In the beginning, the mosque had a capacity of a congregation of about 1,500 devotees (Rajapakshe, 2018). In 1975, it was expanded allowing a congregation of about 10,000 devotees to pray at the mosque at any given time (Rajapakshe, 2018).
Buddhism and Sri Lanka
According to Sri Lankan chronicles, Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century B.C. by Arhant Mahinda, during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa.
Sri Lankan Inscriptions
The earliest trace of epigraphy in South Asia is said to be found in Sri Lanka. A piece of pottery, dated to circa the 4th century B.C. has been discovered from the Anuradhapura citadel.
Architecture of Sri Lanka
The architecture of Sri lanka has a long history and shows diversed forms and styles, mainly infuenced by their religions and traditional beliefs.
Sri Lankan Antiquities
Inherited from the past, Sri Lanka has a large number of antiques with cultural and historical significance which reflects the glory of past era.
Visit Sri Lanka
Located in the northern waters of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka is an island blessed with a large number of attractons which has made the country an ideal destination for the tourism.
Friday, 21 September 2018
Jami-Ul-Alfar Mosque
In the beginning, the mosque had a capacity of a congregation of about 1,500 devotees (Rajapakshe, 2018). In 1975, it was expanded allowing a congregation of about 10,000 devotees to pray at the mosque at any given time (Rajapakshe, 2018).
Tuesday, 18 September 2018
Sri Dharmendrarama Viharaya, Mayadunna
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For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map
Monday, 17 September 2018
Gal Potha Stone Inscription
Galpota slab inscription of Nissankamalla
Reign: Nissankamalla (1187-1196 A.D.)
Period: 12th century A.D.
Language: Medieval Sinhala mixed with Sanskrit
Transcript: Sri Dhrmas soyam sarbba lok-aika- manyas - sreyo - dayi sarbba - da raksaniyah bhupalendran yacate kirtti .....>>
Translation: Hail! This Dharma, which gives happiness and which alone deserves to be honoured by the whole world......>>
Citation: Wickremasinghe, 1928
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2) Gal Potha 05 by Cherubino is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
පොළොන්නරුව ගල්පොත
ගල්පොත යනුවෙන් හඳුන්වනු ලබන දැවැන්ත ශිලාමය පුවරු ලිපිය ශ්රී ලංකාවේ පොළොන්නරුව පුරාණ නගරයෙහි හැටදාගෙය නැගෙනහිර පිටත පවුර සහ සත්මහල් ප්රාසාදය අතර දැකගත හැකිවේ.
පොළොන්නරුව නිශ්ශංකමල්ල රජු (ක්රි.ව. 1187-1196) විසින් කරවනු ලැබූ දීර්ඝතම ශිලා ලේඛනය මෙය ලෙස සැළකේ. දිග අඩි 26යි අඟල් 8ක් හා පළල අඩි 4යි අඟල් 7ක් (සාමාන්යය) වන සෙල්ලිපිය මෙතෙක් සොයාගෙන තිබෙන විශාලතම ශිලා ලේඛන අතුරින් එකකි. පුවරුවෙහි සුමට කරන ලද ඉහළ මුහුණතෙහි කොටවා ඇති සෙල්ලිපිය කොටස් 3කට බෙදා තිබේ. පේලි 72කින් සමන්විත වන මෙහි අක්ෂර 4300කට වඩා වැඩි ප්රමාණයක් ඇත. ශිලා ලේඛනය සහිත ගල් පුවරුව ගඩොල් වේදිකාවක් මත රඳවා තිබූ බවටත් එහි ආරක්ෂාවට පියස්සක් තිබූ බවටත් සාධක පවතී. මෙහි ඇති අකුරු සඳහා ලෝහමය දියරයක් පුරවා තිබෙන්නට ඇතැයි විශ්වාස කෙරේ.
ශිලා පුවරුවෙහි දෙකෙලවර පැති මුහුණත් දෙකෙහි ඇතුන් දෙදෙනෙකු විසින් පිරිවරන ලද පුෂ්ප දරාසිටින කාන්තා රුවක් දැකගත හැකිවන අතර ඇය ගජලක්ෂ්මී දෙවඟන ලෙස හඳුනාගැනේ. සෙල්ලිපියෙහි දක්වා ඇති ආකාරයට මෙම දැවැන්ත ගල් කුට්ටිය සෑගිරියේ (වත්මන් මිහින්තලේ - පොළාන්නරුව සිට කි.මී. 70ක් පමණ දුරින් පිහිටි) සිට ගෙනැවිත් තිබෙනුයේ අධිකාර තොටදනවු මන්ද්නාවන් ප්රමුඛ නිශ්ශංකමල්ල රජුගේ ශක්තිමත් පුරුෂයන් විසිනි. කෙසේනමුදු, මුලර් හා වික්රමසිංහ වැනි වියතුන්ගේ මතය අනූව මෙම දැවැන්ත ගල් කුට්ටිය මෙහි ගෙන එන්නට ඇත්තේ සෑගිරිය සිට නොව සීගිරිය (පොළාන්නරුව සිට කි.මී. 28ක් පමණ දුරින් පිහිටි) සිට විය හැකිය.
