This was an additional study done for Indian Buddhism (2nd semester of 2014), taught by Dr. Julia Estève. This part was not discussed in the class, so it was assigned as a self-study. The work is a historical report in form. The main source used is H. R. Perera’s Buddhism in Sri Lanka: A Short History. I put this writing here because I find it useful when we need to grasp a quick picture of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. I have not rechecked the data used here, particularly figures and years. So, do not seriously cite this article. Please refer to the source mentioned.
This writing is the outcome of my self-study about Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Because of the limitation of materials used and the vast scope of the subject, it looks more like a historical summary with some reflections, not an analytical essay concerning the subject. The main focus of this writing is about history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka from the first arrival to the first half of the twentieth century, only some important events will be taken into account. I will structure my narration chronologically in order to draw a relevant timeline as presented at the end.
Sri Lanka before the advent of Buddhism
According to the early chronicles of Sri Lanka, a prince named Vijaya and his followers who came from India and landed in Lanka on the day of the Buddha’s passing away were the first human dwellers of this island. The former inhabitants in the island were not human beings, says the legend; they were yakkhas and nāgas. Modern historians regard this account as the Aryanization of Sri Lanka in the sixth century BCE. The non-human occupants may be the aboriginal tribes who lived by hunting.
Before the introduction of Buddhism in the reign of King Devānampiya Tissa (250–210 BCE), there was no single religion that was widely accepted as the national religion. There was a wide range of religious beliefs and practices, and people seem to have freely observed their religion according to their beliefs. A noteworthy feature of the pre-Buddhist religion of Sri Lanka is that it was a mixture of the aboriginal cults and the beliefs of the Aryan newcomers.
A widely prevalent belief of the native people is the worship of yaksas and yaksinis that are held by modern scholar as the spirits of the dead relatives and tribal chiefs. This belief, as is widely known, formed one of the main features of the primitive religion and is extant even today. The new kinds of belief that came with the Aryan are Jainism, Ājivaka, Brahmanism, and some wandering mendicant monks. The brahmans, ones who believe in Brahmanism, occupied a high place in society and their religious beliefs were also respected. At that time, Buddhism was well-established in India, but only some monks came to the island, so it was not widely known.
The advent of Buddhism
When Devānampiya Tissa, who was Asoka’s friend, became king in 250 BCE, he sent envoys to Asoka. The envoys returned the message that Asoka held Buddhism as his belief. Asoka also sent Mahinda, his son who was a Buddhist monk, accompanying with other monks to establish Buddhism in Lanka. Devānampiya Tissa accommodated the Sangha in the royal park Mahāmegha in Anurādhapura. This park became Mahāvihāra monastery, the earliest celebrated center of the Buddhist religion.
At the request of the king and many women who desired to enter the Order, Sanghamittā, the sister of Mahinda Thera, who had entered the Order as a bhikkhunī, was sent out to Lanka for founding the Bhikkhunī Sangha. Along with Sanghamittā came the branch of the Sacred Bodhi Tree under which the Lord Buddha attained enlightenment. Under the guidance of Mahinda and Sanghamittā, Buddhism in Lanka had been deep-rooted there ever since.
Changes and Schisms
After Devānampiya Tissa died, King Uttiya succeeded. He continued supporting Buddhism. Both Mahinda and Sanghamittā died in his reign. After Uttiya died, Tamil invaders from South India seized Anurādhapura for sixty-six years. Dutthagāmani Abhaya seized the power back and reigned for twenty-four years. Dutthagāmani was a zealous follower and supporter of Buddhism. He built Ruvanveli-sāya, the most celebrated stupa in Sri Lanka, and Lohapāsāda with nine stories and nine hundred chambers for the use of the monks.
In 103 BCE, Vattagāmani Abhaya, the fourth successor of Devānampiya Tissa, accessed to the throne. Five months later, a brahman named Tiya (or Tissa) from Ruhuna, South Lanka, revolted against him. At the same time Tamil army led by seven Tamil chiefs waged war against the king. The Tamil army defeated both Tiya and Vattagāmani in battle after which the latter fled and lived in exile for fourteen years. These fourteen years of Tamil domination were disastrous, because the country was also ravaged by an unprecedented famine during that period. Food was so scarce that many thousands of monks and laymen died of starvation. The monasteries were deserted. The Mahāvihāra of Anurādhapura was completely abandoned.
