Ancient history of Sri Lanka, know what is the relation with India
To the south of India, in the Indian Ocean, there is an island adjoining India, whose name is Sri Lanka. The distance of the country from India is only 32 kilometers. Until 1972, its name was Ceylon, which was changed to Lanka and in 1978 to Sri Lanka with the addition of the honorific word Sri. Sri Lanka has had an unbroken relationship with India since ancient times. Come let us know some facts in this regard.
01. A large number of Hindus also lived in Sri Lanka, located in the south of India. However, Sinhala language is related to Gujarati and Sindhi language. The written history of Sri Lanka for the last 3000 years is available. Evidence of human settlements has been found here 125,000 years ago. Buddhist texts composed during the Fourth Buddhist Council have been received in 29 BC.
02. According to Hindu mythological history, Sri Lanka was settled by Shiva. On the orders of Shiva, Vishwakarma built a golden palace here for Parvati. Sage Vishrava took advantage of Shiva's innocence and asked him for donation in Lankapuri. Then Parvati cursed that only a part of Mahadev will burn that palace to coal one day and with that the destruction of your family will start. From Vishrava that Lankapuri was given to his son Kuber, but Ravana took away Kubera and usurped Lanka. Due to the curse, Hanuman ji, an incarnation of Shiva, burnt Lanka and the family of Kumbhakarna, Ravana, son of Vishrava, was destroyed. Vibhishana was saved by being in the shelter of Shri Ram.
03. According to another legend, three sons of Shiva's demon son Sukesh, Mali, Sumali and Malyavan, built a city on the Trikuta Subel (Sumeru) mountain and named it Lanka. After killing the gardener, the gods and yakshas made Kubera Lankapati. Kaikasi, the mother of Ravana was the daughter of Sumali. At the instigation of his maternal grandfather, Ravana was determined to fight with Kubera, the son of his stepmother Ilavilla, and again subjugated Lanka to the demons. In the same sequence, Ravana also snatched the Pushpak Vimana of Kubera. Kubera was the half-brother of Ravana.
04. There is a mountain in Sri Lanka which is also called Shripad Peak. He named it Adam Peak during the British rule. Although the old name of this Adam Peak is Ratan Island mountain, the god of gods, that is why this place is also called Sivanolipadam (Light of Shiva).that footstep is 5 feet 7 inches long and 2 feet 6 inches wide. Lakhs of devotees and tourists come here to see this 'Shripad' situated at an altitude of 2,224 meters. Understanding its importance, Christians propagated that these are the footprints of Saint Thomas. According to the people of the Buddhist sect, these footprints are of Gautam Buddha. According to the people of the Muslim sect, the footprints are of Hazrat Adam. Some people have started calling Ram Setu as Adam's bridge. It is said about this mountain that this mountain is the mountain, which was a piece of Dronagiri and which was taken away by Hanumanji. A very thrilling mountain in Galle, the southern coast of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankans are called Rahumasala Kanda.
05. The International Ramayana Research Center of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Tourism have together found 50 such places related to Ramayana which have archaeological and historical importance and which are also mentioned in Ramayana. The place has been found in Sri Lanka, where Ravana's golden Lanka was. Ashok Vatika, Ram-Ravana battle ground, Ravana's cave, Ravana's airport, Ravana's body, Ravana's palace and 50 such Ramayana sites are claimed to have been discovered. Evidence for this has also been presented.
It is believed that there is a cave of Ravana on a huge hill amidst the forests of Ragla, where he did severe penance. Even today the body of Ravana is kept safe in the same cave. This cave of Ravana is situated at an altitude of 8 thousand feet in the area of Ragla. Where the body of Ravana is kept in a 17-feet long coffin. There is a special coating around this coffin, due to which this coffin has been kept as it is for thousands of years. Archaeological investigations of Ravana Falls, Ravana Caves, Ashoka Vatika, ruined Vibhishana's palace, etc., located around the Nuara Eliya hills in Sri Lanka, confirm their existence in the Ramayana period. Everyone knows about Ram Setu.
06.Sri Lanka has a shared tradition and culture of Hinduism and Buddhism. But it was disbanded during the British period. There has never been a conflict between Hindus and Buddhists in Sri Lanka for more than 2000 years of civilization. The Shaivism of Hinduism has been prevalent in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is considered to be the home of the five abodes of Shiva. Murugan i.e. Kartikeya, son of Shiva is one of the most popular Hindu deities here. They are worshiped not only by Tamil Hindus but also by Buddhist Sinhalese and tribals. There are many such temples here which reflect the common culture of Hindus and Buddhists.
