43 & 53,

ÎN CEYLON CULTURE 47
reign of Kirti Sri; and these eighteenth century Tamil Kammalars are already indistinguishable in language and appearance from true Sinhalese. * Even at the present day the Sinhalese masons (galwaduwo) and some of the higher craftsmen are of acknowledged Tamil descent.'
The architectural remains of Polonnaruwa undoubtedly show the influence of Chola and Pandya art. The Nagarajah Guardstones of Polonnaruwa and Parakrama Bahu Image of Potgal Vihara are completely executed in the South Indian style.
Commenting on Sinhalese art Dr. Wijesekara observes: "The earliest source of this inspiration emanated from North India and the Kistna region with Amaravati as the focus.
“During the sixth century Sinhalese Art blossomed out in all its beauty. It was again the Indian Gupta tradition that inspired the Sinhalese as well. In technique and expression these examples show in a remarkable manner the close affinity - almost amounting to copying - to Indian models. A unique feature of the art of the period is the painting at Sigiriya which is a coeval phase of the maturity of l. History of Indian and Indonesian Art, pp.
125 & 164

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the Gupta tradition that stands unrivalled at Ajanta and Bagh. But on the other hand we have at Anuradhapura and Tissamaharama a religious art of sculpture and architecture well worthy of the national genius. '" *** But we have the fine stone carvings at Isurumuniya in Pallava style. **
"In the XIIth century art was revived at Polonnaruwa and Dimbulagala. It is at Polonnaruwa that we have the best expression of the times. In sculpture and painting as well as in architecture the South Indian-Pallava and Chola - style influenced the Sinhalese continuously. But these are worthy examples that compel admiration from not only the Buddhists for whose cause they were produced but from all Ceylonese whose heritage it is today.'"
In the field of sculpture the Tamil Silpis of Ceylon have produced some of the master-pieces of South Indian art. Writing about the Hindu Bronzes of Polonnaruwa, Dr. Ananda K Coomaraswamy observes: "They may have been cast in Ceylon, but as a group they belong to the prolific South Indian School of Mediaeval bronzes represented by the Madras Natarajas and the
The People of Ceylon, pp. 28, 29.

ÎN CEYLON CULTURe 49
Tanjore Siva. * They probably mark one of the periods of Tamil occupation of Polonnaruwa, though the possibility is by no means excluded that Siva Devalas flourished contemporaneously with the Buddhist Viharas without conflict."
The bronzes worthy of note, among those found at Polonnaruwa are, the figures of Siva and the Saiva Saints. They all belong to a period not later than the 13th century and earlier than the 10th century A. D..
SUNDARAMOORTHY SWAMI :
Saiva saint and psalmist. Copper, height 62,6 cm. Polonnaruva Siva Devalaya No. 5.
The figure has a touching quality of suddenly arrested movement and breathless wonder, and is one of the most remarkable works of all Indian Art. The expression in the face and the tender balance of the limbs of the body, very effectively portray the inner ecstacy of the saint at the vision of the Supreme Lila. "As the visible incarnation of Bhakti (passionate adoration)" writes O. C. Gangoly, “the figure has a wonderful quality of breathlessness and is a distinguished masterpiece contributed by the South
Bronzes from Ceylon, p. 9.

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ern artist to the great gallery of classical Indian sculpture." ' -
William Rothenstein observes, "No Chinese artist has reached greater perfection of poise and form than the ecstatic figure of Sundaramoorthy Swami achieve."
The other figures which are worthy of mention for their excellent artistic value are: Thirugnana Sambandhar, Chandesvarar, Siva and Dancing Siva. -
There is an image of Hanuman in the Indian Museum at South Kensington, England, taken from Polonnaruwa. "I knew" writes Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, “ no representation of the monkey-god, more impressive than this, or more pathetic in its combination of human or divine intelligence and affection, with an animal nature." This is also one of the master-pieces of South Indian Art, found in Ceylon.
The art of making images in Ceylon atter
the llth century was completely based on South Indian technique (mayamata). Even the figures found in the modern Kelaniya Vihara which was built during the British period of Ceylon History, are made in the South Indian style.

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IN CEYLON CULTURE 5
LLSLLLLLL S S LLLLS LLLLLLLLLLLLL LL
No one who attempts to study the history and revival of Ceylon Art can fail to remember the services rendered to the revival of art and culture in Ceylon by the late Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, son of Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy. His book Mediaeval Sirihailese Art not only paved the way for the study of Sinhalese arts and crafts by European and American scholars, but also created a desire in the minds of the Sinhalese to study their own culture. Through the columns of the Ceylon National Review of which he was the editor, he appealed to the Ceylonese to study their culture and develop it according to its traditions.
His writings on Buddha, Buddhism and Buddhist Art are thoughtful, profound and reflect deep eruditon and sound judgement. We may not be wrong when we say that no Ceylonese, in modern times, has done as much as, Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy for the spread of the study of Buddhism and appreciation of Ceylonese Arts and Crafts in the West. The late Prime Minister Mr.
D. S. Senanayake, Writes:
SS LLLLLS LLEE L S LS LLLrLHHHmLLLLLLLLHHS K0 LL LH
other man, the stimulus for the revival in

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modern tianes of our cultural and spiritual heritage. ***
His breadth of vision and penetrating study of all cultures earned for him a leadership of world-wide recognition. He will, for ever, remain a real Guru to Ceylon aspirants in the field of study of our Heritage.' si NHALESE LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
The influence of the Tamils is not only visible in the spheres of . Religious Worship, Architecture and Sculpture, but also seen in the structure of the Sinhalese Language and the evolution of the Sinhalese Literature. Sir Emerson Tennant, writes, "Sinhalese as it is spoken at the present day, still more strikingly, as it exists as a written language in the literature of the island, presents unequivocal proofs of an affinity with the group of languages still in use in Dekkan-Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.' "
Mudlr. W. F. Gunawardhana writes : " In this respect, it must be said that Sinhalese is essentially a Dravidian Language. This is not all. Its evolution too seems to have been on a Tamil basis, and so we seem safe in saying that while in regard to its word-equipment;
l. Ceylon, Wol. I. p, 328,

N CEYLON CULTURE 53
Sinhalese is the child of Pali and Sanskrit, it is with regard to its physical features and physical structure, essentially the daughter of the Tamil Language.'" In another context, Mudlr. Gunawardhana observes, "I looked into the structure of the Language for inspiration. My pre-conceived ideas at the time were those of the school of thought inspired by the writings of Max Muller, and l believed that the Sinhalese language and its speakers, the Sinhalese people, were Aryans. For one thing, the vocabulary of the language is, on the whole, of Aryan origin, and round that as a good mooring, all our Aryan ideas had found secure berth. But my scrutiny gave me a surprise. I found that some of the main features of Sinhalese grammar are quite out of tune with their Aryan analogues while all principles of fundamental importance fully harmonize with their Tamil equivalents and fall in natural with Dravidian idiom. This forced on me the conclusion that the structural foundations of the Sinhalese language are Dravidian, while its superstructure, i. e. the vocabulary, is Aryan. How was such a dual aspect to be accounted for? Turning to
l, The Origin of the Sinhale se Language, 1 p. 13,