As a result of the death of most of the learned monks, there was the fear that some parts of the scriptures would be lost. The monks, despite scarcity of their living, recited the scriptures, lest they would forget them. They preserved the texts and the commentaries until the misery was over.
After Vattagāmani Abhaya regained the throne, he built a Buddhist monastery called the Abhayagiri-vihāra over a Jain monastery for Kupikkala Mahā Tissa who had helped him in exile. Later, the monks of the Mahāvihāra imposed the punishment of expulsion on Tissa on the charge of improper contact with lay families. Tissa’s pupil Bahalamassu Tissa, who resented the punishment imposed upon his teacher, was likewise expelled. He then went away with a following of five hundred monks and lived with his teacher at Abhayagiri-vihāra. This is the first schism in Lanka. However, the both vihāras did not yet disagree with each other either in the theory or the practice.
The actual schism occurred only when monks of the Vajjiputta sect in India came to Lanka and were received at the Abhayagiri, not long after Tissa and his followers occupied that monastery. Tissa and his followers liked the new monks and adopted their doctrines, but the Mahāvihāra monks opposed them as unorthodox and heretical. From this time the Abhayagiri existed as a separate sect opposed to the Mahāvihāra.
Writing down the Canon
The members of the Order considered that they could lose the teachings if any similar calamity were to occur in the future, and they decided to preserve these teachings by writing them onto palm leaves. The schisms about this time might be another reason of this decision. Thus the members of the Order assembled at the Mahāvihāra at Anurādhapura, took counsel together, and with the permission and encouragement of the king a convention was held. The Pali canonical texts (the Tipitaka) consisting of Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidhamma, and the Sinhalese commentaries were recited and written down.
Since the Pali Canon and Sinhalese commentaries were written down, exegetical works in Sinhalese was added from time to time and during the next five hundred years literary activity progressed considerably. When King Mahānāma reigned at Anurādhapura in 410 AD, the fame of Buddhist literature in Sri Lanka was well recognized throughout India, China and other countries. Monks from India and China also visited Anurādhapura during this time to procure Buddhist books. At this time a monk named Buddhaghosa, a former brahman from Buddha Gayā, by an advice from his teacher proceeded to Sri Lanka and stayed at Mahāvihāra. When he asked for an access to the compilation of commentaries, he was tested by composing a treatise, and here came the well-known Visuddhimagga. From the Sinhalese sources, then Buddhaghosa compiled Pali commentaries which were passed down to us nowadays while Sinhalese commentaries gradually went out of vogue and were completely lost after the tenth century. Buddhaghosa’s activities gave an impetus to the learning of Pali in Sri Lanka which resulted in the production of many other Pali commentaries and other literary works, and also established the pre-eminence of Sri Lanka as the home of Theravāda Buddhism.
Political Unrest and the Decline of Buddhism
The political situation in Sri Lanka from about the middle of the fifth century until the third quarter of the eleventh century was not favorable towards the progress of Buddhism. This period of Sri Lankan history is marked with continuous warfare between the reigning king and his rival or the foreign invaders. Often when the reigning king was defeated in battle he fled to India and came back with a Tamil troop to regain his lost throne, and as a result the Tamils who thus settled down in Sri Lanka from time to time also became an important element even powerful enough to seize political power for themselves.
The situation evidently did not give the rulers an opportunity to work for the religion and as a result the community and the monasteries were neglected. The Pandya and the Chola invaders from South India who also attacked Sri Lanka several times during this period ransacked the monasteries and carried away vast treasures. These conditions necessarily worsened when Sri Lanka passed into the hands of the South Indian Cholas in 1017 and remained a part of the Chola Empire until 1070.
Vijayabāhu I and the Revival of Buddhism
In the year 1070 Vijayabāhu I succeeded in defeating the Cholas and becoming the king of Sri Lanka. He made the capital of his kingdom at Polonnaruwa. The great religious edifices which were in utter destruction were restored and new ones were built. But the greatest of his tasks was the restoration of ordination of monks. When he found that there were not enough monks in the whole island to carry out an ordination ceremony, he sent an embassy to King Anuruddha of Burma to ask for his help in restoring Buddhism in Sri Lanka. This is the first time that Sri Lanka switched its focus away from India to Southeast Asia. The king also brought about a reconciliation of the three Nikāyas of the Mahāvihāra, Abhayagiri and Jetavana and restored their ancient monasteries to them. Thousands of laymen joined the Order. The religious revival inaugurated by King Vijayabāhu led to a great intellectual re-awakening and a large number of religious literary works in Pali and Sanskrit were written.
