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Mahavamsa Part III
''Mahavamsa Part III'' is the title of a Sinhala language continuation of the Mahavamsa published in 1935 by Yagirala Pannananda, a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk. Written at the request of a Sinhala village leader but without official approval or support from the government, it describes the history of Sri Lanka from 1889 until 1935. History Yagirala Pannananda was approached in 1920 by a leader of the Sinhala ethnic community with a proposal to extend the ''Mahavamsa'' into the present day. Pannananda agreed, wanting not only describe the history of Sri Lanka under British colonial rule, but also to correct omissions in the '' Culavamsa'', the previous extension of the Mahavamsa composed by several different authors between the 5th and 19th Century. Pannananda's teacher, Hikkaduve Summagala, had been one of two monks commissioned by the British government to extend and translate the ''Culavamsa'' in 1889. While Pannananda's continuation of the Mahavamsa did not initially have an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinhala Language
Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also spoken as the first language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about 2 million people as of 2001. It is written using the Sinhala script, which is a Brahmic script closely related to the Grantha script of South India. Sinhala is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka. Along with Pali, it played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. The early form of the Sinhala language, is attested as early as the 3rd century BCE. The language of these inscriptions with long vowels and aspirated consonants is a Prakrit similar to Magadhi, a regional associate of the Middle Indian Prakrits that has been used during the time of the Buddha. The closest relatives are the Vedda language (an endange ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Steele Olcott
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (2 August 1832 – 17 February 1907) was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer, Freemason and the co-founder and first president of the Theosophical Society. Olcott was the first well-known American of European ancestry to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. His subsequent actions as president of the Theosophical Society helped create a renaissance in the study of Buddhism. Olcott is considered a Buddhist modernist for his efforts in interpreting Buddhism through a Westernized lens. Olcott was a major revivalist of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and he is still honored in Sri Lanka for these efforts. Olcott has been called by Sri Lankans "one of the heroes in the struggle of our independence and a pioneer of the present religious, national and cultural revival". Biography Olcott was born on 2 August 1832 in Orange, New Jersey, the oldest of six children, to Presbyterian businessman Henry Wyckoff Olcott and Emily Steele Olcott. As a child, Ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lankan Literature
Sri Lankan literature is the literary tradition of Sri Lanka. The largest part of Sri Lankan literature was written in the Sinhala language, but there is a considerable number of works in other languages used in Sri Lanka over the millennia (including Pāli, Tamil, and English). However, the languages used in ancient times were very different from the language used in Sri Lanka now. Up to the present, short stories are a very important part of Sri Lankan literature; the output of Sinhalese short story writers has elicited a greater measure of critical analysis. List of writers Sinhala writers Sinhala poets Essayists and non-fiction writers Sinhala playwrights Sinhala radio play writers Sri Lankan Tamil authors Sri Lankan Tamil poets * Neelaavanan Sri Lankan and Sri Lankan diaspora authors who write in English See also * Sri Lankan culture * Henry Parker, a British engineer who studied and compiled the oral literature Oral literature, orature or folk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Buddhism In Sri Lanka
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well as the memory, discovery, collection, organization, presentation, and interpretation of these events. Historians seek knowledge of the past using historical sources such as written documents, oral accounts, art and material artifacts, and ecological markers. History is not complete and still has debatable mysteries. History is also an academic discipline which uses narrative to describe, examine, question, and analyze past events, and investigate their patterns of cause and effect. Historians often debate which narrative best explains an event, as well as the significance of different causes and effects. Historians also debate the nature of history as an end in itself, as well as its usefulness to give perspective on the problems of the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Ceylon Period
The British Ceylon period is the history of Sri Lanka between 1815 and 1948. It follows the fall of the Kandyan Kingdom into the hands of the British Empire. It ended over 2300 years of Sinhalese monarchy rule on the island. The British rule on the island lasted until 1948 when the country regained independence following the Sri Lankan independence movement. Overview Periodization of Sri Lanka history: Background Portuguese an Dutch presence The first Europeans to visit Ceylon in modern times were the Portuguese: Lourenço de Almeida arrived in 1505, finding the island divided into seven warring kingdoms and unable to fend off intruders. The Portuguese founded a fort at the port city of Colombo in 1517 and gradually extended their control over the coastal areas. In 1592 the Sinhalese moved their capital to the inland city of Kandy, a location more secure against attack from invaders. Intermittent warfare continued through the 16th century. Many Lowland Ceylonese were forced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Portuguese People
The Portuguese people () are a Romance nation and ethnic group indigenous to Portugal who share a common culture, ancestry and language. The Portuguese people's heritage largely derives from the pre-Celts, Proto-Celts ( Lusitanians, Conii) and Celts ( Gallaecians, Turduli and Celtici), who were Romanized after the conquest of the region by the ancient Romans. A small number of male lineages descend from Germanic tribes who arrived after the Roman period as ruling elites, including the Suebi, Buri, Hasdingi Vandals, Visigoths with the highest incidence occurring in northern and central Portugal. The pastoral Caucasus' Alans left small traces in a few central-southern areas. Finally, the Umayyad conquest of Iberia also left Jewish, Moorish and Saqaliba genetic contributions, particularly in the south of the country. The Roman Republic conquered the Iberian Peninsula during the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. from the extensive maritime empire of Carthage during the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siyam Nikaya
