Parakramabahu II, also known as Panditha Parakramabāhu, was the King of

Dambadeniya Dambadeniya ''(DMBD)'' is a ruined ancient city situated in the North Western Province (Wayamba), Sri Lanka on the Kurunegala–Negombo main road. It served as the capital of Sri Lanka in the mid 13th century. Much of Dambadeniya still lies buried ...

in 13th century, whose reign lasted from 1236 to 1270. As a pioneer in

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, he was bestowed with the honorary title "Kalikala Sahitya Sarvagna Pandita". Parakramabahu's reign is notable for the creation of numerous Sinhalese literal works such as, Kausilumina, Pūjāvaliya, Pāli Vishuddḥi Mārgaya, Thūpavaṃsa and Sidhath Sangarāva. He launched a campaign against the Eastern Ganga invader

Kalinga Magha Kalinga Magha or Gangaraja Kalinga Vijayabahu (, , ) was an invader from the Kingdom of Kalinga (historical region), Kalinga who usurped the throne from Parakrama Pandyan II of Polonnaruwa in 1215. A massive migration followed of Sinhalese peop ...

, and successfully expelled him from Polonnaruwa Kingdom but Kalinga Magha continued to rule the Jaffna Kingdom. He succeeded his father

Vijayabahu III Vijayabahu III was the first King of Dambadeniya, who ruled from 1232- 1236. He was a member of the Sinhala Royal Family who began the Siri Sanga Bo dynasty, he was succeeded by his son Parakkamabahu II. Before he became the king of Dambadeniya, ...

as King of Dambadeniya, and was succeeded by his elder son, Vijayabahu IV, after his death.

Life before kingship

Parakramabahu II was born in Sirivardhanapura, as mentioned in the chronicle Pujavaliya, to king

Vijayabahu III of Dambadeniya Vijayabahu III was the first King of Kingdom of Dambadeniya, Dambadeniya, who ruled from 1232- 1236. He was a member of the Sinhala Royal Family who began the House of Siri Sanga Bo, Siri Sanga Bo dynasty, he was succeeded by his son Parakkamabahu ...

. Following Vijayabahu, this king is regarded as the second monarch of the

House of Siri Sanga Bo House of Siri Sanga Bo was a powerful dynasty which ruled parts of Sri Lanka from Vijayabahu III of Dambadeniya (1220–1224) until Rajasinha I of Sitawaka (1581–1591). Vijayabahu III of Dambadeniya routed Kalinga Magha's armies from Maya Ra ...

. According to a popular legend, the day after the birth of Parakramabahu II, his mother (also the chief royal consort of Vijayabahu III) died and the king remarried a

Muhammadan ''Mohammedan'' (also spelled ''Muhammadan'', ''Mahommedan'', ''Mahomedan'' or ''Mahometan'') is a term for a follower of Muhammad, the Islamic prophet. It is used as both a noun and an adjective, meaning belonging or relating to, either Muhamm ...

, and not long after, a son named Wattimi was born to the concubine. Amidst the objections by the

Buddhist monks A ''bhikkhu'' (, ) is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male, and female monastics (''bhikkhunī''), are members of the Sangha (Buddhist community). The lives of all Buddhist monastics are governed by a set of rules called the prātimo ...

and ministers of the

royal court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

, the concubine (the prince's mother) planned to kill prince Parakramabahu, the true heir to the Sinhalese throne, to let Wattimi proclaim kingship. Aware of the threat, the king secretly handed over prince Parakramabahu to a village resident through his ministers, and Parakramabahu grew up in the village, which is also thought to be the reason for his patronage of literature. After the death of Vijayabahu III, Wattimi usurps the throne of Dambadeniya, but his rule turns out to be unpopular, and the chiefs of the Sinhalese court soon lured him to a high place at Kurunegala threw him over the precipice. His tomb, in the hands of the Muhammadans, was venerated also by the Sinhala, to whom he is known as Gale Bandara. The royal elephant of the kingdom was used to trace Parakramabahu, as the ministers believed that the elephant would worship their true heir as an act of identification. This legend mentions that after searching throughout the village, the elephant recognized Parakramabahu, who was then fully grown-up as an adult and had forgotten his true

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...

. Parakramabahu II was crowned as the second king of Dambadeniya after the incident in 1236.

Reign in Dambadeniya and Campaign against Magha

Parakramabahu's first act after his

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

was to build a Temple of the Tooth in his kingdom. At the ceremony of depositing the

Tooth Relic of the Buddha The relic of the tooth of Buddha (Pali ''danta dhātuya'') is venerated in Sri Lanka as a sacred cetiya Śarīra, relic of the Lord Buddha, Buddha and primarily refers to the purported tooth at the Temple of the Tooth, but can also refer to the o ...