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History, I found that the explanation is there writ large for those who could read. The Sinhalese are a composite race, with three elements in their composition, viz, the aboriginal inhabitants (the Yaksas and Nagas) a Pandyan contingent which was Tamil, and Vijaya's contingent from North India, to which gave the credit of being Aryan. This last idea was due to my thoughts still running on the theories of the school after Max Muller. I have since found it to be entirely wrong and discarded it. I drew the conclusion that by the intermixture of these three elements the Sinhalese nation arose, and with it the Sinhalese language, which evloved in homes where the mothers were Pandyan Tamils, and the fathers were North Indians using an Aryan speech, a form of Prakrit, which too
was not unmixed with Dravidian idioms."
Many South Indian Tamil Buddhist Bhikkus crossed over to Ceylon at various periods of her history and had written books on Buddhism in the Pali Language. Sanghamitta Thera, who established Mahayana Buddhism during the reign of Mahasena was a Tamil
Bhikku from Chola country. Acharya Buddha
l, Siddhanta Pariksanaya, Intro. p. I2,

in ceylon culture 35
Data Maha Thera, author of many commentaries on the Buddhist scriptures visited Ceylon and resided at the Maha Vihara, Anuradhapura. He is supposed to have lived in the 5th century A. D., Parakrama Bahu II ( 1236-1270 ) wrote a Sinhalese commentary om the book Uttara Vinichchaya by him. Acharya Dharma Pala (Dhammapala Acharya) whose birth place was the Tanjore of Pandy Nadu, also resided at the Maha Vihara, Anuradhapura, and studied the commentaries in the Sinhalese language comparing it with the Tamil commentaries and had published his own commentaries on the Pitaka. He is supposed to have lived after the 5th century A D Ananda Thera of Kanchipura while residing in Ceylon was invited to Burma to preach the doctrines of Buddhism. He belongs to the middle part of the 13th century. ) amma Kirti was invited by Parakrama Bahu II fom Pandy Nadu and was supported whim. He is the author of Cula Vamsa, the second part of Mahavansa, which deals with the history of Ceylon from Mahasena to Parakrama Bahu II. Abhidhammartha Sangraha, written by Anuruddha Thera of South India as being studied by Buddhists of Ceylon and

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Burma with appreciation.** Parakrama Bahu IV appointed a Grand Thera from the Chola country who was versed in various tongues and intimate with philosophic works. The Jataka stories said to have been translated into Sinhalese by the king are supposed to be the work of this Thera.”
The Gira Sandesaya (Message of the Parrot), a Sinhalese literary work of the 15th century mentions in one of its verses that along with Pali, Sinhalese and Sanskrit, Tamil too was taught in the countless privenas esta
blished throughout the Island. The following
is the translation of the verse :
In that beautiful and prosperous monastery, groups of scholars who are well versed in the sciences of prosdoy, rhetoric and grammar having seated themselves here and there, displaying the likeness of the ancient sages, read poetry and drama in Sanskrit, Magadha (Pali), Sinhalese and Tamil. *
Kokila Sandesaya (The Message of Cuckoo) was composed by Rev. Irugal Nulatil
l. Buddhism and Tamil, by Mylai Seeni Wankata
samy. 2. Culavamsa. Vol. II. p. 208.
3. Tamil Contribution to Sinhalese Literature, by
N, Subramaniam, (Mss)

N CEYLON CULTURE 57
lake in the 15th century. This Sandesa poems and many others of this type are quite akin in their treatment of the subjects and the selection of the messengers to the Thoothu Kayyam in Tamil. Kokila Sandesaya has remarkably a Tamil flavour in its description. In one place we come across a poem in which the poet advises the bird, the Kokila, to pay homage to the illustrious Tamil poets, well versed in the grammars of many languages, who reside at the Piyagala Vihara.
: The existence of many inscriptions in Tamil throughout the country is a proof of the fact that Tamil as a spoken language was understood by many or that it had a status equal to that of the Sinhalese language. "Under Vijaya Bahu I (A. D. 1056-l l l I), Sinhalese civilization was still in the melting pot, and for certain royal edicts, Tamil and Sinhalese scripts were used side by side.' Tamil was popular in the royal courts after the middle ages gwn to the Kandyan period. Sarasothy Malai Tamil book on astrology was composed by
rahmin pundit Posa Raja at the request of ki Parakrama Bahu IV of Kurunegala (1325).
* . s * . - uz;
1. Poem No. 95. Tamil Contribution to Sinha
lesse Literature, p. 10. 2. Sinhalese Social Organization, p. 4.
8

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The marriage alliances of Kotte and Kandyan kings with the Tamil princesses of South India and Jaffna gave the Tamil language an important place in the royal courts and made Hindu customs and manners popular.
We understand that there are many Tamil inscriptions in possession of the Archaeological Department which have not yet been deciphered for want of competent scholars to do it. If these inscriptions are deciphered, we may get more information about the contribution of Tamils to the religious, social and cultural life of the country.
DANCE AND MUSIC
Nadagams - dance-dramas, were in existence in South India from the llth century. The principles and technique of Bharata Natya are applied to the dance forms known as: (1) The solo Nautch dance - Sadir (2) the Nadagamsdance-dramas; (3) the Kuravanji-ballet. The dance-dramas became popular from 17th century and was known as Bhagavata-Mela. During the Chola period Kuravanji was very popular. In Jaffna dance-dramas were in exis

N CEYLON culture 59
tence in the latter part of the 19th century. In the Batticaloa district, dance-dramas are still in existence.
There are Nadagams in the Sinhalese language also. The earliest Nadagams in the Sinhalese literature are attributed to a man
known as Philippu Sinno who is supposed to have been a black-smith born in Colombo. He is regarded as the first writer and producer of Nadagams in the Sinhalese language, these plays having existed earlier in Tamil. From the evidence of the texts themselves, as well as from the existence of prototypes in the Tamil language, they seem to have been translated into Sinhalese from Tamil originals. The Tamil prototype of the Sthakki Nadagam is the Roman Catholic play known as Sthakkiar, which is said to have been acted before Christian audiences in Jaffna some years ago, and the Tamil original of Ahalapola is Kandy Raja Natakam which is still popular in the villages near Batticaloa.
Philippu Sinno’s language is peculiarly his own and it shows considerable Tamil influence. In fact, his language is a peculiar mixture

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of Sinhalese and Tamil words, with a large proportion of pseudo-Sanskrit in it.
The Nadagams are lyrical plays consistung of verses and songs. The verses are in Tamil metres, and they are chanted without measured time. A large number of metres are used, the commonest among them being the Viriduva (Tamil Viruttam). Other Tamil metres used in the Sinhalese Nadagam are the Innise, Kalippa, Kavi, Kochchakam, Venba and Parani. The songs that are sung in measured time are given the general name of Sindhu. Mostly all the melodies are of South-Indian origin but Sinhalese singers drop the Tamil intonation and method of voice-production, when they sing them."
Writing about Sinhalese music Dr. Sarath Chandra observes: "There is reason to believe, at least with regard to music and dancing, that when these arts came into contact with more developed forms from South India, and also began to receive the patronage of the religion and of the educated, they developed considerably although in some cases, sporadi
l. The Sinhalese Folk Play, p. 96.

ÎN CEYLON CULTURE 6
cally. "The beginnings of an indigenous tradition in music took place, as far as the evidence available shows, only during the time of the Kandyan kings. ' Wiraha music, as this body of songs is generally termed, is strikingly different from earlier Sinhalese folk music. It arose, no doubt, as a result of the contact with the Tamil music that came through the medium of the Nadagams. ' The contact with Tamil culture as well as patronage, religious and secular, brought about some interesting developments in Sinhalese music besides those we have mentioned above. For the first time we find, in the Kandy period, the beginnings of a Buddhist religious music, attached to the ritual of the Sacred Tooth.'
" In the period beginning with the Sandesas, from the fourteenth century downwards, we are on safer ground, and the evidence gathered from these literary works corroborates the view that the cultural life of the people least in the cities, derived its inspiration
* The available material however helps us to
establish that it was the Indian tradition of classical music that was prevalent in Ceylon.
-Society in Mediaeval Ceylon, p. 26l
l. The Sinhalese Folk Play, pp. 11, 12, 13.

