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Giri Dîpa : Probably One of the Earliest Buddhist Religious Landscapes in Sri
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Paris. France, 27-29 May 2015, Mahinda Deeglle (ed). Sri Lanka. Nagananda International buddhist University.

Giri Dîpa : Probably One of the Earliest Buddhist Religious Landscapes

in Sri Lanka

Raj Somadeva
*Postgraduate Institute of archaeology, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.

abstract
In the mid second century BCE, as described in the historical chronicles in Sri Lanka, the first Buddhist missionary from
Pataliputra in mainland India had arrived in Sri Lanka, at Mihintale in the north-eastern suburb of the ancient Capital
of Anuradhapura. Soon after the legitimate acceptance of this new doctrine by the King of the country, a tradition of
making residential quarters for the Buddhist Samgha was established. The natural cave shelters situated on the slopes
of the mountainous landscape in Mihintale were converted into residential cum ritual abodes for this purpose and it has
formed the first Buddhist religious landscape in the country. Concurrently the cave monastic tradition had proliferated to the
outskirts of Anuradhapura within a very short period of time. Recent field investigations have thrown a challenge to this
customary way of thinking on the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka while pushing its time limits several centuries
back to antiquity. The historical chronicles have mentioned three consecutive visits by Buddha to the island in order to resolve
certain conflicts among the native inhabitants. The Chronicles indicate that during his first visit, the Buddha had expelled
and confined the native groups to a place called Giri Dipa and had preached them his doctrine. A surface reconnaissance
survey carried out in the deep hinterland areas of the wet lowlands covering the northeastern part of the country reveals
evidence providing a look at the spatial aspect of Giri Dipa in a broader historical perspective. This paper intends to discuss
this topic based on literary and archaeological information.

key words: history of Buddhism, Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Historical archaeology

1. Introduction
This essay intends to present a fresh perspective
developed on the early history of Buddhism
in Sri Lanka. The fundamental argument of
the article is based on the assumption that the
native population of Sri Lanka were aware of
Buddha’s teachings before the propagation
by religious missionaries during the reign of
Maurya Ashoka (269-232 BCE). The main focus
of the essay is the geographical entity which
is termed in the historical chronicles as Giri
Dîpa that has been described as the territory
where the Buddha met the native inhabitants
and preached to them. It has been described
as a spatially confined area situated at a great
distance in the Indian Ocean. Archaeological
field surveys conducted in the mountainous
tracts of the southern slope of the central
highlands since the year 2010 have revealed
evidence suggesting that human occupation
existed there (map 1) in the late third millennium
BCE (Somadeva 2014). Some of the natural
cave shelters (fig.1) formed in such mountainous
landscape had been utilized by the Buddhist
clergy for their residential-cum- ritualistic
purposes during the second half of the first
millennium BCE (Paranavitana 1970). Literary
descriptions together with archaeological
evidence corroborate that the introduction of
Buddhism to Sri Lanka is terminus ante quem to
the advent of Mauryan Buddhist missionary
that was held to be in c. 250 BCE.
The presentation of the text consists of two
sections. First section provides introductory
remarks on the existing notion of the early
history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka narrated by
the historical chronicles with some analytical
comments. An attempt has been made here to
evaluate the historical significance of the three
visits of the Buddha to Sri Lanka. Section two
discusses the matters related to the historical
geography of early Buddhism of the country
Map 1. The distribution of Archaeological sites in the surveyed area on the southern slope of the central mountains around
Haldummulla in Badulla District (Source: Field survey 2010/11)
described in the ancient texts on the light of
chronicles in association with two consecutive
various other sources including the information
incidents. Those events have been described
gathered from the recent archaeological field
in Dipavamsa, compiled in the fourth century
surveys. and in Mahavamsa written in the fifth century
CE. As indicated by both sources, in the early
2. Arrival of Buddhism: a tale of two days of the great enlightenment, (Mv I v. xix)i
events the Buddha has turned up in Sri Lanka for the
The circumstance of allowing people in Sri purpose of subjugating the Yakkhas, that is said
Lanka to be acquainted with the doctrine of
Buddhism is marked by the local historical i ... bodhito navame māse pussapunnamiyam jino - lam-
kādÎpam visodhetum lamkādÎpa mupāgami.
Fig 1. A natural cave shelter occupied by Buddist monks in c. 250 BCE, situated in Tamketiya of kaltota.
to be one of the groups of native inhabitants
in the island (ibid: v. xx)ii Again he had visited
Sri Lanka twice in the fifth and eighth years
after the enlightenment (ibid v. xliv) to resolve
the calamities promulgated by Nagas who are
also described as another group among the
native population. Considering the year 543
BCE as the year of the great demise (maha
parinibbana) of the Buddha, those three events
could chronologically be placed in the early 600
BCE.
