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(PDF) Nagas & Tamil in Eastern Lanka Introduction by the Compiler It was in the Canadian winter of 1973 that, I, having completed my requirements for a Doctorate in Civil Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Canada, whereat my research was supported by a Commonwealth Scholarship, decided to visit places of historical and archaeological interest on my journey home to Sri Lanka. My first visit was to Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan. From there, the next visit was to Ayudhya, the ancient capital of Thailand where a dynasty of kings titled Ramas reigned and continues to reign. The next hop was to New Delhi. At that time, in India, a railway strike was brewing. The places that I could have visited were therefore limited. The Buddhist cave of Ajanta and the Hindu cave of Ellora were two that I did not miss. I also visited the Taj Mahal of Moghul fame. From the North of India I moved to the South, marveling at the Sri Nandi Temple in Chamundi Hills in Mysore and Mahabalipuram of Pallava fame in Tamil Nadu. I returned to Sri Lanka and thence to the Irrigation Department. While serving as an engineer in the Irrigation Department, I was also required to share my expertise with the Mahaweli Development Board. The Bowatenne Reservoir under the Mahaweli Scheme was then being constructed. An ancient Buddhist temple, partly in ruins called the Nalanda Gedige was going to be submerged by the Reservoir. This temple was built of limestone in 7 AD in Hindu Pallava style. The Archaeological Department was keen to re-erect the temple at the same location, but at a higher elevation. I was part of the team of officials of the Mahaweli Board, and the Irrigation and Archaeological Departments which was entrusted with the Task. It was on my considered advice; that a well compacted earthen platform was constructed to re-erect the temple. I was personally responsible to ensure the quality of compaction of the embankment platform. It was during this period that I got the acquaintance of the scholarly gentleman Dr.Roland Silva who later rose to be the Head of the Archaeological Department. He rekindled my interest in archaeological remains. He told me about the several Tamil inscriptions in a Buddhist monastery, then in ruins in Periyakulam in Trincomalee. He also told me about the Buddhist temple in Tiriyai and the Hindu temples in Padaviya as well. Thereafter, during the course of my field visits undertaken in the Irrigation Department, I made it a point to visit nearby centres 1 of archaeological interest. I visited Anuradhapura, Polonnnaruwa, Padaviya, Nallur et al. Later on, while holding the office of Secretary in the North-East Provincial Council, there came a time when my life and the lives of my family members were in danger. We had no choice other than to leave the country in 1990 and take refuge in India. While living in India, we were able to visit ancient temples, both Hindu and Buddhist, being Gaya, Buddha Gaya, Ayodhya, Varanasi, Kushinara, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Puri Jagannath, Konark Sun Temple, Kanchi and several others in India, and Lumbini in Nepal. A few, I visited alone, the others with my family. At the beginning of 1993, we moved out of India to South East Asia. I worked as a Specialist Engineer in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. We used this period to visit, in Java the Buddhist temple of Borobudur, the Hindu temples in Prambanan where there were massive temples to Siva, Vishnu and Brahma in the same complex. We also visited the volcanic Dieng plateau where separate temples to the five Pandavas and Draupathi had been erected when Java was under Hindu rule. We visited Bandung and Yogyakarta in Java and the Hindu Besakih temple in Bali. I did return to Sri Lanka in 1996. My family, having lived through periods of turmoil in Sri Lanka was reluctant to return to the country. Though my family and I went through the worst in our lifetime, I was sufficiently confident that the Hindus and Buddhists, who have had a shared past in the Island for centuries are capable of resolving their own problems. But, today, my confidence is eroding. I mention below three distinct incidents of the recent past to confirm my fears: (1) There was the case of the Sri Lanka Army pillaging in 1984 during the war, Tennamarawadi, the northernmost village of Trincomalee District, and chasing the 220 Hindu families away. Their Sri Ganesa temple was demolished and the statue of the deity was taken away by the Army. Now, after a lapse of nearly 30 years of enforced displacement, only around one-third of the earlier residents have returned. They have rebuilt their temple. Yet, the Army refuses to return the Ganesa statue to the people. The people were told to speak to a Buddhist monk living nearby. 