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largely from India. The Sandesas describe dancing as it took place in the palaces and in the devalayas before the images of Hindu Gods." "Evidence from sculpture and painting strengthen the view that Bharata Natya constituted - the entertainment of royalty and the lay literati. In the stone friezes at Yapahuva and Gadaladeniya and the wood carvings at Embekke Devalaya women are represented in traditional Bharata Natya poses.' These details show that the dances had a very close connection to the Bharata Natya of South India. :
The Sinhalese Nadagam is wholly derived from a variety of South-Indian folk play known as Terukkuththu. In Andhra it was known as Veethi Natakam. It was in vogue at one time in Jaffna, but has now completely disappeared. It is now preserved in the Eastern province, mainly in the Batticaloa it and the neighbouring villages. The dire-drama was known in Jaffna as Nattu Kuththu.
* We get no descriptions except in the later
Sandesas, of the more graceful, artistic type of Dance. 4.
-Society in Mediaeval Ceylon, p. 269 l. Sinhalese Folk Play,
 
 

1N CEYLON CULTURE 63
Writing about Vannams, Dr. Sarathchandra observes: "The Vannams, on the other hand, do not seem to have existed very much earlier than the time of the Kandyan kings, and judging from their language, their rhythm, and the style in which they are sung, one might easily surmise that they sprang up as a result of some strong Tamil influence during that period. * Their mode of measuring time by the stressed accent (tit) and not by the ordinary matra or beat, also links them with varieties of Tamil folk music and dance. * What seems to have happened, therefore, is that the Sinhalese folk music came in contact, during the Kandyan times, and perhaps earlier, with the music of South India, and deriving inspiration from it, developed on
its own line.' '
Among musical instruments those of which belong to the percussive class are pop The most important of them are the the Bera, i Tammetta, and Udeki. Três instruments are still in use among the Tamils
in South India and Jaffna. In the Sinhalese literature the Mirdanga and Vina also are
1. Sinhalese Folk Play, p. 12.
k

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mentioned as musical instruments. It is wellknown that these two are South Indian musical instruments. It is doubtful whether the Sinhalese cultivated the art ofplaying the Vina. If they had done so it should have survived to the present day. The references to it in literature may mean that the vina players might have been South Indian experts who found employment in the royal courts, and under the wealthy classes. Saddharmalankaraya mentions "a candala Brahmin playing on a vina. " “As a rule these retinue stayed behind, but the Vina did not, if it come, take a hold on the country. It, by no means, became a national instrument, in Mediaeval Sinhale at any rate. Mention of the Vina in literature is undoubtedly due to the fact that the instrument is present in the Jataka Stories. A stray Vina performer may have come over and been employed at Court. But the Sinhalese did it and no one took the trouble نیوتن نطر ۰۰۰ . to earn the art. The absence of anything like a Vina Rajakariya in devala or Dalada Maligava supports this view." The Cula Vamsa mentions only five kinds of musical nistruments. They are Atata, Vitata, Atata-vitata, Susira
l. Traditional Sinhalese Culture, p. 36.
 

ÎN CEYLON CULTURE 65
and Ghana. The first three are different types of drums. Susira means flute or pipe. Ghana is cymbal.
Commenting on the influence of Indian culture as a whole on the Sinhalese court, Dr. Sarath Chandra writes:
"As would be natural to expect, the culture of the Sinhalese court has been entirely indian in the early period, but it is interesting to note that it seems to have continued to be so right through the centuries, the difference being that, in later times, the influence came more from South India than from North. The fact that the kings became Buddhists and actively patronised the religion, made no change in this state of affairs, for, in his lay life the king was as free to adopt the nonBuddhist folk culture." SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Ancient Tamils of the Tholkappian period, divided the country into regions called Mullai or the pastoral parts, Kurinji or the hilly part, Neydal or the littoral part, Marudam or the agricultural part and Palai or the desert regions. The preponderating elements in the popula
l. The Sinhalese Folk Play, p. 14.
9

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66 “TAMIL ELEMEN"t
tion of these tracts did jobs best suited to the respective regions. The people of Mullai did cattle rearing and were called shepherds (ldyar); those of the hilly regions mainly lived on hunting and were called hunters (Vedduvar); those of the agricultural parts were engaged in farming and were called agriculturists (Kamakarar or Vellalar); those of the Palai tracts lived on the others by fair or foul means and were called robbers (Kallar or Maravar.)
The people of the aforesaid regions subdivided themselves into groups to perform the various duties, industrial and otherwise, which were necessary for the well-being of the community. These divisions had definite work allotted to them and they formed themselves into guilds with their own rules and regulations conducive to the nature of the work they specialized in. This classification and arrangement according to the nature of their work must have brought into existence the various occupational hereditary castes that are in existence today in Tamil society in South India and Jaffna. There is a Tamil phrase in use in Jaffna which describes the classification of society, "Nanku pathinedu sathiyum" (5(rait (5 uSG607 L'Odd T5ujib), which refers to the Aryan four castes and eighteen occupational castes.

fN CEYLoN CULTURE 67
Untouchadity as a religious and social institution was not known to the Tamils of the Tholkappiam age. This was introduced into South India by the Aryans who followed the social regulations of the Sanskrit. Law Books - Smirthis. With the advent of the Aryan culture into the Tamil land, the Aryan caste system was superimposed on the Tamil society. The Brahmins considered themselves superior to all others. Then came the Kshastriyas, the ruling class, and the Vaisyas, traders. In the Arvan Smirthis the three top castes were considered twice-born and had the right to wear the sacred thread after the Upanayana ceremony. According to the Aryan rule, those who stood out of the Upanayana ceremony were grouped together and was known as the Sudras. The Tamils never accepted this ar. angement nor did they perform Upanayanam as a caste ceremony. But, a section of the Kammalars, artisans who worked on metals, called themselves Visva-Brahmins and wore sacred thread. The origin of this custom among the artisan class deserves investigation and research.
The Brahmins, in South India and Ceylon, form a separate social group, even today, and do not mix freely in equal terms with the

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Tamils. There is no Kshatriya caste as such in South India. The trading class among the Tamils are not Vaisyas who wear the sacred thread as a caste mark. To the Brahmin, in South India and Ceylon, everyone other than his own csate is an untouchable. When we look at the social structure of ancient and modern Ceylon, we find the same conditions prevailing as it was in South india throughout her history up to modern times. The Sinhalese society is a casteless one. The so-called castes spoken of in literature and those which are in existence today are only occupational groups. Writing about the social structure of the Sinhalese in the Mediaeval Period, Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy observes; "Mention must be made of caste, especially as the caste system of Ceylon is similar to the Dravidian in South India and differs from the well-known fourfold caste division of the Hindus generally. Vijaya himself could hardly have found a place in the Brahminical caste system. The Sinhalese people from an early date had constant intimate. relations with the Tamils in Southern India. So it is that we find the Dravidian and not the Aryan caste system amongst the

IN CEYLoN CULTURE 69
Sinhalese. In this system the cultivator ranked highest. With the spread of Aryan civilization came the Brahminical system, which was superimposed upon the Dravidians, so that the Brahman and Kshatriya ranked above the cultivator. Hence the order of castes in Ceylon came to be-l. Brahmans (Bamunu); 2. Raja (ruling caste); 3. Govi (cultivator); subsequently the Velenda or merchant was added. But as there was no place for Brahmana in as Buddhist country, and the royal family formed a caste by itself, and merchants were few or none, the goviyo have remained to this day of chief importance from the caste point of view. That is, the goviya, or vellala as he is often called, is the man of high caste. '
Mr. W. A. De Silva writing about castes observes: "Among the Sinhalese there does not appear to have been any castes or divisions. Brahmins are mentioned as living apart in their own villages and were more or less counted as foreign to the Sinhalese. '
1. Mediaeval Sinhallesse Art, p. 21.
2. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Šociety, Ceylon Branch, Wol. XXXI. No. 81, p. 68.