The second event, according to the chronicles
and the inscriptions, was associated with a
Buddhist missionary to Sri Lanka headed by
Arhat Mahinda who departed from Pataliputra,
the Capital of Magadha in the Ganges Valley.
He had arrived in the country during the reign
of the Emperor Ashoka in mainland India,
as an outcome of his endeavor to propagate
Buddhism in his neighboring countries. The
Missionary to Sri Lanka was well received
by King Devanampiyatissa (250-210 BC), the
contemporary ruler in Sri Lankaiii. This event
was described in Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa
ii ..........sāsanujattatanam ṭānam lamkā gnātā jinena hi - yak-
kapunnāya lamkāya yakkhā nibbāsiy ā ti ca.
iii ....... maha mahinda theram tam theram itttimuttiyam -
sambala bhaddasalamcha samka saddhiviharite ‘ lamkadipam
manuggnam jinasasanam- patitthapetha tumhe’ ti pamcha there
apesai (Mv xii v. vii-viii).
in a detailed manner making it the legitimate
beginning of the history of Theravādic
Buddhism in the country. According to the
chronicles, the objective of this missionary
was to propagate the doctrine of the Buddha
among the native people for the sake of their
spiritual well beingiv. Authors of both sources
had considered the arrival of Arhat Mahinda
to the island is more significant, in terms of
propagation of Buddhism, than the advent
of the Buddha himself, the founder of the
doctrine.
The historical factors of the hierarchical
ordering of those two events is somewhat
questionable because of the ambiguity
embedded in the narrative format of the
first event i.e. the three visits by the Buddha
presented in the chronicles. This ambiguity
is found in the description made by the
chronicles itself. For instance, the description
mentions the Buddha ‘s intention of purifying
the island for the sake of the well being of
Buddhism in the future (ibid l v. xix) and the
nature of his confrontation with the so called
Yakkhas has made a marked contrast. His
objective of visiting the island and preaching
the doctrine are accorded with the consistent
practice of his boundless compassion and
iv ...... ye patamaya idiya agatana (Rajagala cave inscription,
Paranavitana 1970: ..............).
Map 2. The area covered by two river basins, i.e., River Walave and River Mahaveli representing the greater part of the mountain-
ous landscape in Sri Lanka.

equanimity extended over all living beings.
Once again, according to the description in
the chronicles, the interaction of the Buddha
with Yakkhas seems an act which is far from
his doctrinal sublime path of loving-kindness
(metta) and compassion (karuna). In spite of
that, it bolsters a sense of cruelty (himsa) and
anger (dosa). The Chronicles have reiterated
the act of the Blessed one against the Yakkhas
as;
......he (the blessed one) had struck terror to their
hearts by rain, storm, darkness and so forth. The ‘visodhetum’ in stanza 19, the author says that it
Yakkhas, overwhelmed by fear v. means removing the obstacles ( Yakkhas. the
Except for this description appearing in
the chronicles, there is no reference to show
anywhere in the canonical literature that the
Buddha has made such a vindictive response
to anyone at anytime. For instance, I would
like to make an analogy between this story
with the anecdote of the Buddha when he
met with Yakkha Alavaka described in the
Sarattappakasini, the commentary of Samyukta
Nikaya (Sp 10.1.12) When approached
Alavaka’s abode, the Yakkha has reacted with
violence to create terror. He made a multiple
mode of frightening things including the
horror of nine types of rainsvi. But the blessed
one had remained unmoved before Alavaka’s
anger and expressed his loving-kindness upon
the ignorance of the subject. There are many
similar examples which could be made to
substantiate the limitless compassion of the
Buddha per se.
It is reasonable to argue that this part of
writing in both chronicles reflects a conscious
effort to radiate the author’s resistive attitude
towards the native population of the country.
The character of the Buddha appears in those
anecdotes as an ideological metaphor created
by the authors who carry an explicit prejudice
over the cultural traits that they acquired from
the north Indian tradition. North Indian
cultural inspiration had flourished over most
parts of South and South-east Asia through
the rising trade activities in the Indian Ocean.
It was a result of the dynamism triggered
off parallel to the hegemonic dominance
of Emperor Ashoka. Dispelling or subduing
the ideologies and their related acts of the
native people might have been considered as
one of the main strategic approaches of the
propagation of the new trends.