, he promised to save the country from the cruel invader named

(a.k.a. Gangaraja Kalinga Vijayabahu). Due to this, the people of the country, including the

, became very enlightened about Parakramabahu II. While preparing for the battle, the king had to face another invasion in his eleventh year (1244-1245), by a Javaka or Malay ruler named Chandrabhanu from the Tambralinga kingdom of Southeast Asia. The reason Chandrabhanu invaded Sri Lanka is uncertain, but historians suggest that he invaded the politically fragmented island in the aim of claiming the relic of the Tooth of the Buddha. Although Chandrabhanu's initial invasion of the country wasn't a success, he settled in the North of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

with an aim of re-invading the island. Parakramabahu II successfully pushed Kalinga Magha out of

Polonnaruwa Poḷonnaruwa, (; ) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in History of Sri Lanka, ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa District in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The modern town of Polonnaruwa is also known as New Town, ...

by 1244, Chandrabhanu fled to Jaffna kingdom and secured the throne from Kalinga Magha. The fate of Magha after his banishment remains unknown.

Malay invasions

Parakramabahu II had to face two Malay invasions in his reign; the first one occurred in 1244, led-by

Chandrabhanu Chandrabhanu (, ; died 1262) or Chandrabhanu Sridhamaraja was the King of Tambralinga Kingdom in present-day Thailand, Malaysia and Sumatra and the Jaffna Kingdom in northern Sri Lanka. A Javaka, he was known to have ruled from during the period ...

Tambralinga Tambralinga or Ho-ling was an Indianised Malay kingdom located on the Malay Peninsula (in modern-day Southern Thailand), existing at least from the 2nd to 13th centuries CE. It possibly was under the influence of Srivijaya for some time, but l ...

. The invasion was successfully repulsed. However, Chandrabhanu settled in the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

(present-day

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

) with an intent to re-invade

. He adopted the regnal name 'Srīdḥarmarāja' and re-constructed

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhism, Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat, khurul and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in B ...

s in the region. Although not mentioned in historical chronicles, there's solid evidence that a huge

Pandyan The Pandya dynasty (), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing sinc ...

invasion, launched by Sadayavarman Sundara, occurred sometime between the years 1254 and 1256. Dambadeniya wasn't much affected, but Chandrabhanu had to submit his territory of

to Pandya rule as a vassal. Despite the invasions, Chandrabhanu gathered a large army of Sinhalese and

Tamils The Tamils ( ), also known by their endonym Tamilar, are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. The Tamil language is o ...

and launched an invasion to the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

, but this time Parakramabahu II sided with the Pandyas and he was defeated and killed in the war. Panditha Parakramabahu was able to annex large parts of the North to his kingdom, while the region of

remained under the rule of Chandrabhanu's son,

Savakanmaindan Savakanmaindan (or Savakan Maindan, Saavanmaindan and Javakanmaindan; died 1277) was a monarch of the kingdoms of Tambralinga and Jaffna. He was the son of the Savakan king Chandrabhanu of Tambralinga of the ''Padmavamsa'' (lotus dynasty), Captur ...

Contributions to Sinhala literature

Parakramabahu II's reign is regarded as a

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

of Sinhalese literature, and Parakramabahu himself too was a patron in poetry and literature. He was popularly known as 'Kalikāla Sāhitya Sarvagna Paṇḍitha' or 'Panditha Parakramabahu'. The king's inspiration for

Sinhalese culture Sinhala may refer to: * Sinhala or Sinhala dvipa, another name of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people, an ethno-linguistic group native to Sri Lanka * Sinhala language, the native language of the Sinhalese people * Sinhala script, the writing system of ...

is thought to have sparked during his childhood in the village. The government under Parakramabahu II gave full

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

to works of

, and thus, Several major literal works such as, Kausilumina, Pūjāvaliya, Pāli Vishuddḥi Mārgaya, Thūpavaṃsa and Sidhath Sangarāva were published during the time. Anavamadarshin alias Anomadassi wrote the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

-language astrological treatise ''Daivajna-Kamadhenu'' during his reign.

Death

Having reigned for thirty-three years, Panditha Parakramabahu II abdicated in favor of his son Vijayabahu IV in 1269 and died around a year later, in 1270.

