Pulathisi Wamsa unveiled today

Nihal P. Jayathunga

The Pulathisi Vamsa - a legendary treatise based on the historical background of Polonnaruwa (Pulathisi Puravara), would be unveiled today, to coincide with the inauguration of the National Literary Arts Festival 2009

Chronicles are the richest source of information for the students of Sri Lankan history. Maha Wamsa and Chula Wamsa are the most reputed chronicles. They shed light on some aspects of history of the South Eastern countries as well.

Thus Prof. Gunapala Malalasekera, an illustrious scholar and philosopher, a member of the academic staff of the University of Peradeniya in its early period and also the first Chairman of the National Commission for Higher Education declared at a Convocation that if Maha Wamsa has not been written, the world would think we Sri Lankans are a nation of stupid people. Maha Wamsa provides eloquent testimony to the 25 centuries old proud history of Sri Lanka enriched with a rich culture.

The inscriptions found in the various parts of the country and the travelogues of Farhien, the Chinese Buddhist monk and Ibn Batuta have corroborated the historical facts mentioned in Maha Wamsa. This is ample testimony to the academic value and historical significance of this unique chronicle.

Maha Wamsa and similar chronicles contain the detailed descriptions of the significant events in Sri Lankan political and religious history.

The history of Buddha Sasana is depicted. Basically, they contain achievements of the monarchy as well as rapid descriptions of the natural disasters, foreign invasions and their impact, how people confronted the invasions and the heroic roles played by the rulers and the people in re-building the country after defeating the invaders. In short, the basis of the descriptions in a chronicals is ‘fivefold’, political, religious, cultural, economic and social.

There are various interpretations namely wamsa, denotes, story, dynasty, hierarchy and even the legend of a clan. In other words, the chronicle contains narrations of political, religious, cultural and economic activities. A commentary on Maha Wamsa is called Vansaththappakasim (1977/111) says Maha Wamsa Pawakkami means the story of the dynasties of the elite and their legacies. Or according to the fivefold meaning above said, the dynasty of Maha Sammata, having being adorned with virtue and virtues of the Buddha, it has an intrinsic worth.’

Sinhala translation

In Maha Wamsa and Chula Wamsa, political events that occurred in this country have been described in chronological order. Various monarchs have been praised with great enthusiasm and according to the author’s discretion. For example, King Dutugemunu is the hero of the author of Maha Wamsa.

Chula Wamsa, which is considered the second part of Maha Wamsa highlights the role of Parakramabahu the First. Meanwhile, Deepa Wamsa illustrates the origin of the history of Sri Lanka, Bodhi Wamsa the history of Sri Lanka Bodhi, Dathu Wamsa the history of sacred tooth relic of the Buddha while Thupa Wamsa narrates the story of Ruwanweliseya and the role of King Dutugemunu in the construction of the great Stupa. In addition, Attanagalu Vihara Wamsa written in Pali in Dambadeniya era narrates the historical legends of the King Sirisangabo.

The Sinhala translation of the same was written in Kotte era and was titled Eluattangalu Wamsa.

From a historical perspective, one can conclude that Maha Wamsa means the story of Buddha known as ‘Mahatma’. The history of Buddha, the dynasty of his clan originated from Maha Sammata dynasty. The Sinhala kings too belong to Shakya clan and the clan of Maha Sammata. This has been the firm belief of the Sinhalese people. Thus, Ven. Mahanama thera had written Maha Wamsa keeping in mind the above legends. Between decline of the Kotte era and the attainment of Independence in 1948 no chronicle has been written.

The Sinhala literature has not been enriched with a chronicle until the 6th decade of the 20th Century. In 1960, a chronicle of Sinhala literature titled Sinhala Sahitya Wamsa was written by the late Punchi Bandara Sannasgala as the thesis for his doctorate. Chronicles were compiled by the scholars with a deep knowledge. In the 8th decade, several chronicles were written, several by a group of scholars thus, taking a giant stride in the field of Sinhala literature. Chronicles became compilations of research papers and were published with State patronage.

Chronicles written in 8th and 9th decades of the 20th Century dealt with the history of a particular province or district. Mahaweli Wamsa which was a indepth compilation of the history of the sub-cultures and geographical, social and economic aspects of the villagers that were submerged in the reservoirs built under the accelerated Mahaweli Development Scheme and was published by the Sri Lanka Mahaweli Authority in 1978. This compilation consists of two volumes and was a concept of then Minister of Land, Land Development and Mahaweli Development, Gamini Dissanayake (The writer served the Ministry during this period).