This idea is explicit in the description provided
by the chronicles in relation to the early history
of the country. For instance, the description
made in Vamsattappakasini, the commentary
of Mahavamsa has provided unambiguous vii .... visodhetum yanu budu sasun pihituveemata pas mituru
clues in this regard. While describing the word yak piris namati katu kohol harava pirisindu karanu vas ....
v ... mahiyamganathûpassa ṭane vehāsayam ṭitô - vutṭivātandha-
karehi tesam samvejanam akā.
vi .. evam yakkho imahi navahi vatavassapasanapaharanan-
garakukkulavalikakalalakdhakaravutthihi bhagavantam
palapetum...(Sp I:10.1.12).
opponents) of the establishment of the order
of Buddhism in the countryvii (Vp v. 19). The
phrase ‘yakkha nibbasiya ti ca’ in verse 20 in
Mahavamsa is also vital to look at. According
to Vamsattappakasini, the ‘nibbasiya’ (P. nibbahati
> nis + bahati, ‘to pull out’) (PED : 198) stands
to denote the meaning of ‘throw out’ and
then the meaning of the complete phrase in
Mahavamsa is ‘throw out the yakkhas’. Such a
reflective statement of this kind is not ex nihilo
but emits the oppressive attitude, of the learned
monks of the contemporary society cultivated
upon the existence of the native inhabitants of
the country.
However, the conscious efforts of the authors
of the chronicles, to legitimize the ‘otherness’
of the Yakka’s could be interpreted as an act of
cultivating an idea of not only the uniqueness
of the great Indian tradition but also the
social prestige thrust upon its followers. The
literary presentation under discussion has
urged one to think that it seems ideologically
composed through a racial connotation. This
racial distinctiveness was initially sketched
in the chronicles while elaborating the line
of heredity from a noble clan of Shakya of
north India into which the Buddha was born.
Mahavamsa says that the Prince Panduvasadeva,
the successor of King Vijaya, was married
to Princess Bhadrakachchayana, a daughter of
Princess Pandu Shakya of north India. It was
said that Pandu Shakya’s father Amitodhana by
name, was a brother of King Suddhodhana,viii
the father of the blessed one. In this way the
Mahavamsa has established a kinship along a
series of patrimonial ties with a north Indian
clan that was described as Kshastriyas, that was
considered as the heirs of ruling power. It
also establishes an insignia of ‘racial purity’
of the followers of that tradition. Intention
of promulgating the racial uniqueness of the
literate, power consuming Buddhist clergy is
symbolically reflected in the name Kuveni (ku
viii ........mahãbrtàü mårdhni krtàbhisekah Suddhodano
nàma nrpo ‘rkabandhuh | adhyàèayo và sphutapudarãkam
puràdhiràjam tadalamcakàra ( A king, by name Suddhodana,
of the kindred of the sun, anointed to stand at the head of
earths monarchs, ruling over the city, adorned it, as a bee-inmate
a full-blown lotus.)(Cowell 1894)
Map 3. The distribution of the archaeological sites identified to date within the two river basins of River Walave and River Ma-
haveli.
+ vanna > ‘she who has a bad complexion’)ix
adopted to the native woman narrated in
Mahavamsa who met Vijaya, who was said to
be an Aryan, on the occasion when he first
landed in the island.
The only chronicle that provides a fair
description of the composition of the native
people is Dipavamsa.x It is quite interesting to
ix Sri Lanka was designated by several names by the
outside world during the pre-modern times. One among them was
Simhala dipa. Its variants are Seylan, Seilediba and Serandib.
Thus, the inhabitants of Simhala dipa were called Simhala.
Those who were designated by this name would have been the
local inhabitants of the island when the foreigners first came to
know them. Physical anthropological analysis conducted on the
prehistoric human skeletons unearthed in 1950s from Bellan-
bandipallassa shows a greater degree of biological affinity between
the prehistoric hunter-gatherers and the still living aborigines in
Sri Lanka called the Vadda community. Kennedy states; .....It
is with this latter problem that the present study is concerned, for
the anthropometric analysis of the human remains from Bellan
Bandi Palassa (sic.), Ceylon, indicates that the manufacturers
of its Bandarawelian (Late Stone Age) industries bear striking
phenotyoic similarities to the surviving Vadda population of the
island. Thus, the closest analogy of the anthropometric traits
of the local inhabitants in Sri Lanka is the forest dwelling
Vädda aborigines who are still existing. In 1911, Seligmann
& Seligmann stated; ........The skin of the Veddas (sic.) varies
enormously, that of the face being generally somewhat lighter
than that of the skin of the chest. But apart from these minor
variations, the skin colour of any series of individuals will be
found to vary from a deep brown-black, through various shades
of bronze, in some of which a definite reddish tone can be
detected, to a colour which can only be called yellowish-brown. A
medium brown-black is perhaps the commonest, but apart from
the darkest brown-black every colour, even the lightest, occurs in
individuals whose general appearance suggests that they are pure-,
or almost pure blooded Veddas, and we have no doubt that the
bronze shades occur quite as often among pure-blooded Veddas
as among the less pure (1911:17). Vadda people has undergone
a complex creolization process while they were mixing with rest
of the people who speaks Indo-Aryan language and the Tamil
speaking Dravidian groups in the country in different scales
throughout the history (vide Stoudt 1961:157; Deraniyagala
1992:390-391 and also Dharmadasa 1975). However, some
of the least affected Vaddas groups remained until the late
19th century.