Dambadeniya after Parakramabahu II's reign

Parakramabahu II was succeeded by his son Vijayabahu IV. He was a very kind-hearted ruler, and made numerous contributions to

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. Thus, he was popularly known as Bosath Vijayabahu. Two years after his reign, a general named Mittha, who was about to become king, bribed a slave and had him assassinated. Historical chronicles state that Prince Bhuvanaikabahu, the younger brother of King Vijayabahu IV, then went to

Yapahuwa Yapahuwa (Sinhalese language : යාපහුව) was one of the ephemeral capitals of medieval Sri Lanka. The citadel of Yapahuwa lying midway between Kurunagala and Anuradhapura was built around a huge granite rock rising abruptly almost a ...

with the suspicion that he too would die. Then a valiant general named Dhakura, who had served King Vijayabahu, raised a question about his salary and cut off Mitta's head with his sword. Then he invited king Bhuvanaikabahu I to

and crowned him as the Sinhalese king. Bhuvanaikabahu I went to

, not long after his coronation and established the city as the

capital of Sri Lanka The current legislative capital of Sri Lanka is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte and the executive and judicial capital is Colombo. Over the course of the island's history, the national capital has been in several locations other than Sri Jayawardenepura ...

. It is said that during the last years of this king,

Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I () was a Pandyan emperor who ruled regions of South India between 1268–1308 CE, though history professor Sailendra Sen states he ruled until 1310. In 1279 CE, Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan ended the rule o ...

, who was the Pandyan emperor during the time, sent a Tamil minister named

Kulasekara Cinkaiariyan Kulasekara Cinkaiariyan (died 1284) is considered to be the first of the Aryacakravarti dynasty kings to establish his rule over the Jaffna Kingdom in modern Sri Lanka. According to a Sinhalese primary source Mahavamsa, a warlord named Aryaca ...

and plundered the villages in the North and abducted the

Tooth Relic The relic of the tooth of Buddha (Pali ''danta dhātuya'') is venerated in Sri Lanka as a sacred cetiya relic of the Buddha and primarily refers to the purported tooth at the Temple of the Tooth, but can also refer to the one believed to be at S ...

in Yapahuwa. To further establish

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

hard power In politics, hard power is the use of military and economics, economic means to social influence, influence the behavior or interests of other political bodies. This form of political power is often aggressive (coercion), and is most immediately ...

and influence in the region, Maravarman Kulasekara installed the Tamil minister Kulasekaran Cinkaiariyan, an Aryachakravarthi as the king of Jaffna. The line of kings started from this ruler evolved as the Aryachakravarthi dynasty which ruled

until

1619 Events January– March * January 12 – James I of England's Banqueting House, Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire."Fires, Great", in ''The Insurance Cyclopeadia: Being an Historical Treasury of Events and Circumstances Co ...

. After a nineteen-year interregnum, King Parakramabahu III was crowned as king of

. He maintained friendly relations with Kulasekara Pandyan, sent a personal

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

and persuaded him to return the Tooth relic. Parakramabahu III was the last Sinhalese monarch to use

as the country's capital. According to historical chronicles, Bhvanaikabahu II, the son of

Bhuvanaikabahu I of Dambadeniya Bhuvanaikabahu I was King of Dambadeniya in the 13th century, who ruled from 1271 to 1283. He succeeded his brother Vijayabahu IV as King of Dambadeniya and an Interregnum of 19 years is thought to have occurred after his death. His nephew Para ...

, moved the capital of

Kurunegala Kurunegala (, ; , ) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th ...

and continue to rule the country until the city was abandoned and the capital moved to

Gampola Gampola (, ) is a town located in Kandy District, in Sri Lanka's Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province. The town is governed by an Urban Council. Gampola was made the capital of the island by King Buwanekabahu IV, who ruled for four year ...

In popular culture

* The 2013 film, ''

Siri Parakum ''Siri Parakum'' () is a 2013 Sri Lankan Sinhala epic biographical film directed by Somaratne Dissanayake and produced by Renuka Balasooriya. It stars two newcomers Akila Dhanuddhara and Senali Fonseka in lead roles along with Bimal Jayakody and ...

'', emphasized the life of Parakkamabahu II until the beginning of his reign. Akila Dhanuddhara stars as Parakramabahu II in the film. The film was directed by

Somaratne Dissanayake Somaratne Dissanayake is a Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer. He was the Chairman of Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation and the president of the Film Makers Guild of Sri Lanka (FMG). He is the winner of the most nu ...

References

* Nishantha Joseph, Sujeewa. ''Sinhalese Kings''. Jayasinghe Book Publishers. .

Citations

External links

Kings & Rulers of Sri Lanka

Codrington's Short History of Ceylon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parakkamabahu 02 of Dambadeniya Monarchs of Dambadeniya Sinhalese poets House of Siri Sanga Bo P P