ශිලා ලේඛනයෙහි දිනයක් සඳහන් නොවූවද එහි අන්තර්ගත කරුණු අනූව වියතුන් විසින් මෙම සෙල්ලිපිය නිශ්ශංකමල්ල රජුගේ නවවන රාජ්ය වර්ෂයට අයත් යැයි අදහස් දක්වා ඇත. නිශ්ශංකමල්ල රජුගේ පරපුර, වීරක්රියා, වගකීම්, හා පුණ්ය ක්රියා ආදිය මෙම සෙල්ලිපියෙහි විස්තර කෙරේ.
Sunday, 16 September 2018
Tamil Pillar Inscription of the reign of Vijayabahu VI, Colombo National Museum
"The culvert in question consists of three piers in the construction of which these ancient stones had been utilized. Some of the stones were embedded in the masonry and no accurate description of the antiquities is possible in their present condition. However, as far as could be observed, there were 32 pillars and 10 slabs besides various architectural fragments, such as mouldings, steps, etc. Of the pillars, 13 were plain square ones; eleven belonged to a type which is square at the base, octagonal in the middle and square again at the top, with no ornamentation. A third type, of which eight examples were found, was ornamented and was on the whole of a more elegant workmanship than the second type.A Tamil inscription was found on one of the pillars. It consisted on nine lines, of which the last one was completely, and the 6th and 7th partly, worn. My reading of this inscription is as follows:- ..........>><<..........The Vijayabahu of this inscription may be identified, on palaeographical grounds, with the seventh of that name whose reign, according to Codrington, extended from 1509 to 1521. The regnal year as well as the day of the month are doubtful; the figures in both cases being not very distinctly visible. The name of the person who gave this pillar to the temple is not completely preserved; all that we can say is that it ended in "rayan". He was probably a South Indian. As this inscription proves, these pillars and probably the other stones, too, belonged to a temple dedicated to Kandasvamy, the most popular of the deities worshipped by the Tamils of Ceylon".Citation: Pearson, 1930. pp.585-586.
Reign: Vijayabahu VI (1513-1521 A.D.)
Period: Late 15th or early 16th centuries A.D.
Language: Tamil
Transcript: Sri vicayavaku tevarku 3 itanukku etiravatu vaikaci 20.....>>
Translation: The 20th (day) of Vaikaci ( May- June), in the year opposite three of his Majesty Vicayavacu tevar......>>
Citation: Pathmanathan, 2005
Saturday, 15 September 2018
Rajagala Archaeological Site
Rajagala rock inscription mentioning Arittara vehera
Period: 8-10 centuries A.D.
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- Rajagala cave inscription of BuddhadattaPeriod: 2nd - 1st centuries B.C.Script: Early BrahmiLanguage: Old SinhaleseTranscript: Devanapiya maharajhasa Gamini Tisaha Puta Maha[yasajhaya upasi]ka Butadataya lene aga[ta ana]ga[ta catu] di[sa] sagasaTranslation: The cave of the female lay devotee Buddhadatta, wife of Mahaya, son of the great king Gamani Tissa, the friend of the Gods, [is given] to the Sangha of the four quarters, present and absent.
Notes : Lanjatissa is denoted by Maha ayaReference: Paranavitan, 1970.
- Rajagala cave inscription of ShamikaPeriod: 2nd - 1st centuries B.C.Script: Early BrahmiLanguage: Old SinhaleseTranscript: Devanapiya maharajhaha Gamini Tisaha Putaha Tisa ayaha jhaya upasika Samikaya leneTranslation: The cave of the female lay devotee Samika, wife of prince Tissa, son of the great king Gamani Tissa, the friend of the Gods.
Notes : Lanjatissa is denoted by Prince TissaReference: Paranavitana, 1970.
Rajagala rock inscription of Saint Mahinda
Script: Early Brahmi
Language: Old Sinhalese
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2) Dias, M, 2001. The growth of Buddhist monastic institutions in Sri Lanka from Brahmi inscriptions. Epigraphia Zeylanica, Vol. VIII. Department of Archaeology Survey. ISBN: 955-9264-04-4. p.48.
7) Paranavitana, S., 1970. Inscriptions of Ceylon: Volume I: Early Brahmi Inscriptions. Department of Archaeology Ceylon. pp.lx,33-35.