The Siam (also Siyamopali and Siyam) Nikaya is a monastic order within Sri Lankan Buddhism, founded by Upali Thera and located predominantly around the city of Kandy. It is so named because it originated within Thailand (formerly known in Sri Lanka as "Siyam Deshaya" and Europe as the "Kingdom of Siam"). The Siyam Nikaya has two major divisions ( Malwatta and Asgiriya) and five other divisions within these two major units. The Malwatta and Asgiriya chapters have two separate Maha Nayakas or chief Monks. History On the initiative of Ven. Weliwita Saranankara (1698–1778) the Thai monk Upali visited the Kingdom of Kandy in 1753 during the reign of Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Kandy (1747–1782), and there performed upasampada for a group of Kandyans. The Buddhist monastic order had become extinct thrice during the preceding five hundred years and was reestablished in the reigns of Vimala Dharma Suriya I (1591–1604) and Vimala Dharma Suriya II (1687–1707) as well. These reestabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amarapura Nikaya
Amarapura ( my, အမရပူရ, MLCTS=a. ma. ra. pu ra., , ; also spelt as Ummerapoora) is a former capital of Myanmar, and now a township of Mandalay city. Amarapura is bounded by the Irrawaddy river in the west, Chanmyathazi Township in the north, and the ancient capital site of Ava (Inwa) in the south. It was the capital of Myanmar twice during the Konbaung period (1783–1821 and 1842–1859) before finally being supplanted by Mandalay north in 1859. It is historically referred to as Taungmyo (Southern City) in relation to Mandalay. Amarapura today is part of Mandalay, as a result of urban sprawl. The township is known today for its traditional silk and cotton weaving, and bronze casting. It is a popular tourist day-trip destination from Mandalay. Etymology ''Amarapura'' comes from pi, Amarapura (), which means "The Immortal city".''amara'' = immortality; ''pūra'' = city. History Amarapura was founded by King Bodawpaya of the Konbaung Dynasty. He founded Amara ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ramanna Nikaya
''Ramanaa'' is a 2002 Indian Tamil-language vigilante action film written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss, stars Vijayakanth, Ashima Bhalla and Simran in lead roles. The film is about a man named Ramana who decides to abolish corruption completely with the help of his ex-students who are working in various government offices. The film released on 4 November 2002. It received positive reviews from critics and became a superhit. It was awarded the 2002 Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film and A. R. Murugadoss won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Dialogue Writer. The film was dubbed and released in Hindi as ''Mar Mitenge 3'' in 2015. Plot ''Ramanaa'' begins with the abduction of 15 Tahsildars. After three days in captivity, 14 officers are released, but one is murdered. The police find a tape recording and a file on the dead officer's body that provide significant evidence concerning the kidnapping and subsequent murder. The file suggests that the crimes were co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahavihara
Mahavihara () is the Sanskrit and Pali term for a great vihara (centre of learning or Buddhist monastery) and is used to describe a monastic complex of viharas. Mahaviharas of India A range of monasteries grew up in ancient Magadha (modern Bihar) and Bengal. According to Tibetan sources, five great mahaviharas stood out during the Pāla period: Vikramashila, the premier university of the era; Nalanda, past its prime but still illustrious, Somapura, Odantapurā, and Jaggadala. The five monasteries formed a network; "all of them were under state supervision" and there existed "a system of co-ordination among them . . it seems from the evidence that the different seats of Buddhist learning that functioned in eastern India under the Pāla were regarded together as forming a network, an interlinked group of institutions," and it was common for great scholars to move easily from position to position among them. Nalanda The famous Nalanda Mahavihara was founded a few centuries earlier ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Turnour
George Turnour Jnr, CCS (1799–1843) was a British colonial administrator, scholar and a historian. A member of the Ceylon Civil Service, he served as a Government Agent, Assistant Colonial Secretary and Treasurer of the Colony. He is known for his translation of the Mahavamsa, the Great Chronicle of Sri Lankan history which was published in 1837. Along with James Prinsep and Captain Edward Smith, he began to decipher the inscriptions on the first discovered Pillar of Ashoka. Early life Born in Ceylon on 11 March 1799, his father was the Honorable George Turnour Snr, the son of the British politician Edward Garth-Turnour, 1st Earl Winterton. George Turnour Snr came to India joining the Bengal Native Infantry as an ensign. He landed in Ceylon in 1783 with the 73rd Regiment. In 1795, he was appointed Fort Adjutant of the Jaffna Fort and later made Commandant of the Mannar Fort in 1797. He married Emilie de Beaussett, niece of Cardinal Duc de Beaussett. In 1799, Lieutenant Turno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helena Blavatsky
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She gained an international following as the leading theoretician of Theosophy. Born into an aristocratic family of Russian-German descent in Yekaterinoslav, then in the Russian Empire (now Dnipro in Ukraine), Blavatsky traveled widely around the empire as a child. Largely self-educated, she developed an interest in Western esotericism during her teenage years. According to her later claims, in 1849 she embarked on a series of world travels, visiting Europe, the Americas, and India. She also claimed that during this period she encountered a group of spiritual adepts, the " Masters of the Ancient Wisdom", who sent her to Shigatse, Tibet, where they trained her to develop a deeper understanding of the synthesis of religion, philosophy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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