Scholar says there was road to Lanka
Deccan Chronicle (May 19, 2008)
Chennai, May 18: A Sinhala scholar's remark that Mahendra, son of
Emperor Asoka, reached the island nation by land from South India has
further substantiated the existence of Ram Sethu, the controversial
structure in the Indian Ocean. "Mahendra preached Buddhism in south
India for some time before embarking on his Sri Lanka mission. He had
toured entire South India before reaching the Island by road," said
Prof Tissa Kariyawasam, eminent Sinhala scholar and former dean of the
University of Jayawardenapura, Sri Lanka.
Prof Kariyawasam told this newspaper that "Mahavamsa," the great
chronicle of Buddhist history was silent about Mahendra's south India
mission. "The chroniclers wanted to give an aura of divinity to
Mahendra and hence they made his appearance in Sri Lanka look like a
miracle. In reality, he walked all the way from south India to Lanka
through the existing road route," said Prof Kariyawasam.
"The Buddhist scholars who chronicled all these events wanted to give
Mahendra the image of an Aryan missionary. The Buddhist history is
also silent about the migration from South India to Lanka. How is it
that no records were made about the people of south India which is
hardly 23 km away from Jaffna," asked Prof Kariyawasam who was in
Chennai to deliver the sixth Vesak Commemoration lecture.
According to Prof Kariyawasam, it was the change in the main political
agenda of the Sinhala politicians which led to the vitiation of the
Sinhala-Tamil relations. "There was no difference between the Sinhalas
and the Tamils during the British Raj. We could observe Buddha Purnima
as a national holiday because of the good work done by a Tamil leader
Ponnambalam Ramanathan. Though there were two Sinhala members in the
state council (equivalent of Parliament) in 1885, they looked the
other way when Mr Ramanathan fought for the Sihala cause," said the
professor. He charged that the ungrateful Sinhala politicians
conspired and ousted the Ponnambalam brothers Ramanathan and
Arunachalam from the state council in 1921. About a permanent solution
to the ethnic strife in Sri Lanka, Prof Kariyawasam said that peace
would return the day people in the country understand the ultimate
truth that there were no differences between them.
http://www.deccan.com/chennaichronicle/City/CityNews.asp?#Scholar says
there was road to Lanka
Scholar hints at existence of Ram Sethu
NewsByte 18 May, 2008 03:47:27 By OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Chennai, May 18: A Sinhala scholar's remark that Mahendra, son of
Emperor Asoka, reached the island nation by land from South India has
further substantiated the existence of Ram Sethu, the controversial
structure in the Indian Ocean.
"Mahendra preached Buddhism in south India for some time before
embarking on his Sri Lanka mission. He had toured entire South India
before reaching the Island by road," said Prof. Tissa Kariyawasam,
eminent Sinhala scholar and former dean of the University of
Jayawardenapura, Sri Lanka. Prof. Kariyawasam told this newspaper that
"Mahavamsa", the great chronicle of Buddhist history was silent about
Mahendra's south India mission. "The chroniclers wanted to give an
aura of divinity to Mahendra and hence they made his appearance in Sri
Lanka look like a miracle. In reality, he walked all the way from
south India to Lanka through the existing road route," said Prof.
Kariyawasam.
"The Buddhist scholars who chronicled all these events wanted to give
Mahendra the image of an Aryan missionary. The Buddhist history is
also silent about the migration from South India to Lanka. How is it
that no records were made about the people of south India which is
hardly 23 km away from Jaffna," asked Prof. Kariyawasam who was in
Chennai to deliver the Sixth Vesak Commemoration Lecture. According to
Prof. Kariyawasam, it was the change in the main political agenda of
the Sinhala politicians which led to the vitiation of the
Sinhala-Tamil relations. "There was no difference between the Sinhalas
and the Tamils during the British Raj."
http://howrah.org/india_news/12641.html