Friday, 14 September 2018
Maha Oya Hot Springs
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2) Premasiri, H.M.R., Wijeyesekera, D.S., Weerawarnakula, S. and Puswewala, U.G.A., 2006. Formation of Hot Water Springs in Sri Lanka. Engineer: Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka. p.7.
3) Widanagamage, I.H., 2011. EMPA dating of monazite from high grade metamorphic rocks along the Highland-Vijayan boundary zone, Sri Lanka. MSc thesis, Kent State University. pp.17-18
Saturday, 8 September 2018
Jetavanarama Gold Plates (Colombo National Museum)
Jetavanarama Golden Manuscript
Period: 9-10th century A.D.
Language: Sanskrit
Script: Sinhala
Location: Jetavanaramaya, Anuradhapura
Number of plates: 7 gold plates
Length & width: 62.7 cm & 2.9 cm
Reference: National Museum of Colombo
2) Dias, M, 2001. The growth of Buddhist monastic institutions in Sri Lanka from Brahmi inscriptions. Epigraphia Zeylanica, Vol. VIII. Department of Archaeology Survey. ISBN: 955-9264-04-4. pp.44-45.
3) Wikramagamage, C., 2004. Heritage of Rajarata: Major Natural, Cultural and Historic sites: Colombo. Central Bank of Sri Lanka. p.139.
Friday, 7 September 2018
Pujavaliya
Chapters of Pujavaliya
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1) Pǔjãsangraha Kathã
2) Abhinîhãra Magul Pǔjã Kathã
3) Vivarana Magul Pǔjã Kathã
4) Bodhisambhãra Pǔjã Kathã
5) Jãthibheda Pǔjã Kathã
6) Dwithîya Jãthibheda Pǔjã Kathã
7) Sãdhunãda Pǔjã Kathã
8) Prathisandhi Pǔjã Kathã
9) Prasava Mangala Pǔjã Kathã
10) Mahãbhinikman Pǔjã Kathã
11) Bõdhimandala Pǔjã Kathã
12) Sãdhunãda or Ayãchana Pǔjã Kathã
13) Isipathanãrãma Pǔjã Kathã
14) Vēluvanãrãma Pǔjã Kathã
15) Nigrõdharãma Pǔjã Kathã
16) Bhikshãtanãdi Adbhǔtha Pǔjã Kathã
17) Jēthavanãrãma Pǔjã Kathã
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18) Pǔrvãrãma Pǔjã Kathã
19) Namaskãrãdi Pǔjã Kathã
20) Asadrisha Mahãdãna Pǔjã Kathã
21) Gangã Rõhana Pǔjã Kathã
22) Divya Rãja Pǔjã Kathã
23) Yamaka Prãthihãrya Pǔjã Kathã
24) Pãndukambalãsana Pǔjã Kathã
25) Dēvõrõhana Pǔjã Kathã
26) Bhikshunî Sãsana Utpatti Pratipatti Pǔjã Kathã
27) Adãhana Pǔjã Kathã
28) Jivakãrãma Pǔjã Kathã
29) Samameth Noyek Jãthibheda Pǔjã Kathã
30) Jîvithadî Pǔjã Kathã
31) Prãtihãryadî Pratipatti Pǔjã Kathã
32) Uddēsika Pǔjã Kathã
33) Samyak Pratipatti Pǔjã Kathã
34) Lankadvipa Uddēsika Pǔjã Kathã
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2) Gnanawimala, K., 1997. Pujavaliya. Colombo. M. D. Gunasena. pp.iii-xxiii.
For a complete tourist map follow this link: Lankapradeepa Tourist Map
Thursday, 6 September 2018
Sinha Pokuna (Mihintale)
Naga Pokuna (Mihintale)
It is believed that both Nagacatukka and Nagasondi, refer to the same pond and the pond Nagasondi of King Aggabodhi I is a further development of the natural pond named Nagacatukka (Wikramagamage, 2004).
2) Wikramagamage, C., 2004. Heritage of Rajarata: Major natural, cultural and historic sites: Colombo. Central Bank of Sri Lanka. pp. 168-169.
3) Wickremasinghe, D.M.D.Z., 1912. Epigraphia Zeylanica: Being lithic and other inscription of Ceylon (Vol. I). London. Archaeological survey of Ceylon. p.82.
Sunday, 2 September 2018
Pitakotte Gal Ambalama
2) Manathunga, S. B., 2016. Pauranika Sthana Saha Smaraka: Kolamba Distrikkaya (In Sinhala). Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). ISBN: 955-9159-39-9. pp.89-90.
3) The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Extraordinary. no: 1823/73. 16 August 2013. p. 5A.
4) Wijewardana, A., Thilakawardana, A. E. L., Priyangani, S., 2011. Aithihasika Kotte (In Sinhala). Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka). ISBN: 978-955-9159-69-8. pp.21-22.