Parākramabāhu the Great
King Parākramabāhu the Great (1153–1186) ascended the throne after a great struggle with his rival. He was able to restore order and conquered foreign lands including parts of South India and Burma. He rebuilt the city of Polonnaruwa and restored the ancient capital city of Anurādhapura. The king also purified and unified the Sangha. He was convinced that the teachings of the Mahāvihāra sect were correct and their claims were in keeping with the Dhamma. So he made investigations into the members of the schismatic schools. Many of the unworthy monks were persuaded to leave the Order and those who were not open to persuasion were expelled. Some monks were made to return to novices. After that the Mahāvihāra, the Abhayagiri-vihāra, and the Jetavana-vihāra united.
The Decline after Parākramabāhu I and Restoration by Parākramabāhu II
After the death of Parākramabāhu the Great, there was much internal disturbance in the country. As a result Buddhism was on the decline again. In 1214 a foreigner named Megha invaded, defeated the Sinhalese ruler and reigned for 36 years (1215–1251). His reign was one of the most disastrous for Buddhism, for he plundered the monasteries and made them for his soldiers to dwell in. The situation was temporarily saved by Parākramabāhu II, who ruled from Dambadeniya from 1236 while Megha was still dominating north Lanka. Parākramabāhu II made efforts to restore the Sāsana by bringing over monks from the Chola country in South India and holding a festival to admit monks to the higher ordination. He established several monasteries and encouraged learning. He also found a system for governing the Sangha by dividing into village dwellers and forest dwellers. The religious revival brought about by Parākramabāhu II continued until about the fifteenth century, though there was not much political stability in the country during that period. The outstanding feature of the period is the compilation of a large number of religio-literary works.
As a result of this religious revival, the reputation of the Sangha in Sri Lanka became so well established that in the year 1476 King Dhammaceti of Burma decided to send twenty-two selected bhikkhus to Lanka to obtain ordination and bring back to Burma the traditions of Lanka.
The Arrival of the Portuguese and the Persecution of Buddhism
The political stability that was maintained by Parākramabāhu II and his successors until about the fifteenth century began to weaken by the end of that century. At this time the Sinhalese king who ruled at Kotte was the head of a very small territory. The interior regions of the country were in the hands of several petty chiefs who did not care about the religion or the welfare of the people.
The Portuguese arrived in Colombo in 1505 and gradually occupied all maritime provinces. The Portuguese were accounted by historians as cruel, inhuman, rapacious, bigoted and savage persecutors of Buddhism in their endeavor to impose their own faith (Roman Catholicism) on the people of Sri Lanka. People who wished to obtain high offices under them and who wished to earn the goodwill of those in power readily adopted the new faith and took up new Biblical names. Others who hesitated to give up their national faith and showed resistance were brutally punished. Those who dared to worship in public or wear the yellow robe were put to death. Buddhist monasteries and institutions were destroyed and their treasures looted. Libraries were set on fire. Thus did the period of Portuguese rule become one of the darkest periods of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.
Rājasinha I, Vimala Dharmasuriya, and the Arrival of the Dutch
There was also a Singhalese king who turned to be an enemy of Buddhism. King Rājasinha I (1581–1592) became a follower of the Saivites. During his reign, the chief Buddhist elder was stoned to death, and many other monks were buried neck-deep in the earth and their heads plowed off. Some others were put to the sword. The sacred edifices and the monasteries were pulled down, and the sacred books were reduced to ashes. The lands which had been endowed in earlier times to the monastic establishments were taken away. The Sacred Footprint of the Buddha on Adam’s Peak was handed over to the Saivites.
In 1592, Rājasinha died. Vimala Dharmasuriya I, ascended the throne at Kandy, and ruled for twelve years. Although he was educated by the Portuguese, the king soon after his accession turned against them to recover Buddhism. Several Buddhist monuments were restored. Finding that there was hardly a single properly ordained monk left in the country, Vimala Dharmasuriya sent an embassy to the country of Arakan (now part of Burma) to obtain monks for restoring ordination in Sri Lanka. The control of The Sacred Footprint was taken back from the Saivites to Buddhist monks.