x The Sinhala translation of Dipavamsa seems to
have mistakenly taken the meaning of the relevant phrase in
the original Pali text........addasa virajo satthā lankadîpavar-
uttamam- mahāvanam mahābhîmam āhu Lankatalam tada
- nana yakkha mahaghora ludda lohitabhakkhasa- canda rudda
ca pisaca nanarupavihesika nanandhimuttaka sabbe sannipate
samagata. This passage has been translated as ‘ at that time he
(the blessed one) had convinced that there was a frightening sce-
nario in the Island of Lamka. What it was the rally of a blood
and flesh eating yakshas gathered in the garden of Mahamevuna.
They are violent in nature and utter useless things. They carry
different arenas of false beliefs. All of them were gathered at the
Mahamegha garden (Kahandavaarachchi 1997trs.).
This translations has made several mistakes and it
note that there were 8 distinctive groups (..nā
nā yakkhā) among the Yakkhas who gathered
for their assembly on the day of the arrival
of the Blessed one. They included mahāghôrā
(the people who wail loudly), luddā (hunters)xi,
lôhitabhakkāsā (the people who consume
blood), candā (the people who is prone to
violent behaviour), ruddā, (the people who have
a fierce appearancexii) pisacā, (the people who
are antagonisticxiii) nā nā rûpavihesikā (the people
who have different facial characteristics) and nā
nā dhîmuttikā (different kinds of unwise
peoplexiv). This suggests that the people
described as Yakkhas were not a stereotype
entity but had comprised several groups of
people that have distinct individual identities.
As attempted to bolster by the chronicles,
there is no evidence to show an indication of
resistive command of the native groups against
the rising politico-economic transformation of
the day. It could be argued that there was no
gives a misleading idea. The word ‘ca’ in the original Pali text
must be carefully considered here. In Pali it is used in two sense
i.e, (i) as an enclitic particle to denote the sense of ‘ever’ (.......yam
ca kho...cēteti yam ca pakāppeti. ‘whatever he thinks, whatever
he intends ( Samyuktanikaya II:65). (ii) as an enclitic particle
to denote the conditional ( eg. ‘if ‘) (....rupam ca atta abhavissā.
Anmguttara nikaya 1. 58.v 87) and disjunctive (eg. ‘but’)
senses. (......sace agāram ajjhāvasati sace ca pabbajati agāra ..
(Sutta nipata 1003). In this context it is more appropriate to
take it as an enclitic particle or a indeclinable conjunction. Thus
the phrase ‘canda rudda ca’ could be translated as ‘Chanda and
even the Ruddas...’ If so then this phrase denotes two kinds of
groups that were present at the rally of yakshas. The next phrase
..... sabbe sannipate samagata.. could be translated as ‘all the
assembly congregated (there). It is no doubt that the signifier of
the word ‘sabbe’ (skt. sarva) = ‘ all’ signified the different groups
of people who gathered at Mahamega garden. In this perspective,
it could be argued as the term Yakkha signifies a single entity
comprised with distinct native groups of people.
xi .. ludda ca kurura-kammanta lohita panitaya mach-
chaghataka migabandhaka (Suttanipata atuva 247).
xii ..so luddako rudda-rupo... (Jt. IV: 416).
xiii ....pisaca mahanta-mahanta sutta ti vadati (DAt
1:164)
xiv The word dhimuttika is derived from Skt. Dhi
and mukta. The word dhi is used to denote the meaning of
‘wise’ and the word mukta for ‘release’. Then the composite
meaning of the word dhimuttaka is ‘the one who released
from wisdom’ . It could be inferred here that the intension
of the author of Dipavamsa is to reflect the falseness of
the distinct beliefs existed among the native groups. Perhaps
this would have been a conscious effort of the author who
attempted to bolster the inherent qualities of Buddhism.