The Uva Wamsa published in 1991 was a fruit of labour by a group of scholars and was a rich source of information on the social, economic and cultural life of the Uva Province. Sabaragamu Wamsa, another chronicle dealing with the cultural heritage of a Province was published in 2003 and was an anthology of research papers of eminent scholars.

Matara Wamsa, a chronicle consisting of two volumes was published by the Cultural Affairs Ministry to mark the Literary and Arts Festival held in Matara in 2008 and was compiled by 82 scholars, specialised in the fields of literature, langauge, history, geography, sociology, anthropology and folklore. Earlier late Ven. Kamburupitiye Wanarathana Maha Nayake thera had written Matara Manawa Wamsa, an anthropological history of Matara.

State patronage

Three books on the history of Matale, Gampaha and Hambantota districts were published with State patronage, though they were not titled ‘Wamsa’. They are Eithihasika Matale published in 1984, Hambantota Distrikkaye Samaja Sanskruthika Urumaya published in 2007 and Gampaha Distrikkaye Samaja Sanskruthika Sameeksha published in 1999. They are scholarly works of repute similar to chronicles in content.

The latest of this genre is Pulathisi Wamsa which is an attempt to do justice to the rich heritage of Polonnaruwa or Thamankaduwa district.

Political history

It is my duty to mention the methodology adopted in compiling this chronicle. Chronicles, dealing with the history of the particular territory should contain facts relevant to the physical geography, political history, archaeology, activities of the rulers, history of kingdoms, places of historical significance and worship, literature, arts and crafts - in short, tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

In case of Polonnaruwa, its origin and rise as a kingdom and its decline and the restoration of ruins, demographic data and present development process are the main themes in the new chronicle. Eminent scholars who are specialists in the above fields were consulted and constant dialogues ensued.

The first plan was prepared based on these consultations. Consequently, scholars based in the metropolis were invited to contribute articles on selected themes relevant to their specialized fields. Meanwhile, scholars and writers now living in the Polonnaruwa District were invited through the District Secretary, Polonnaruwa for a conference for consultation on the compilation of the chronicle. They were convened by the Additional District Secretary.

They were invited to contribute to the success of this historic venture. (Several participants including State officers ignored the request). Articles we received from the above two sources were edited by a group of scholars without causing any change in the writer’s point of view. Editing was mainly to remove the errors of redundancy and grammar. Regarding the inconsistency in spelling adopted by writers, an attempt was made to arrive at the best solution through dialogue with each of them.

Writers who contributed articles to Pulathisi Wamsa were specialists in each subject, majority of whom were University Professors and Lecturers, Secretaries to Ministries, Government Agents who served the Polonnaruwa District and former and present State officers. 54 articles are included in this volume. Many scholars have written a large number of books on Polonnaruwa specializing in various themes, monarchy, archaeology and literature but they do not contain facts revealed in recent archaeological excavations and no academic work has yet been published dealing with the historic value of these discoveries.

Therefore, we included descriptive articles on several places of archaeological interest revealed in recent excavations such as Thopawewa ancient civilization, historic Nagalakanda and Buduruwayaya, historic Dimbulagala and Somawathi Seya.

In this context one may argue why special articles were included without writing any on Gal Viharaya and Rankoth Viharaya in Polonnaruwa. Our objective was to shed light on recent discoveries of the hidden heritage of Polonnaruwa by doing justice to the glorious heritage revealed day by day in excavations.

Objectives

The mission of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the National Heritage is to conserve ancient heritage and to educate the people on their worth under the Mahinda Chinthana program. The objective of the compilation of the Pulathisi Wamsa is to make at least a small contribution towards achieving that end. Half of the article in this chronicle analyses the heritage revealed in recent excavations. Such an approach we believe will be arouse the interest of the younger generation.

Just as Maha Wamsa and Chula Wamsa shed light on the buried heritage. Pulathisi Wamsa illumines the aspects of the history of Polonnaruwa so far hidden in darkness.

Pulathisi Wamsa was published to mark the National Literary and Art Festival - 2009 held in Polonnaruwa for the edification of the masses.

(Translated by C. A. Lenin Divakara)