In 1602 the Dutch visited the court of Kandy in the reign of Vimala Dharmasuriya I for seeking an alliance. In 1612 a treaty was agreed upon between the Dutch and King Senarat, the successor of Vimala Dharmasuriya I. In 1638 King Rājasinha II, the successor of Senarat sought Dutch assistance against the Portuguese. From that time the two European nations fought each other until in 1658 the Portuguese were expelled from the country and the Dutch came to occupy the regions formerly occupied by the Portuguese. They remained in possession until 1796, in which year they were ousted by the British.
The Dutch, whose religion was Protestant Christianity, followed a different policy concerning the native religion. Extension of commerce was their main concern, so they treated Buddhism more friendlily than the Portuguese. They even assisted the Sinhalese in two embassies to Siam which were sent to obtain monks to establish higher ordination in Sri Lanka.
The Arrival of the British and the End of Sinhalese Rule in Sri Lanka
In 1796, during the reign of Rājādhi Rājasinha, the British defeated the Dutch in battle and occupied their territories. Sir Frederick North was sent as the first British governor. In January 1815, a British army marched to the capital city of Kandy and took the Sinhalese king captive. On the 2nd of March 1815, the king was deposed and his dominions were vested in the British Crown. As the result, the 2301-year-old line of the Buddhist kings of Lanka since the accession of Vijaya in 486 BCE ended.
From the beginning of the period of British rule, several Christian missionary bodies engaged themselves actively in missionary activities in Sri Lanka. These missionary bodies received every encouragement and assistance from the government. The establishment of missionary schools in various parts of the island was one of the principal undertakings of these missionary bodies. The schools attracted large numbers of Buddhist children because they were the centers where young men were trained for high government offices. Education from Buddhist monasteries was outdated. In missionary schools, each student was required to learn the Christian religion and to participate in the morning and evening religious services in the school. The lessons imparted to these children were arranged with a view that undermined their Buddhist religion. The teaching of the Buddha was criticized and condemned and the Buddhist practices were ridiculed. Buddhism was held up as a religion of the vulgar masses as opposed to the Christianity of civilized people.
Mohottiwatte Gunānanda Thera and the Buddhist Re-awakening
When the Christian missionaries were active in towns and villages propagating their gospel and converting the Buddhists to their faith, the Buddhist monks were not able enough to offer much resistance. About 1860, a young Buddhist novice named Mohottiwatte Gunānanda, who was well versed in the Buddha’s teachings and the Christian scriptures, challenged the Christian missionaries to meet him in open-debate. This resulted in three public controversies, one at Udanvita in 1866, another at Gampola in 1871, and the last at Panadura in 1873. The controversy ended with victory for the Buddhists.
Colonel Olcott
In 1875, Henry Steele Olcott, an American colonel, gave up all worldly fortunes and together with Madame Blavatsky formed the Theosophical Society for the quest of truth in all religions. Having read the report of the Panadura controversy, Olcott realized the importance of the teachings of the Buddha. In 1880 he came over to Lanka along with Madame Blavatsky to gain a first-hand knowledge of Buddhism. Under Olcott’s guidance and leadership, and with the support of all the leading Buddhist monks, the lay Buddhist leaders in Sri Lanka at that time founded the Buddhist Theosophical Society on the 17th of June 1880.
Anagārika Dharmapāla and the Buddhist Cultural Revival
Anagārika Dharmapāla (1864–1933), formerly known as David Hewavitarana, was the eldest son of a leading businessman in Colombo. In 1883, as a result of a brutal assault on a Buddhist procession by a Catholic mob at Kotahena, Dharmapāla left his Catholic school and in the following year became a member of the Buddhist Theosophical Society in Colombo. At the age of 20 Dharmapāla obtained permission from his father to leave home and lead a celibate life, this was Anagārika came from.
Through his public speeches and numerous articles in newspapers and journals, Dharmapāla vehemently opposed the habit of imitating foreigners in religion, names and customs. In keeping with his preaching he himself changed his name from David to Dharmapāla. The people listened to his sermons, attentively read his articles in journals and newspapers, and were convinced of the truth of his philosophy. Gradually there came about a cultural revival. The people began to take pride in their religion, their language and their customs.
Independence of Sri Lanka and Buddha Jayanti
In 1948 Sri Lanka gained its independence from the British. Since then, there has been a revival of the Buddhist religion and culture in the country, and this reawakening was particularly noticeable when the Buddha Jayanti, the 2500th anniversary of the Buddha’s Parinibbāna—the half of the life-span of Buddhism according to the tradition, was celebrated in 1956.