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"The Sinhalese castes probably had a tribal basis. The lowest castes formed tribes of a pre-historic Dravidian race, the Rakshas of tradition, who drove into the interior the still earlier Australoid Veddas, - who were the Yakkas of tradition. Later the higher castes of northern India entered Ceylon, and the frequent contacts with the Deccan in historical times led to the formation of the artisan castes.”
Dr. Aryapala in his book on Society in Mediaeval Ceylon accepts the observations of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy regarding the structure of Society during the Kandyan period. He writes: "None can gainsay that the cast system in Ceylon is a legacy from the mainland of India whence the ancient Sinhalese drew most of their inspiration. The caste system in the mainland was well established and observed in all rigidity, and therefore it is impossible to believe that it did not have its repercussions here.'. The 'mainland of India which he refers may be taken as
l. The Sinhalese Caste System, Ceylon Historical Quarterly, Wol. li. No. 3 & 4. p. 296, 2, Chapter. XII. p. 292,

N. CEYLÖN CULTURË 57
South India, because in support of the basis of social organisation in Ceylon, he has quoted the Cola system of hereditary occupational structure.
The influence of the South Indian caste groups engaged in crafts, on the crafts-guilds of Ceylon was very considerable. We would like to quote in full the observations of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy, who had studied this aspect in detail. He writes "The indigenous craftsmen, it will be perceived, represented both the original Sinhalese stock and the later immigrant craftsmen incorporated from time to time into their community. It would be difficult to say how far an original Sinhalese element is represented in the body of superior craftsmen; for we do not know much of the state of the arts in very early times, and we have the record of the introduction of Indian craftsmen with Buddhist missionaries from the North, and again at the time of Gaja Bahu's invasion of Southern India. The lnferior crafts men, potters, weavers (except salagamaya), matmakers, etc., on the other hand no doubt represent an integral part of the Sinhalese population, perhaps even carrying on their remote traditions of the pre-Sinhalese inhabitants who may have been by no means uncivilized.

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"In a general way it may be stated that the indigenous craftsmen of all sorts, integrally a part of the Sinhalese population, were makers of the plainer and most necessary articles normally required by a simple agricultural people, and the imported craftsmen were more especially sumptuary artists from the big cities and crafts-guilds of Southern India, making the more elaborate and costly goods required by the Court and the capital. The distinction is clearly marked in the case of weavers, the indigenous beravayo making country cloth, good but not fine, and the imported salagamayo making the gold-woven muslins worn by royalty and nobility. So, too, the dye-painting of cloth, the more elaborate sorts of embroidery (with gold), and tailoring and sandal making and so forth were crafts practised almost exclusively by foreign craftsmen at the Court only. *** Even at the present day, those who require silk brocades or gold-woven turbans in Ceylon, are obliged to import them from Southern India, and dye-painted kerchiefs are made in Jaffna for sale in Kandy. It will thus. be seen how intimately connected was the art of Southern India and Ceylon.' The Kammalar (metal
l Mediaeval Sinhalese Art, p. 62.

ÎN CEYLON CULTURE 73
workers) who came from South India from time to time, joined their fellow craftsmen already settled here practising their craft. Mr. Paranavitana, writing about "Pre-Buddhist Religious Beliefs in Ceylon', observes: "There were special divinities worshipped by the people of different trades in pre-Buddhist Ceylon. Another such deity was the Kammaradeva or the god of the blacksmiths." When Devanampiya Tissa marked out the boundaries of the consecrated ground set aside for the Buddhist Church, the boundary line is said to have passed by the side of the shrine dedicated to this God.' From this it is possible to infer that in ancient Ceylon there were Kammalar who worshipped a special god belonging to their group.
What Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy had written about the weavers and textiles are supported by another writer. Mr. B. J. Perera writes, "Textiles was a major import of Ceylon. The chief sources appear to have been India and China. ** Several Chinese writers have
l. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon
Branch, Vol. XXXI. No. 82. p. 319.
10

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mentioned textiles in their lists of Chinese exports to Ceylon. From an analysis of the Chinese references to the export of textiles to Ceylon, it is apparent that they were mostly luxury varieties for the royalty and the upper classes. For instance, according to Ma Huan the imported textiles were fine silk gauzes and embroidered taffetas.
"India was another source for Ceylon's requirements of textiles. Here too the cloth imported may have been luxury varieties for the upper classes. ' South India too was a source for Ceylon's textile requirements. Ibn Batuta states that the people of Mabar and Mulayabar gave gifts of woven stuffs to the Sultan in exchange for the cinnamon they carried away from Ceylon."
THE LEGAL SYSTEM
The Legal system of the Sinhalese people has many features which are common to the Tamils of South India and Ceylon. "The customary laws," writes Dr. H. W. Tambiah, "of the Tamils of Ceylon, and the Kandyan Law, which for all purposes of our inquiry
1. Ancient Ceylon's Exports and Imports, by в. J. Perera. Ceylon Historical Quarterly, Wol. ll.
Nos. 1 & 2, pp. 20, 2l.

N CEYLON CULTURE 75
may be regarded as the customary laws of the Sinhalese, reveals that there is a great similarity between these systems. * Considering the fact that there had been constant mingling between the Tamils and the Sinhalese and the adoption of various institutions from the Southern part of the neighbouring continent, one is not surprised to find that the Kandyan law itself has its roots in the customary laws of the Dravidian races. An examination of the concepts of Kandyan Law shows that the original structure of the Sinhalese Society was matriarchal and like their Tamil brothers of the Northern part of Ceylon, there has been later settlements of Sinhalese when ideas and concepts peculiar to the patriarchal system have been imposed on a Society which was originally based on the matriarchal pattern."
Even eminent scholars on Kandyan Law do not deny that the original Kandyan Society was based on matriarchal lines. Dr. Hayley refers to words such as URIME (Offald) Inheritance, and PARAVENI (UJ6).J60th) hereditary which occur both in Mukkuva Law and Thesa
1. The Laws and Customs of the Tamils of
Ceylon, p. 14l.

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valamai. Urime and Paraveni are words of Tamil origin.
Dr. J. D. M. Derret, writing on "The Origins of the Laws of the Kandyans,' observes: "On the other hand a consideration of the very greatest importance (which has often been neglected in this connection) persists in Sinhalese custom which is totally absent from the Dharma Sastras: the Sinhalese in common with Hindus south of the Windyas regarded marriage with the maternal uncle's daughter or, failing one, a paternal aunt's daughter as not merely proper and desirable but even obligatory. It was, one might almost say, the key-stone of the social and economic arch of the South Indian settled agricultural communities. From remotely early times the Sastras regarded such a custom as curious and questionable; tolerable amongst those classes which practised it upon the bare ground of primeval habituation. ' A strong similarity exists between the customary laws of South India among the non-Brahman castes which are not strongly influenced by Aryan habits and the matrimonial regimes of Kandyan Law.'
l. The Laws and Customs of the Tamils of
Ceylon p. 144. , , ,
2. University of Ceylon Review, Vol. XIV. Nos.
3 & 4, pp. Il 10 & lil9.

IN CEYLON CULTURE s 77
The Concepts of Adoption, Joint Family and inheritance in Kandyan Law are the same as the Customary Laws of the Tamils of Ceylon and India. The family organization and marriage customs among the Kandyans and the Tamils have a lot of similarities. "The family organization and marriage customs," writes, Dr. H. W. Tambiah, "were similar both among the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The chapter on 'Social Systems' by Dr. Hayley could be reproduced by any writer on the social system of the Tamils as the concepts are precisely the same. Just as in Sinhalese society the father, the father’s brother, and the mother's sister's husband were all called by the same name with sufixes LokU and PUNCHI (big and small) so also in the Tamil family system the word "appa' which is used to designate the father is used to designate the father's brothers with a suffix PERIA (big) and sNNA (small) as sufixes. Many of the wedding ceremonies of the Sinhalese are the same as those among the Tamils."
l. The Laws and Customs of the Tamils of
Ceylon, p. 144. . See Part Six 'Kinship and Marriage of Sinhalese Social Organization " pp. 198, 199.