Map 4. The distribution of the early Brahmi inscription sites in Sri Lanka.

reason to make such an oppressive attitude the Indian Ocean at that time.
by the native people towards a new socio-
economic makeup because there is evidence to
show that the local people were well acquainted
with the experience of long-distance sailing in
3. Yakkhas in the Sea: reminiscence of As suggested by the records kept by the other
early sea faring Greek travelers such as Megasthenes and
Some of the indirect evidence derived from
the textual analysis carried out on the legends
presented in Mahavamsa and the records kept
by the foreign travelers about Sri Lanka (vide
Weerakkody 1984; Peris 1983) suggest that
there were trans-oceanic voyages held between
Sri Lanka and mainland India several centuries
before the arrival of the Mauryan Buddhist
missionary to the country. Greek travelers were
the earliest who cited the Island of Taprobane.
Onesicritus of Astypaleia,( 360 BC – c. 290
BCE) has mentioned about the ships that
sailed from Taprobane which were inefficient for
long-distance voyages. Such vessels destined at
Sindh and ;
..... On the whole there is nothing to prevent
us from assuming that there was a regular
intercourse between Sri Lanka and the Indus
Valley (Weerakkody 1984:6).
Commercial objectives were purely the de
facto of such sailing activities. Several early
Brahmi inscriptions found in Sri Lanka have
mentioned about mariners who sailed up to
India, and some destinations were the busy
ports on the western coast of the mainland.
For example, one of the cave inscriptions from
Andiyagala in the Anuradhapura District refers
to a mariner who sailed to Bhojakata. This
place is identified with Bohojpur in Bhopal
India (Paranavitana 1970:cxxviii). A mariner
who sailed to Bharukachcha is reported in a
cave inscription recovered from Bagavalena in
Kandy District (ASCAR 1933:17). Such literary
references could undoubtedly be considered
as the reminiscence of a prolonged practice
of pan-regional communications held by Sri
Lanka with her external world at least since
the period of the climax of the Indus Valley
Civilization (c. 1750 BCE).
Onesicritus has repeatedly mentioned in his
description about the prestige of the elephants
of Taprobane. According to him Taprobane
produces bigger and more war-like elephants
than those of India (Pliny VI,:81 quoted from
Weerakkody 1997:32). Perhaps he got this
information from the western merchants who
sailed up to the sea-port at Barygaza in Gujarat
or if not the merchants from India and Sri
Lanka who went further west up to Taxila.
Pliny the elder, belonged to a later period than
Onesicritus, there are no implication to argue
that they had reported what they heard and
saw about Taprobane, which was known to the
Indian ocean traders and travelers for a long
period that is terminus ante quem to Ashoka’s
ascendancy to the throne.
Deraniyagala has commented upon the cultural
traits that prevailed in Sri Lanka between 500
and 250 BCE, what he termed as the Lower
Early Historic period (1992: 711-12). While
expressing his observations, he has noted the
significance of the Mahavamsa description on
Pandukabhaya’s formal planning of the ‘City’
of Anuradhapura. According to this, there
was a separate quarter in the city for Yonas,
identified as Ionians or West Asian traders.
If the Mahavamsa description of the presence
of the west Asian traders in Anuradhapura
during the Lower Early Historic period could
be accepted, then it opens a new conceptual
avenue to think on a process of flowing of not
only the trade goods but also a dynamism of
exchanging ideas and cultural practices on a
pan-regional scale that had existed in Sri Lanka
before the Mauryan Buddhist mission was
held. Deraniyagala’ s excavation at the ancient
citadel of Anuradhapura has revealed a few
numbers of Northern Black Polished Ware
(NBPW) which could be one of the tangible
evidence showing the affiliation that had
existed between Sri Lanka and the northern
parts of the mainland, India, at least since the
mid first millennium BCE. According to the
archaeological evidence unearthed from the
excavations at Taxila, Hastinapur, Kausambi,
Sar­avasti, and Sarnath, the time period for the
origin and the circulation of NBPW is con­
sidered to be between 700 and 500 century
BCE., NBPW were found in Taxila during the
Pre-Greek period i.e. 300 BCE and therefore
John Marshall has concluded 500-200 BCE as
the appropriate time bracket for the circulation
of this special earthenware (Marshall 1960).