Personal Reflections
Buddhism in Sri Lanka has colorful pictures since its arrival from India. It went through both high and low phases. At its highest point, Sri Lanka was a learning center of the Buddhist world as we have seen in the time of Buddhaghosa. At its lowest situation, a single monk could not be found in the country, only sāmaṇeras. One important thing that I learn from the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is the ebb and flow of Buddhism depends absolutely on political support. If the governors support religion, it will flourish. This is true in any tradition. But Buddhism also has its weak point. By nature of the Buddhist discipline, monks are not supposed to involve in political affair. According to the Vinaya, monks usually complied with governing power and state law, even though they were outside the economic and political sphere. That is the reason why Buddhism disappeared from India, its mother land. Once it was not needed by the rulers, it simply died out.
How about if people are still attracted to it? This makes things complicated, I think, because people always adapt religious doctrine in accordance with their understanding and the way of living. There might be no Buddhist religion in India at the time when it died out, but some Buddhist ideas had been cultivated already in the people’s mind. In other words, there was no religion labeled Buddhism, but some Buddhist ideas still remained. Thus we can say that with a Westernized colonial perspective on religion, there is Buddhism that comes and goes, ebbs and flows. Buddhism is more or less an institution here. But by the Eastern understanding of religion as the way of life, once the Buddha delivered his teaching, some of his ideas have been still there.
Timeline of Important Events
| Year |
Happenings |
| 486 BCE |
The arrival of Vijaya, the first Sinhalese ruler; death of the Buddha |
| 268 BCE |
Asoka was crowned |
| c.250 BCE |
Devānampiya Tissa became king; Mahinda, Sanghamittā, and Bodhi tree came to Lanka |
| 210 BCE |
Devānampiya Tissa died, King Uttiya succeeded |
| 202 BCE |
Mahinda Thera died |
| 201 BCE |
Sanghamittā Therī died |
| 200 BCE |
King Uttiya died |
| 180 BCE |
Sena and Guttika, the Tamil from South India, seized Anurādhapura |
| 158 BCE |
Elāra, another Tamil usurper, reigned |
| 114 BCE |
Dutthagāmani Abhaya seized the power back and reigned for 24 years |
| 103 BCE |
Vattagāmani Abhaya accessed the throne and was defeated by the Tamil |
| 89 BCE |
Vattagāmani Abhaya regained the throne |
| c.32 BCE |
The Pali Canon was written down |
| 410 |
King Mahānāma reigned; Buddhaghosa came to Lanka in his reign |
| c.450–1025 |
Political unrest |
| 1017 |
Sri Lanka was under control of Chola Empire |
| 1070 |
Vijayabāhu defeated the Chola and became king |
| 1110 |
Death of King Vijayabāhu |
| 1153 |
Parākramabāhu the Great reigned |
| 1186 |
Death of Parākramabāhu the Great |
| 1215 |
Megha invaded and ruled Lanka for 36 years |
| 1236 |
Parākramabāhu II reigned |
| 1476 |
King Dhammaceti of Burma sent monks to Lanka to fetch Buddhism |
| 1505 |
The Portuguese came to Lanka |
| 1581 |
King Rājasinha I reigned and persecuted Buddhism |
| 1592 |
Rājasinha I died, Vimala Dharmasuriya I ascended the throne |
| 1602 |
The Dutch arrived |
| 1658 |
The Portuguese were expelled from the country by help of the Dutch |
| 1796 |
The Dutch were ousted by the British |
| 1815 |
The Sinhalese sovereignty was ended by the British |
| 1873 |
Gunānanda Thera won a debate against Christian speakers at Panadura |
| 1880 |
Colonel Olcott and Madame Blavatsky came to Lanka; the Buddhist Theosophical Society was founded |
| 1933 |
Anagārika Dharmapāla died as a monk in India |
| 1948 |
Sri Lanka gained its independence from the British |
| 1956 |
Sri Lanka celebrated the Buddha Jayanti |
References
- Perera, H. R. 1988. Buddhism in Sri Lanka: A Short History. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.
- Robinson, Richard H. and Williard L. Johnson. 1997. The Buddhist Religion: A Historical Introduction, 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company. pp. 141–165.
Notes