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We have so far briefly outlined, the cultural, social and religious fusion that has taken place in the course of history between the Sinhalese and the Tamils in Ceylon. Their domestic life, their festivals and amusements, their social and legal systems, their household utensils, their aspirations and ideals have been, more or less, similar in very many respects. A common cultural background and an aim in life based on religious beliefs and practices, have made the Buddhists and the Hindus appear as co-religionists. The Sinhalese and the Tamils have lived in this Island as children of a common mother-land. Any attempt to separate them will destroy the fundamental national unity which had existed in spite of language difference. The present day Tamils and Sinhalese are heirs to a common Ceylonese tradition and culture, and they should hold together and build up the future on the background of the past.
"The foregoing short survey would enable the reader to visualise the racial problem in proper perspective in a way not to worry too much about the Aryan or Dravidian complexes. The Ceylonese are mixed not once but a hundred times. When one realises the diversity

iN CEYLON CULTURE 79
of racial elements and variety of culture complexes that have contributed to the growth of the Ceylonese national pattern it would be meaningless to take pride in caste superiority. The wider concept of a Ceylonese nationhood must be visualised by a fusion of narrow nationalism." '
l. The People of Ceylon, p. 40

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RACE, LANGUAGE AND RELIGION
No student of history and sociology will subscribe to the view that there exists on the face of the earth any civilization or a nation that can call itself pure and unmixed. Every civilization is an integral of many and diverse elements. There is not a single religion which has not assimilated some characteristics, at least, from alien faiths. The Dravidians and the Aryans are now so mixed in India that it is impossible to speak of a pure Aryan or a pure Dravidian race. The culture of India today, is a synthesis of the cultural elements of the different racial groups that are found in the country. In the context of such facts, it is meaningless for any one section in a country, to advocate the purity of any particular race, culture or religion.
In Ceylon the fusion of cultural elements was going on for more than 2000 years, and it is a vain attempt now to separate the Aryan from the Dravidian. "If the determination," writes Ralph Peiris, "of the precise

ÎN CEYLON CULTURE 8.
nature of the Dravidian 'influence' presents insuperable difficulties, data relating to the so-called "Aryanisation of Ceylon is even more fragmentary. Hence, the reconstruction of the pre-Aryan, Aryan and Dravidian 'layers' of Sinhalese civilization must remain a vain hope.' The Sinhalese and the Tamils have lived up till now as heirs to a common Ceylonese culture. The Hindus and the Buddhists have worshipped together in Viharas and Temples. They are celebrating common festivals and are following more or less, the same social rules and conduct.
It is irrational to identify religion with race and language. There are some amongst us who think that language and religion are inseparable. Many Saivaites think that "Saivaism is Tamil and Tamil is Saivaism. The same may be said of some Buddhist enthusiasts who identify Buddhism with the Sinhalese language. It is dogmas of this type that bring about cleavage and misunderstanding among religious groups that live in a country. If the doctrine that "Tamil and Saivaism are one' is emphasized as a religious belief, then the Tamil Saivaite, the Tamil Christian, and the
l. Sinhalese Social Organization, p. 5.
11

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Tamil Buddhist can never hope to come together. This attitude and assertion of the Tamil Saivaite make the Christian-Tamil hesitate to study his mother-tongue. No Englishman has ever maintained that his language and Christianity are one, though Christian doctrines and dogmas are found in English books. Wrongly directed religious enthusiasm is the cause of such mental attitudes. Christian nations of the world do not speak the same language nor are they living within the same boundaries. All Saivaites of India are not speaking Tamil nor do they dress alike and observe the same social customs and manners. There are Buddhists in China, Japan, Burma, Siam and other parts of the world and they speak different languages. . No one will dare to call them Sinhalese because they are Buddhists. One need not be a Sinhalese to follow Buddhism nor is it necessary for one to be a Tamil to follow Saivaism.
In ancient Ceylon there must have been Tamils who professed Buddhism and Sinhalese who followed Hinduism as it was in South India and other parts of India. There was a time in the history of South Índia when Buddhism was the most popular faith of the people. Some of the great poets of the Tamil

N CEYLON CULTURE 83
country were Buddhists and Jains. The same condition must have prevailed in Ceylon too. Even today there are Buddhists in the Negombo and Chilaw districts whose mother tongue is Tamil,
Buddhist images and other religious objects have been unearthed from time to time in the Jaffna peninsula. Because of this fact, some infer that the people who lived at that period in the peninsula were Sinhalese. This inference is incorrect. During the early part of the Christian era there was Buddhism in South India and many Buddhist remains of that period have been found. Because of this, nobody can maintain that the people of South India at that time were Sinhalese or that they were under the domination of the Sinhalese. The safest possible deduction is that . some of the Tamils of the peninsula might have adopted Buddhism for reasons which may be religious, political or otherwise. There might have also existed Sinhalese colonies in the peninsula along with the Tamil Buddhists. True religious experience is not confined to Hinduism or Buddhism or Christianity or Islam. It is not restricted to any particular racial group or caste. It is within the reach

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of all true spiritual adherents whatever the creed or doctrine they follow. The fundamentals of religion are universal and those who accept this fact will always find room for the co-existence of all religions. "Mysticism' writes Rudolf Otto, "is the same in all ages and places, that timeless and independent of history, it has always been identical. East and West and other differences vanish here. Whether the flower of Mysticism blooms in India or in China, in Persia or on the Rhine and in Erfurt its fruit is one. Whether it clothes itself in the delicate Persian verse of a Jalaluddin Rumi or in the beautiful middle German of Meister Exckhart; in the scholarly Sanskrit of the Indian Sankara, or in the laconic riddles of the Sino-Japanese Zen School, these forms could always be exchanged one for the other. For, one and the same experience speaks here, only by chance in varying dialects. East is West and West is East.'
Science has practically annihilated distance and has brought all countries and nations closer. Comparative study of religion and culture has enabled man to understand the universal character of human nature. At this stage of
l. Mysticism, East & West, p. XV.

IN CEYLON CULTURE 85
our civilization, it is foolish and suicidal for nations and communities to divide themselves into warring groups emphasizing historical anecdotes and religious and language differences.
The solidarity of the Ceylonese nation depends solely on the mutual understanding, goodwill and fellowship of all the communities that consider Ceylon as their common motherland. Religious and political organizations and leaders should not do anything which will undermine the fundamental unity which is absolutely essential for peace and prosperity in the land.
“Race and Caste discrimination are also inimical to social progress since they bring about artificial and unreal divisions among
human beings where none exist and hinder harmonious relations.'l
1. Buddhism and the Race Question, p. 69.

