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Buddhism was officially introduced to Sri Lanka in the third century
BC By thee powerful Indian King Asoka. However Lord buddha had visited
Sri Lanka Three times and preeched damma to the local tribes of Yaksha
and Naga.
According to the Mahavansa the Sri Lankan history chronicle, King
Asoka's son and emissary to Sri Lanka, Mahinda, introduced the One of
King Devanampiya Tissa (250-c. 207 BC) the teachings of Lord Budda.
King Devanampiya Tissa became a powerful patron of Buddhism and
established the Monastery of Mahavihara, which became the historic
center of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka.
Subsequent events also contributed to Sri Lanka's prestige in the
Buddhist World. It was on the island, for example, that the oral
teaching of the Buddha-the Triprtaka-was committed to writing for the
first time.Devanampiya Tissa was said to have received Buddha's right
collarbone and his revered alms bowl from Asoka and to have build the
Tuparama Dagaba, or stupa (Buddhist shrine), to honor these highly
revered relics. Another Relic, Buddha's sacred tooth, had arrived in
Sri Lanka in the fourth century AD.
The possession of the Tooth Relic came to be regarded as essential for
the legitimization of Sinhalese royalty. Some of the kings even went
to the extent of prefixing the 'Datha' to their names. Eg:
Dathopathissa, Dhathappabuthi, Dalamugalan etc., which clearly
indicates their close association of the sacred Tooth Relic. The
annual procession Perahera held in honor of the sacred Tooth Relic
serves as a powerful unifying force for the Sinhalese in the twentieth
century.
Asoka's daughter, Sanghamitta, is recorded as having brought to The
island a branch of the sacred Bo tree under which the Buddha attained
Enlightenment. According to legend, the tree that grew from this
branch is near the ruins of the ancient city of Anuradhapura in the
north of Sri Lanka. The tree is said to be the oldest living thing in
the world and is an object of great veneration. The connections
between religion, culture, language , and education and their combined
influence on national identity have been an age-old pervasive force
foe the Sinhalese Buddhists.
Devanampiya Tissa employed Asoka's strategy of merging the political
state with Buddhoism, supporting Buddhist Institutions from the
state's coffers, and locating temples close to the Royal palace for
greater control. With such patronage, Buddhism was positioned to
evolve as the highest ethical and philosophical expression of
Sinhalese culture and civilization. Buddhism appealed directly to the
Masses, leading to the growth of a collective Sinhalese cultural
Consciousness.
In contrast to the theological exclusivity of Hindu Brahmanism, the
Asokan Missionary approach featured preaching and carried the
principles of the Buddha directly to the common people. This
proselytizing had even greater success in Sri Lanka than it had in
India and could be said to be the Island's first experiment in mass
education. Buddhism also had a great effect on the literary
development of the island. The Indo-Aryan dialect spoken by the early
Sinhalese was comprehensible to Missionaries from India and
facilitated early attempts at translating the Scriptures. The
Sinhalese literati studied Pali, the language of the Buddhist
scriptures, thus influencing the development of Sinhala as a literary
language.
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