It is worthy to note here about the findings
of an excavation conducted in a natural cave
shelter situated in Tämketiya of the Kirimakulgolla
cave complex in Kaltota in the year 2014. It has
revealed 3 pieces of NBPW shreds from a
stratified context (fig.2). It is the only site that
Map 5. The distribution of the ancient cemeteries of Megalithic tradition (750-450 BCE) and the canoe burials (2400BCE -
200CE) in Sri Lanka.

NBPW was found in so deep interior of the the major historical ports of the country.
country. It is difficult to explain how NBPW However there is a possibility to conclude
drifted up to such a remote area far away from that such material residual had resulted from

Fig 2. Three shreds of Northern Black Polished Ware (NBP)
excavated from a cave of Tamketiya in 2014.
the interactions by the native people with
the communities in north and northwestern
regions in the mainland India.
This hypothesis may be further strengthened
by the finding of an inscription of an early
date with the word ‘yagasha ‘ (belonging to
yakkhas). This is a cave inscription engraved
on a cave roof of about 60 meters above
the surrounding ground level at a location in
Tämketiya. It is situated about 10 meters north
of the cave where the 3 pieces of NBPW were
recovered (fig. 3). Conventionally the early
Brahmi inscriptions in Sri Lanka has been dated
to the 3rd century BCE. If this inscription
is not an earlier work than that, the word
yakkha mentioned might have represented an
ancestral lineage of the person who engraved
the inscription (fig.4).
These isolated examples could be taken as
two separate occurrences resulted by a single
process that is the engagement of the Indian
ocean sailing by the native groups several
centuries before the north Indian colonization
transpired as described by the chronicles.
Even to understand the context of flourishing
Buddhist religious ideas in Sri Lanka before
the period of Emperor Ashoka’s reign, it is
necessary to realize the nature of the pan-
regional links in the Indian Ocean maintained
by the local inhabitants of the country.
4. Problem of Giridîpa
According to Mahavamsa, The Buddha arrived
at the garden Mahanagavana situated on the
bank of Ganga in Mahiyangana on a day of an
assembly of Yakshas held in that garden. His
intention was to dispel the Yakkhas from the
Island and finally he had succeeded. Chronicles
say that the Yakkhas had been frightened by the
Master and were dismissed to Giri dîpa (lit. the
hilly island). The exact location of Giri dîpa
is still unknown and the historical importance
of the identification of it, has not yet been
subjected to a serious academic concern. It
is thought that a thorough investigation on
resolving the problem of identification of
this location may shed light on any attempt to
survey the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka in
a fresh perspective.
The word Giri dîpa literary means the ‘Island
of mountainous landscape’. The description
presented in the chronicles has compelled the
reader to think that it was a place situated far
away and external to the island of Sri Lankaxv.
According to the detailed description of Giri
Dîpa presented in the chronicles, it could be
understood that the geographical area where
the Yakkhas were banished was a fertile land
which comprises diverse natural settings where
the elevated terrains have played a dominant
role in the general physical appearance of the
landscape. The problem is that we cannot
identify any island in the Indian Ocean fitting
this description, at any distancexvi from Sri
Lanka. The author of the Mahavamsa has
made a conscious attempt to elaborate the
impassability of the land where the Yakkhas
were expelled. he says;
...........Then did the Savior cause the pleasant Giri
dipa to come here near to them, and when they had
settled there, he made it return to its former place
(Mv 1 v. 30)xvii.
The literary marvel of this description is
explicit and its contribution to understand the
historical geography of Giri Dîpa is minimal if
xv ...he (Buddha) saw an island called Giri Dîpa situated
south east of Lamka where there abundance of water, including
reservoirs, having rock boulders and woods with flowering trees,
lakes full of water and water-born flowers, self-produced rice,
barley, corn and crops alike cultivated during yala and maha
(cropping) seasons, and also sugar cane, banana, jack, palm and
coconut are well grown and having grassy plains. (Giri Dîpa) is
hundred yôjanas bigger than (Lamka) and away from thousand
yôjanas. Thus, he (Buddha) thought as it is not suitable for
humans but well suited for non-humans (Vamsattappakasini
52-53).
xvi According to Vamsattappakasini, Giridipa was
situated 1000 yôjanas south east to Sri Lanka. The problem
of modern equivalence of the length of 1 yôjana has not
academically resolved yet. Rhys Davids takes 1 yôjana as equal
to 17.5 miles (Davids 1877: 17). Then according to the distance
described in the chronicles, Giridîpa was situated approximately
17 500 miles south east from Sri Lanka.
xvii ......... .giridipam tato nātho rammam tesam
idha’nai,-tesu tathā pavittesu yathatane tapesica
Map 6. The distribution of the archaeological sites that could be chronologically placed between 2400 and 250 BCE. A single
canoe burial site that has been dated to the 200 CE is also included to this map on the basis of the existence of similar cultural
characteristics.