2 (2) Stone inscriptions from the demolished Koneswaram temple containing Tamil letters had been erected in the Gateway to the Fort Frederick, sometime after the Portuguese demolished the temple, in the year 1624. These inscriptions cannot be seen anymore. They have been chipped off and coated by a few thick coats of water-proof paint on the orders of the then Government Agent, who was a retired General of the Sri Lanka Army. (3) The war in the East ended in 2007. The people of Sampur and nearby villages had their houses destroyed and had been chased into refugee camps in KIliveddi and Vakarai. However, the Badra Kali temple in Sampur was not damaged during the war. Following the war, the Sampur area was declared a High Security Zone and it was out of bounds to the public, except on Tuesdays. However, sometime in 2013, the temple was wantonly destroyed using heavy machinery, personally supervised by the very same Government Agent, a retired General of the Army. Obviously, only a few senior officials in the armed forces were responsible for these appalling deeds. May be, these officials believed that political issues could be resolved by transforming such issues into religious conflicts, particularly, Hindu- Buddhist conflicts, ignorant of the fact that ever since 250 BC, the Hindus and Buddhists have had a shared history on this Island. Yet, the Government has appointed a Task Force for the management of archaeological remains in the Eastern Province, dominated by former military officials. I doubt that such a Task Force will help in the process of Reconciliation. Further, many holding the steering wheel of the country are ignorant of the shared past of both the Hindus and Buddhists; I have compiled this Brochure with the intention of helping them to search their own hearts. I have fully reproduced the Preface to one of the books by a contemporary of mine at the University of Ceylon, Prof. S. Pathmanathan, along with selected pictures of archaeological monuments from Eastern Lanka, mainly, from his publications. “Hatred ceases not by hatred, but by love alone.” - Gautama Buddha. Eng. Dr.K.Vigneswaran Chairman, Akhila Ilankai Tamil Mahasabha Former Member of Parliament Former Secretary to the Chief Minister, North-East Province Former Senior Advisor to the Chief Minister of the Eastern Province. 3 Preface to the First Edition, published in Mach 2016, to the Book “History of the Tamils in Sri Lanka: The Nagas and Tamil in Eastern Sri Lanka (in Tamil)- Vol. I” by Prof. S.Pathmanathan There is an abundance of source material for the study of the Early History of Sri Lanka.. They are of a diverse character and could be classified into four broad categories, (1) The Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa and other Pali chronicles, (2) The monuments and other remains of the Early Iron Age Culture, (3) the Brahmi inscriptions written in a hybrid Prakrit, and (4) the Tamil Brahmi inscriptions that have remained unidentified until the dawn of the 21st century. The documentary evidence is in three languages: Pali, Prakrit and Tamil. The Pali chronicles, which had their origins in early Buddhist literature had developed into a dynastic history of the rulers of Anuradhapura, especially since the reign of Vatthagamini Abhaya. They record the events of each successive reign in a chronological framework with reference to the Buddha era. They record information about the royal family, constructional activities and political and military events that had an impact on the centre of dynastic power. Occasionally there are references to dignitaries and functionaries at the royal court. Both chronicles record authentic information except in some cases. There is a great divergence between the two chronicles in their accounts of Dutthagamini Abhaya. The Dipavamsa that was compiled in the fourth century AD and based on the early historical traditions records the events pertaining to Dutthagamini Abhaya in 14 verses. But in the Mahavamsa there are 11 chapters on him. It may be inferred that the descriptions in the Mahavamsa are based on accounts that were not found in the early monastic tradition of historical writing. In both chronicles the accounts about developments before the introduction of Buddhism are in the form of legends compiled from Jataka stories as demonstrated by G. C. Mendis during the mid-20th century. Because of this reason the study of the Proto History and Early History of the island are heavily dependent on archaeological sources. The Mahavamsa refers to two categories of Pre-Buddhist inhabitants, Yakkhas and Nagas. They could be identified respectively with the peoples of the Mesolithic and Early Iron Age (Megalithic) cultures. The Mesolithic Culture had prevailed in the Island for 28,000 years B.C. The introduction of the Early Iron 4 Age Culture from South India around 800 B.C.
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