The Cultural Triangle of Sri Lanka

The culture of Sri Lanka is primarily influenced by Buddhism, and the written history of Sri Lanka even dates back to more than 3000 years. The historical monuments in Sri Lanka substantiate the splendid cultural heritage that was bestowed upon it. With the arrival of Mihindu maha arahat thero in Sri Lanka around 250 BC during the reign of King Devanampiyathissa, Sri Lankans embraced Buddhism and have been practicing since then. Over ancient times, a number of kings made different cities as their kingdoms. In each of these kingdoms, there were magnificent statues, shrines and stupa built in honour of the Lord Buddha. In this article, we are going to proudly present to you the cultural triangle of Sri Lanka.

What is the cultural triangle of Sri Lanka?

The cultural triangle of Sri Lanka covers five major cities with cultural significance. Namely they are Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, sigiriya, Dambulla and Kandy. This is located in the middle of the country. Most of the historical monuments that are found here are thousands of years old. They hold a herculean significance both historically and in terms of Buddhism. Due to this fact, most of these monuments render these cities a universal value and are considered world heritages. These cities are points of convergence of pilgrimage both to the Buddhists and clergy. Even the tourists are attracted to the splendorous creations of ancient times.

Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura stands as a major ancient city in Sri Lanka and has its reputation as one of the main kingdoms of ancient Sri Lankan civilization. In chronological order, it is the third monarchy of Sri Lanka, which is after Thambapanni and Upathissa Nuwara. Archaeological data determines that the era of Anuradhapura to be as far as the 10th century BC even though the historical data suggests it to be 5th century BC.

The first king of the Anuradhapura monarchy is considered King Pandukabaya (437–367) BC. He was the ruler over the other monarchs in the whole kingdom of Anuradhapura except King Kashyapa. King Kashyapa made Sigiriya his own kingdom. Several kings preceded King Pandukabhaya, namely King Ganathissa, the son of King Pandukabaya, King Mutasiva, the son of King Ganathissa until the reign of King Devanampiyathissa, the son of king Mutasiva, during which Buddhism arrived in ancient Sri Lanka. Another few significant milestones in this era were the arrival of the Theri Sangamiththa with a branch of Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, documentation of Tripitaka in pali during the reign of Vattagamini in Alu Vihara and the arrival of the tooth relic in the time of king Siri Megawanna. The monarchy of Anuradhapura culminated after King Mahinda V (982–1029)

There are a number of places of veneration in Anuradhapura. Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi, Ruwanwelisaya, Lowamahapaya, Thuparama are amongst them.

Construction of large stupa was augmented by King Dutugamunu. Ruwanwelisaya is amongst the most venerated amongst them and humongous in structure.

Apart from them, this era is also famed for the arts, literature and irrigation technology which is unimaginable. Irrigation in Kuttam Pokuna and Sigiriya are impressive in this regard.

Click here to read world heritage sites in Sri Lanka.

Polonnaruwa

From 1017–1070 Polonnaruwa was in the hands of Chola invaders. They made Polonnaruwa their kingdom under the name of Jananathapuram. As a result, the cultural monuments were influenced by Hinduism. Shiva temple, Ganesh and Parvathi statues are examples for them. Ending their rule, Vijayabahu the great won Polonnaruwa and ruled till 1110.

The Monarchy of Polonnaruwa is characterised by flourishing agriculture and trade. King Parakramabahu’s reign was amongst the greatest. The irrigation system at this time was greatly developed. A good example of this is the ‘Parakrama Samnudraya’, which even considered ships that sailed in the sea were anchored in it. Even unto this day, this great reservoir supplies water for agriculture in this area during drought. This reservoir was built in the concept of ‘not a single drop of water which falls from the sky was to be wasted’.

The historical places in Polonnaruwa are Watadage, Gal Vehera, Rankoth Vehera, Lankathilaka Image House etc…

Kandy

The first king of the Kandyan Kingdom was Senasammatha Wickramabahu (1473–1511), who is from the bloodline of the Kotte monarchy and ruled Kandy as a semi-independent kingdom under Kotte. It became an independent kingdom during the 17th century.

The time of the Kandy monarchy is characterized by the growing invasions of Portuguese. The Kandyan Kingdom had to stand against the invasions of both kings of Kotte and the Portuguese invaders. In the 1570s and 1580s, there were two invasions from the Kotte kingdom, which was led by King Rajasinghe I. In these hard times, the Kandyan king at that time, king Karalliyadde Kumara Bandara fled to Portuguese land with his daughter Kusumasana Devi and were converted to Christianity.

Amidst all this chaos Kandyan kingdom found aliens with Dutch in 1602. During this time, Kandy was ruled by king Senerath and owing to the internal disputes; the kingdom couldn’t hold the stand against Portuguese invasions. Rajasinghe II, the son of Senerath, made some major victories against the Portuguese, and with the help of the Dutch, he succeeded in expelling Portuguese from Sri Lanka. The following times were filled with rebellions against the Dutch in order to regain the lands that were under their control.

At the onset of the 19th century, the British were fighting towards Kandy, and king Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe carried a bad reputation for his ruthless reign. On 2nd March 1815, Kandyan Convention was concluded between the king and the British.

Kandy is known around the world for the temple of tooth relic. It is said that Hemamali and prince Diantha brought the sacred tooth relic after the ‘parinirvana’ of lord buddha, and since then, it ws the king’s duty to protect the sacred tooth.

It is believed that the sacred tooth was brought to Kandy by Hiripitiye Diyawadana Rala and Devanagala Rathnalankara Thera. The temple we see now is said to be built by Vira Narendrasinghe.

Final thoughts

Sri Lanka holds a glorious history that is based on Buddhism. Most of the cultural heritages bestowed by ancient kings are examples of the dignity of the Sri Lankan culture.