not negligible. The pertinence of this statement ...........It would be a mistake to look for a clear
was first questioned by Geiger (1912) in his geographical statement. The underlying notion
translation of Mahavamsa. He commented; here expressed is simply that the yakkhas were
driven back to the highlands (giri) in the interior
 covers approximately 85%
of the total of the central
mountains in Sri Lanka (map
2). In spite of the rocky
landscape and the existence of
impassable rolling slopes, this
area also consists of fertile
plains, natural water-falls and
grasslands that has supported
the sustenance of human life
since the prehistoric times
(Pole 1907; Wayland 1919,
1926; Deraniyagala 1971).
The archaeological surveys
conducted since 2010 in the
Fig 3. Copying an inscription is in progress in Tamketiya during the field survey of
March 2014.
southern sector of this area
shows a considerable thick
of the island. They are still to be found in Ceylon distribution of archaeological
in later times. The meaning of dîpa was formerly a sites that have a very deep antiquity. Some
wide one; a later tradition has brought it to mean of the excavated sites have been dated to the
‘island’ in our sense. cf. also Nāgadipa as name of a period between late 3rd millennium BCE and
part of Ceylon itself (Geiger 1950 :4, note 4). the early 2nd millennium BCE. For instance the
However Geiger was not eager to investigate clay canoe burial unearthed in Kalupahanawatta
this issue further afield and therefore is yet to in Beragala has revealed two 14C assays which
be resolved. go back to 2400 cal. yr BCE ± 100 yrs (BS
3437) and 2300 cal. yr BCE ± 250 yrs. Another
5. Giri dipa: its etymology and spatiality two dates from the excavations carried out
in Ranchamadama canoe burial and the Uda
It is most appropriate to take the Geiger’s Ranchamadama ancient house floor show the
suspicion as a point of departure in the search human existence in that area in 1359 cal. yr
of the geography of Giri Dîpa. As he aptly BCE ± 163 yrs and 1125 cal. yr BCE± 104
argued, the meaning of the word dîpa does not yrs BCE respectively. Those scientific dates
confine to express the idea of an ‘island’ itself. strongly suggest that the region associated
The word dîpa in Pali language derives from with the central mountains of the island was
the Sanskrit word Dvipa (dvi + āp > ‘double a territory of human habitations at least since
watered’) (Williams 1896: 507). According to the late 3rd millennium BCE.
this definition, any geographical region that
is bordered by two water streams could be Once again the relevance of the literary mention
considered as a dîpa or an island. Later, the about a group of people called ‘yakkha’ in the
meaning of that word has broadened and Tamketiya cave inscriptionxix should be reiterated
simultaneously became rigidly confined to a
single meaningxviii. In this case it is appropriate xix The purpose of setting up this inscription was to reg-
to search for a region or a territory that could ister a grant of a cave to the Buddhist Sangha by a lay devotee.
be identified as bordered by the water streams His name is Upasona. The text reads as ...Upasona aya Tisha
which could be situated in an accessible distance puta aya Kerasha putaha aya Maha Shivaha lene Shupadine
chatu disha shagasha. ...yagasha.... ( vide Somadeva et al 2015).
from Mahiyangana where the great assembly of The mean height of the letters of this inscription is 25cm.
yakkhas was held. The peculiarity of this inscription is there is another short line
engraved in small letters below the main text of the inscription.
A close observations carried out in the It reads as ‘yagasha’. This word appears as a signature to the
surrounding area of Mahiyangana suggest inscription. The word yagasha is in Genitive case and masculine
that there is a wide tract bordered by two gender. The consonant ‘ga’ here stands for the consonant ‘ka’.
natural water streams, the river Walave in the Consonant ‘ka’ transformed to ‘ga’ and vice versa in the early
language in Sri Lanka. The change of a surd between vowels to
west and river Mahaveli in the east. The area its corresponding sonant is familiar in the early inscription. The
letter ‘ga’ is a sonant and it could be change in to the correspond-
xviii ...chattāro mahādîpā (Samyukta 343) ing letter ‘ka’ is a surd. This rule is only valid for sonants of
Fig 4. A scene of te cave that has an inscription by Yakkhas engraved on the cave roof.
here. Tamketiya belongs to the hilly landscape of
the southern extreme of the central mountains.