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APPENDICES
PRE - HISTORIC PEOPLE OF CEY LON
"We do not think it requires a great effort to prove that all the writers on the early history of Ceylon are agreed that this Island was inhabited before the Vijayan Era. “The Ramayana, i according to native chronicles was composed in the year 2387 B. C. It treats, as we all know amongst other things, of the war waged between Rama and Ravana, a king of Ceylon. It is a palpable truism which requires no proof that for a conquest the existence of a people should be pre-supposed. The theory that the inhabitants of this Island before the Vijayan period were Yakku, whereby we understand non-human beings or demons will not be seriously stated as a fact. 'Writers, both European and native, have in the present century conclusively demonstrated that the aboriginal inhabitants were human beings.
"Taking then these two facts for granted, that Ceylon was inhabited, and inhabited by

N CEYLON CULTURE 87
human beings, the questions which suggest themselves to us are, who were those aboriginals? and where did they come from?
“The late Hon. James de Alwis, that eminent scholar, in his introduction to the Sidat Sangarawa (at page 12) reasons thus:
Situated at no great distance from the Indian Peninsula, probably joined to it by an isthmus which has been washed away; and invited by the advantages which it possesses, amongst which were its elephants and pearls, not to mention fertility of the scil, the salubrity of its climate, and the richness of its natural productions, it is but reasonable to suppose that the Indians (unquestionably a very ancient race of people) had settled in Ceylon before the period referred to (i. e. Vijayan period): if indeed their settlement was not coeval with their occupation of India.' '
- Hon. Mr. Panabokke, in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Ceylon Branch, Vol. XII, No. 43, 1892, p. 254.

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II
NA GAS IN HISTORY
Though the Mahavansa has indirectly described the Nagas and Yakkhas of Ceylon as human beings with a culture and civilization of their own, modern writers on Ceylon history have treated them as mythical and legendary beings. Dr. Mendis writes: "There is no record which gives any account of the struggles of the Aryans with the earlier inhabitants. The Yakkhas and the Nagas mentioned in Buddhist works of this time do not refer to human beings.'" Later, he writes: "The Pali commentaries of this period class Yakkhas, Nagas, Gandhabbas, Kumbhandas together and refer to them as non-human beings (amanusa). Of a people called the Nagas no trace has been found in the later chapters of the chronicles or in other records.'
Mr. D. T. Devendra, sometime Assistant Archaeological Commissioner (Publications),
l. Early History of Ceylon, p. 8. 2. A Comprehensive History of India, Vol. II. p. 572.

1N CEYLoN CULTURE 89
Ceylon, in his latest book, Classical Sinhalese Sculpture, writes: "Of the people who lived in Ceylon before the arrival of Prince Vijaya, little is known except for the mythical Yakkhas and Nagas or for the disputed survival of a
handful of aboriginal folk known as Veddhas."
Dr. Mendis relies on the Pali commentaries for considering the Nagas as non-human beings. Mr. Devendra has not given any reason for his assumption.
Everybody familiar with the trend of
thought in the Aryan Sanskrit Epics knows fully well that the Aryans always spoke and
wrote about the non-Aryans as non-human beings such as Demons and Vanaras. The Mahavansa is an expanded account of the story found in the Dipavamsa and is to a great extent the story of the Mahavihara, the most famous of the Buddhist Viharas of Anuradhapura. Both the chronicles give a list of kings, and their activities mainly in relation to the development of Theravada Buddhism in Ceylon. The events are narrated in such a way as to kindle in the minds of the Buddhists an attitude of devotion and respect for all Buddhist institutions found in Ceylon. It is therefore, but natural, in keeping with the epic traditions
12

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of ancient india, the chronicles have pictured all those who stood outside the pale of Buddhism and Sinhalese society as non-human and mythical beings. In the Ramayana, the hill tribes who formed the army of Rama, is described as Vanaras (monkeys). If the nonAryans of India could be depicted as monkeys in the Ramayana there is nothing strange in the Nagas of ancient Ceylon being treated as mythical beings and evil spirits by the Buddhists of Ceylon.
Indian history, numismatics and epigraphy tell a different story about the Nagas. We have already stated on page 5 that there was a Naga dynasty ruling in Magadha during the time of Buddha. Even after the Christian era Naga dynasties have continued their rule in certain parts of North India and Central India. There are evidences for the existence of Naga dynasty in North India in the 2nd Century A. D. The lists of Naga dynasties, found in the Puranas, appear immediately before the Guptas. The Allahabad stone pillar inscription of Samudragupta mentions the existence of several Naga principalities in the early 4th Century. Nagadatta, Nagasena,

IN CEYLON CULTURE 9
Ganapathinaga and Achyutanandi are mentioned as rulers of Northern India.
The Vayu and the Brahmanda Puranas mention two families of Nagas, one comprising nine kings ruling at Padmavati and another of seven kings ruling at Mathura. Naga coins have been discovered in large numbers both at Padmavati, modern Padam-Pawaya in the Narwar district of Gwalior (Madhya Bharat), and at Mathura. The Vishnu Purana adds a third Naga dynasty ruling at Kantipuri which has been identified as modern Kantit near Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh.
The Padmavati Nagas were Siva worshippers and this is clear from the appearance of Saiva Symbols - the Bull and the Trident- on their coins, and the discovery of the platform of the famous Siva Linga called Svarnabindu at Padam-Pawaya. From the coins the following Naga kings are known: Bhima Naga, Prabhakara Naga, Vibu Naga, Skanda Naga, Vyaghra Naga, Vasu Naga, Deva Naga, : Brihaspati Naga, and Bhava Naga. Coins of Ganapathi Naga are numerous at Mathura. *
The Naga dynasty of Padmavati continued to rule up to the middle of the 4th Century, when the kingdom came under the sway of

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the Guptas. The excavations at Padampawaya show that Padmavati was a very flourishing city. It retained its importance and splendour in much later times, as is proved by a description in the Khajuraho inscription.
Epigraphy reveals a large Naga population in the Deccan including Mysore from the early centuries of the Christian era. The Chutus or Nagas of South Deccan bore the title of Maharathi and called themselves Nagas. They were governors under the Satavahanas, and, on their fall became supreme in Deccan. The Myakadoni inscription mentions a General of Pulumavi (3rd Century A. D.) called Skandanaga in modern Bellary District. The inscription at Malavalli of one Chutukulananda Satakarni king of Vaijayanti (3rd Century A. D.) establishes the sway of the Nagas further south.
The sculptures of Naga kings and big men and ordinary Naga men and women at Amaravati and Jaggayyapeta reveal in a curious manner the existence of a Naga population there. The inscriptions at Amaravati and Jaggayyapeta contain plenty of Naga names. *** ***
l. Comprehensive History of India, Vol. III.
pp. 257, 58, 59,

N CEYLON CULTURE 93
However, we may infer from the abundant Naga names in inscriptions and Naga sculptures that the Deccan was a populous Naga centre and the Naga cult was popular there.' In the light of the overwhelming evidence available from history, epigraphy and numismatics, it is irrational to hold on to the "sectarian view of the Buddhists' that the Nagas are non-human beings of a mythical nature. Modern historical research cannot entertain such a view of the Nagas who were a group of people found in Ancient India and Ceylon in possession of a culture and civilization of their own.
The Origin of Saivaism and its History in the Tamil Land.