07. Hindu Emperor Ashoka (269-232 BC) boycotted the war and banned hunting after converting to Buddhism after many years of fighting. The third session of Buddhism was held in the 17th year of Ashoka's reign. Emperor Ashoka sent his son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitra to Sri Lanka for preaching. Through them, King Devnampiya Teesa of Sri Lanka adopted Buddhism and established a Buddhist monastery named 'Mahavihara' there. This country is a stronghold of Theravada Buddhism even in the modern era. In Sri Lanka, due to the same roots of Hinduism and Buddhism, Hindus and Buddhists used to live together here, but during the British period, the social fabric was disturbed by dividing them.
08. In the Valmiki Ramayana, Lanka has been described as situated in the middle of the island across the sea, that is, Ravana's Lanka was situated in the middle of present-day Sri Lanka. The Sanskrit and Pali literature of Sri Lanka was closely related to India since ancient times. In relation to Kumar Das, the author of 'Janaki Haran' based on the tradition of Indian epics, it is said that he was an exclusive friend of the great poet Kalidas. Kumar Das (512-21 AD) was the king of Lanka. The story of 'Maleraj's story' in Sri Lanka before 700 BC was prevalent among the people in Sinhalese language, which is related to the life of Rama.
09. Sri Lanka was first ruled by the Portuguese, then by the Dutch, in the early 1800s, the British began to dominate it and in 1818 took it under their full control. During the British period, where the missionaries got a chance to flourish here, Muslims from places like India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Maldives started here in the Tamil region and gradually the number of mosques, madrasas increased. Today the situation in Tamil region has worsened.
During the British period, the communal unity between Tamil and Sinhalese was disturbed under the policy of 'divide and rule'. Sri Lanka got complete independence on 4 February 1948 after the Second World War. When Sri Lanka became independent, the power was handed over to the Sinhalese and the Tamils were pushed to the margins. But the Sinhalese did not know that the British and Muslim sultanates wanted Sri Lanka to be disturbed. Why was hatred towards Tamil Hindus inculcated in the minds of Sinhalese systematically?
Due to the isolation of themselves for a long time, discontent spread among the Tamils. In May 1976, Charahan formed the Liberation Tigers Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and demanded a separate nation for Tamils. The LTTE is responsible for the assassination of thousands of innocent Sinhalese, high-ranking Sri Lankan leaders and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
10. It has been alleged that Muslim fundamentalists and Christians took advantage of the protracted fighting between the Sri Lankan regime and Tamil separatists and they started to gain their footing in the meantime. This led to increasing social unrest in the Tamil and Sinhalese regions of Sri Lanka. While Muslims received indirect support from Bangladesh and Pakistan, Christian missionaries continued their campaign in the impoverished region of Sri Lanka.
In 2009, Tamil rebels were completely destroyed in India with the help of Manmohan Singh's government. Prabhakaran was also killed on 19 May 2009. Thousands of innocent Tamils were killed in this campaign. Thousands of Tamil Hindus, who are still living in refugee camps, fled to Tamil Nadu, India, during the brutal killing of Tamils by the Sri Lankan army. After the action of the Sri Lankan army in 2009, lakhs of Tamils were made homeless there, who are still courteous.
11. At present there is a population of about 22 million in Sri Lanka. 70% of the country's population is Buddhist. Here 10 percent of the population is Muslim, 12 percent Hindu and 6 percent Catholic. Buddhists have never targeted Hindus and Christians because of their religion, but Muslims have certainly been targeted. There are many reasons for this.
The tension between Buddhists and Muslims in Sri Lanka started in 2012 after the end of the Tamil problem. Some fundamentalist Buddhist groups accused Muslims of forcibly converting and destroying Buddhist monasteries. Muslims in Sri Lanka are not just Muslims, there are Tamil speaking Muslims too and the conflict between Tamils and Sinhalese is well known. Apart from this, the presence of Rohingya Muslims in Sri Lanka is also a cause of controversy. The killing of non-vegetarians or domesticated animals in Sri Lanka as part of Muslim tradition has been a point of contention for the Buddhist community. At present, the Islamic fundamentalist National Thowheed Jamaat has also become a cause of tension.