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II
LANKA AND THE RAMAYANA Mr. D. T. Devendra, in his book on
Classical Sinhalese Sculpture makes the following observation on Lanka and Ramayana;
"A story is sometimes heard-seen to be modern on analysis - of the Rape of Sita from her Indian lord Rama by the demon king of Lanka (Ceylon) whose name was Ravanna. But there is nothing proven to connect Ceylon with this Indian parallel to the Trojan War. Indeed it is the anglicized pronunciation of “Sita", lengthening the last vowel, which has strengthened the case for the spurious connection when ‘Sita ', correctly pronounced, merely means what it is : a cool place, and the prefix appears in just such a connotation only. In other countries east of India, as far as Indonesia, may be traced the survival of the Rama-Sita-Ravanna legend which theme is at the back of many of their art forms. But there is no trace of it in
Ceylon." (page, 4.)

fN CEYLON CULTURE 95
To the discerning mind of Mr. Devendra, the story of Ramayana seems to be modern on analysis. Unfortunately, he has not given the process through which he had arrived at this conclusion. If he had instead of the word "Rape' used the word 'abduction' he would have earned the respect of millions of Hindus throughout the world who consider Sita as the Ideal Woman of Hindu Culture. His statement that the anglicized pronunciation of Sita by lengthening the last vowel had strengthened the case for the spurious connection, is to say the least, more fantastic than historical. He also states that there are no traces of RamaSita-Ravanna legend in Ceylon. Perhaps he wants the world to believe that the connection of Lanka with the story of Ramayana originated after the coming of the English to India and Ceylon. The points raised by Mr. Devendra are well met by Mr. A. M. Gunasekara in his article "Pre-historic Ceylon." Mr. Gunasekara has collected the traditional stories connected with the Ramayana in relation to pre-historic sites in Ceylon. We extract below a portion of it:

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PoLONNARUWA (Pali - Pulathinagara; Sanskrit -
Pulastinagara.)
This was at one time the capital of the Yakshas. The name " Polonnaruwa appears to be derived from Pulinda-nagara (Pali and Sanskrit), meaning ' town of Pulindas' (i. e. Weddas whose ancestors were Yakshas). The name Pulastipura (literally, city of Pulastya. grandfather of Ravana and Kubera) appears to have been given in honour of Pulastya.
NKUMBHILA -
This was a place where Ravana went te perform certain magical rites when the war with Rama was going on. It is considered to be the modern Negombo.
SUVELA
This is the mountain near which Rama and his force pitched their camp when carrying on the war with Ravana, and had their headquarters. Pravala alias Pavalama is given in the Sinhalese version of the Ramayana, as that mountain.
SENARA
This was the pleasure garden of Ravana This was Uva,
ASOKA-WANA
This forest or garden in which Sita was kept in captivity by Ravana was in or near
Nuwara Eliya. It was so called owing to the abundance of Asoka trees (Jonesia Asoka)

tN CEYLON CULTURE
which now abound in Nuwara Eliya, where it is known as Diyaratmal. SITAKOTUWA
This appears to be different from Asokavana. It reminds us of the times of Ravana. The story of Sita is current among the people living near Sitakotuwa. (The story is fully quoted as appeared in The Taprobanian, Vol. II. Part. 6.) RAVANA GANGA
This was a river in Ceylon in the time of Ravana.
SETUBANDHAYA
This is Adam's Bridge, built, according to Ramayana for Rama’s passage from India to Ceylon by Nala and other Monkeys, when Rama invaded Ceylon to recover his wife Sita who had been carried away by Ravana. It was originally 100 yoduns in length '' Up to the end of the 15th century (1480) it joined Ceylon to India but in a storm which occurred about that time the sea made a breach through the rocks which became so enlarged, that in a subsequent
storm foot traffic ceased.
- The Ceylon National Review, July, 1906.
97
These stories were current in the Island
long before the advent of the English.
in the Ramayana, Lanka is located south
of the Tamraparni and the Pandya
capital.
In the Kishkindhakandam' Chapter 41, we
13

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find the following: "Permitted by that gratified high-souled one (Agastya), ye will cross over the great river, Tamraparni, abounding in alligators. *** Proceeding (therefrom), the monkeys shall see the grand golden gates belonging to the walls of the capital of Pandyas. **** **** On its other shore is an island extending over an hundred yojanas, inaccessible to men, and of splendid aspect. Do ye explore it all round. There, in particular, ye must every way search for Sita. That country belongs to the impious Ravana, worthy of being slain-lord of the Rakshasas.'
The city of Lanka in the time of Ravana is thus described in the Ramayana: "Lanka ruled by Ravana, was situated on the top of Trikuta ten yojanas in width and twenty in length. And that city was guarded with lofty ornamented gateways resembling pale clouds, and golden and silver walls; and Lanka was adorned with palaces and piles, like the sky graced with clouds on the approach of the rainy season. And that palace which was adorned with thousand pillars, and which, as if piercing the heavens, looked like a peak of Kailasa - was the residence of Ravana - the ornament of the city, ever guarded by full
hundreds of Rakshasas."
l. Ramayana, translation by M. N. Dutt, M. A.

IN CEYLON CULTURE 99
According to the above description, the capital of Lanka,-Lanka Puri, and the residential palace of Ravana, the king, was situated on the top of a mountain with three peaks, called, the Trikuta Parvatam. Scholars have determined its situation to be the site of modern Nuwara Eliya. The Mahavansa, also locates the capital of the Yakkhhas in the hilly country and calls it Lankapura."
Trikuta as a mountain in Ceylon is confirmed by the inscription of Jatavarman Vira Pandyan (13th century). He is said to have "killed (in fight) one of the two kings of Ceylon, captured his army, chariots, treasilires, throne, crown, necklaces, bracelets, parasols, chauris and other royal possession, planted the Pandya flag with the double fish on the Konamalai (Thirukonamalai-Trincomalie) and the high peaks of the Trikutagiri mountain, and received elephants as tribute from the other king of Ceylon (whom, perhaps he raised to the throne)''. Vira Pandyan's emblem of double fish is still found on the pillar at the entrance to the Trincomalie Fort. . The identity of the Lanka Puri of the Ramayana is conclusively
l. Mahavansa, p. 60. 2, The Pandyan Kingdom, p. 176.

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proved by the word "Trikuta Giri' appearing in the Ramayana and the 13th century inscription of South India.
In spite of the above facts, Mr. Devendra thinks that there is nothing existing in Ceylon to prove the connection of Ceylon with Ramayana

IN CEYLoN CULTURE 10
IV
CEYLON'S GEOGRAPHICAL SOLATION
Mr. Devendra in another place in the same book makes the following observation:
"There is the point too that the island remained strongly individualistic owing to its geographical isolation from the mainland, and its people evolved its own contribution to culture, including the creation of distinctive sculpture.' By the words "its people he refers only to the Sinhalese. Because, in the first paragraph of his book he writes, "The Sinhalese, who form the subject of our account, number about 7,000,000: nearly all of them follow the Theravada (Early) School of Buddhism.'
We are certain that no student of cultural history, in relation to India and Ceylon, will be prepared to accept the dictum of Mr. Devendra. It is no doubt true that Ceylon occupies an isolated geographical position in the Indian ocean or say, South East Asia, but that cannot deny her age long religious, cultural, artistic and political connections she had with the neigh

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bouring countries. No sane historian of the English people, however patriotic he may be, will ever propound a theory in the twentieth century, that because of her strong individualistic political position and her geographical isolation as an island, England had evolved a culture of her own very distinct from Europe, especially Greece, Rome and Germany.
The Tamils who form a very important section of the population of Ceylon are 1,893,032. The Muslims the majority of whom also speak the Tamil Language are 468,146. The Total Tamil speaking population of Ceylon, therefore, nearly amounts to 2,36,78. Out of the total Tamil speaking population of Ceylon, 1,614,004, are Hindus, and they have religious, cultural and linguistic connections with India from the beginning of Ceylon history.
Buddhism and Buddhist Culture and Art have received fresh inspiration, in the course of history, not only from North India, but also from Siam and Burmah. One of the sects of the Buddhist Sangha in Ceylon is known as Siam. Sect. During the early Christian era, Theravada Buddhism was a popular faith in South ladia. Manimekalai, the Tamil Sangam Epic, (2nd century A. D.) is a Buddhist book, belonging to the Theravada School of Bud

tN CEYLON CULTURE 03
dhism. We have shown on page 55 how Bud dhist teachers had crossed over from South India to Ceylon and had helped the study of Buddhist scriptures. The influence of South Indian schools of Art on Ceylon architecture, sculpture and painting is admitted by all competent scholars of the world. Even now stonemasons (silpis) are brought from South India to renovate or build Buddhist shrines.
The Pallavas had political and cultural influence over Ceylon during the reign of Manavamma. The Cholas have ruled Ceylon for nearly over 70 years without a break in the llth century. Pandyas conquered Ceylon “in the 13th century and ruled over it for a short time. The Northern part of CeylonJaffna Kingdom -, was under the influence of the Vijayanagara kings for a short time.
Hindu shrines of Katirgama, Thirukoneswaram (Trincomalie), Sivanoli Patham (Adam's Peak), Thiruketheeswaram are sacred Hindu places of pilgrimage and worship. Thousands of Hindus from India visit them. Katirgama - Shrine of Muruka - in the Southern Province, was a place of worship of both the Hindus and Buddhists, even, during the time
of Dutugemunu. He is said to have enrich the temple with many endowments after hi

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victory over king Elara. St. Thirugnana Sambhandar, the Saiva Mystic, who lived in the reign of the Pallava king Narendravarman (7th century) has sung in praise of the Deity at Thirukoneswaram and the Deity at Thiruketheeswaram. St. Sundaramoorthy, the Saiva Mystic (9th century) has sung in praise of Thiruketheeswaram. St. Arunagirinathar (15th century) has sung in praise of Katirgama and Thirukoneswaram. Nissanka Malla (!2th century) after annexing Rameswaram, built there a Hindu shrine and called it Nissankesvara. Kunaveerasingan alias Pararajasegaran, king of Singanagar (near Pt. Pedro), Jaffna Peninsula, built the Garba Graha (Holy of Holies) of Rameswaram, in 144 A. D. with granite stones taken from Trincomalie. ThiruMular, the great Saiva Yogi and Mystic of the 5th century, A. D., classifies Ceylon as one of the Saiva Lands (Siva Poomi of the world.
The geographical and historical connections of Ceylon was so close, that historians have found it necessary to divide the historical periods of Ceylon into North Indian and South Indian for the convenience of treatment. " It is but natural that being so close to India Ceylon should have been influenced by the great
l. Thirumanthiram, 2747.

N CEYLON CULTURE 05
civilizations that rose and fell at various times on that subcontinent. Up to about 600 A. D., there was a succession of powerful civilizations in North India. These civilizations influenced chiefly the religious and cultural History of Ceylon. The period after 600 A. D., saw the rise of powerful Kingdoms in South India. Ceylon's connection with these South Indian Kingdoms was not only religious, social and cultural but also political.
"The Indian influence on the civilisation of Ceylon is so marked that it has become customary to refer to that period of the Island's history when it was largely influenced by developments in India as the Indian Period of Ceylon History. It is also possible to subdivide this Indian Period into a North Indian and a South Indian period accordingly as the dominant influence was North Indian or South Indian.' Dr. Mendis has dealt with the Early History of Ceylon dividing it into North Indian Period, Parts I & II and South Indian Period, Parts I & II.
The Historical and Cultural connections between Ceylon and India are such that all standard books dealing with the History and
1. Ceylon and Indian History, Chap. 1: The Geography behind Indian and Ceylon History, p. 5,
4

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Culture of the People of India, and The History of Indian Art contain chapters dealing with Ceylon. Even the latest book A Comprehensive History of India, Vol. II, published by The Indian History Congress, contains two chapters on Ceylon written by Dr. G. C. Mendis.
In view of the facts enumerated above, it is incorrect for anyone to maintain that the Sinhalese have built up a culture of their own without any positive influence from the mainland of India. We have shown in the book how the Tamil cultural elements have helped the evolution of Ceylon Culture which some writers in South Ceylon prefer to call 'Sinhalese Culture." Indian Culture, in spite of the linguistic differences found in the various provinces, is one. Similarly, the Culture of Ceylon, ancient or modern, is the combined creation of the Sinhalese and the Tamils for whom Lanka is the common motherland.

IN CEYLON CULTURE 07
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ENGLISH
l. Ancient Jaffna
by Mudalyar C. Rasanayagam
2. A Comprehensive History of India, Vol. II. by The Indian History Congress and The Bharatiya Itihas Parishad
3. Art and Architecture of india
by Benjamin Rowland 4. Bronzes from Ceylon, chiefly
in the Colombo Museum
by Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy
5. Buddhism and the Race Question
by G. P. Malalasekara & K. M. Jayatileka
6. Ceylon & Indian History
by Horace Perera and M. Ratnasabapathy
7. Ceylon Historical Quarterly, Vol. II. 8. Ceylon, Vol. II.
by Sir J. E. Tennant
9. Classical Sinhalese Sculpture
by D. T. De vendra
10. Culavamsa, Vol. II.
by Geiger
ll. Development of Art in Ceylon
by Kalaipulavar K. Navaratnam

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108
2.
3.
4.
15.
16.
18.
19.
20.
2.
22.
23.
24.
TAMIL ELEMENT
Dravidian India
by T. R. Sesha Iyengar, M. A.
Early History of Ceylon
by Dr. G. C. Mendis History and Culture of the Indian People, Vol. I.
Bharatya Vidya Bhavan History of Indian and Indonesian Art by Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy
History of the Tamils
by P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar, M. A.
Indian Architecture, Vol. I. by Percy Brown Influence of Tamil on
Sinhalese Literature (Miss) by N. Subramaniam
Journal, Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon)
Vols. XII & XXXI.
Mahavansa
by Geiger Mediaeval Sinhalese Art
by Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy
Mysticism, East and West by Rudolf Otto
Origin and Spread of the Tamil
by Prof. V. R. Dikshitar, M. A.
Origin of Saivaism and its
History in the Tamil Land
by K. R. Subramaniam, M. A.

IN CEYLON CULTURE 109
25.
26.
27.
34A
35.
36.
37.
Origin of the Sinhalese Language
by Mudalyar W. F. Gunawardhana
Pattinapalai (Translation)
by J. V. Chelliah, M. A.
Ramayana, (Translation)
by M. N. Dutt, M. A.
. Sinhalese Folk Play
by Dr. Sarath Chandra
Sinhalese Social Organization
by Ralph Peiris
Sketches in Ceylon History
by P. Arunasalam, M. A., C. C. S.
Society in Mediaeval Ceylon
by Dr. A. B. Aryapala
South Indian Bronzes
by O. C. Gangoly
Story of Sinhalese Painting
by D. B. Dhanapala
Studies in Proto-Indo-Mediterranean
Culture, Vol. I.
by Rev. Fr. H. Heras, M. A,
Stupa in Ceylon
by S. Paranavitana
Survey of Indian History
by Dr. K. M. Pannikar
Tamil Culture. Vols. 1 & 3

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10 TAMIL ELEMENT
38. Tamilian Antiquary, Vol. II. No 1. 39. The Ceylon National Review, July, 1906
40. The Laws and Customs of the
Tamils of Ceylon
by H. W. Tambiah, B.Sc., LL.B.
4. The Pandyan Kingdom
'd bp Prof. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, M. A.
42. The People of Ceylon
by Dr. N. D. Wijesekara 43. The Story of Civilization;
Our Oriental Heritage by Will Durant
44. Traditional Sinhalese Culture
Symposium edited by Ralph Peiris 45. Tree Worship or Ophiolatry
by G. Subramaniampillai, M. A. 46. University of Ceylon Review,
Vol. XIV. Nos. 3 & 4
47. Yalpana Vaipavamalai (Translation)
by Britto
TAMIL
1. Buddhism and Tamil
by Mailai Seeni Venkatachalam
Manimekalai
2. 3. Pulavar Charitram 4
. Pura Nanooru

IN CEYLON CULTURE
5.
6 7. 8. 9
Silappadikaram
by K. Kumaraswamy Pulavar
Thevaram Thiruvasagam Tholkappiam
Yalpana Charitram
by Mudalyar C. Rasanayagam

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