There is no doubt that the greater area of the
central mountains including the lower hills of
Tamketiya and Kuragala were the territory of
yakkhas during the period before one of the
significant immigrations form mainland India
to Sri Lanka which occurred in 600 BCE (map
3). The yakkhas mentioned in that inscription
could be taken as a literary expression of the
identity of one of the native groups who
inhabited the central mountains which are also
inadequately mentioned in Mahavamsa.
The most important observation made during
the field survey was the distribution of natural
caves on those hill slopes that had been used by
the Buddhist monks during the later centuries
of the first millennium BCE. The paleography
of the inscriptions engraved on the roof of
guttural and dental classes. We know that the letter ‘ka’ and ‘ga’
are guttural. It is one of a grammatical rules of writing Prakrit
words in ancient Sri Lanka. As Paranavitana (1970) has
clearly stated this phonological change is only sporadically noticed
in the early inscriptions in Sri Lanka. It also a regular feature in
many other prakrit languages in South Asia. The Therefore the
word ‘yaga’ is synonymous to the word ‘yaka’ and the last letter
‘sha’ appears in this case as the postfix of the genitive case. Then
the word ‘yagasha’ could be translated as ‘belonging to Yakshas’
or ‘who wrote this inscription are Yakshas’.
some of the caves suggest that such locations
could be dated to the second century BCE.
Three types of caves were identified on the
basis of its external characteristics notably the
presence and absence of the drip-ledge and the
technological sophistication of the engraving
of the drip-ledge and its degree of weathering.
Three types (I) identified are (i) caves that have
no drip-ledge (unprocessed cave); (ii) caves that
have drip-ledges and badly deteriorated due to
natural causes (archaic cave abodes) and (iii)
caves that have drip-ledges and an inscription
engraved below it (cave abodes of the later
period).
The chronological boundaries of those three
individual types are not very clear but it could
be inferred that they are sequential and types
one and two are terminus ante quem to type three.
The human association of type one caves is
suggested by the stone implements (quartz)
recovered from the interior surface of some
of the cave floors in Kuragala, Velipotheyaya
and Diyainna. Perhaps type two represents the
earliest occupation of the Buddhist monks
in that area. Three NBP shreds recovered
from the excavated cave in Tamketiya may
correspond to this phase. It is reasonable
to think that those caves were in use before
Fig 5. The ink-impression of the inscription that has the word ‘yagasha’ (a team of graduate students including Anusha Wanninay-
aka, Dinesh Devage, Lakmal Watuyaya, Kusal, Kunchana Matotaarchchi and Lalendra Sannasgama took the ink-impression).

the arrival of the Buddhist missionary to Sri of cave monasteries-cum-residential abodes in

Lanka under the auspices of the Mauryan the lowland plains marks the proliferation of
Emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE. the doctrine crossing the perimeters of the
The donatory inscriptions in type three caves mountainous tracts towards the agro-pastoral
advocate a more sophisticated social setting settlements scattered on the alluvial plains.
emerging with the hierarchical formation of Chronicles describe this momentum was due
the internal organization. The social status held to a population migration which occurred
by some of the donors of the cave dwellings, in c. 600 BCE elaborated as the ‘Aryan
for instance, Parumaka, Gamika, Bata, gapatixx colonization’xxi in the historical chronicles. The
provide a clear reference to this rising social archaeological investigations carried out during
differentiation. Sometimes type two caves had the last two decades covering the north central
been reused during this phase as shown by the and south and south eastern plains show that
presence of two separate drip-ledges on some the penetration of agro-pastoral communities
of the single cave roofs. into the floodplains was a gradual process that
was influenced by various factors notably the
The dense scattering of cave dwellings of the development of flood control technology and
Buddhist monks on the central mountains came a variety of demographic aspectsxxii.
to light only recently. It was revealed through a
systematic survey program conducted within The archaeological evidences which outline
a limited time period. In comparison with this movement was mainly mono-directional
the total area to be surveyed in the central i.e. from hilly flanks to the more fertile alluvial
mountains, the already investigated area does tracts. Temporal sequence of the distribution
not exceed 2% and it explicitly shows the level pattern of the canoe burial sites has elaborated
of infancy of the current state of the field that mobilization model explicitly (fig.5).
work towards this line of thinking. The oldest canoe burial sites like Beragala-
Kalupahanawatta and Haldummulla situated in
6. A later dynamism the high elevations and the late examples such
More than 2000 individual natural caves with as the canoe burials found in Nikavalamulla,
donatory inscriptions have been reported from Kalotuvava and Dummalasuriya are located in the
different areas in the country except its northern low altitudes in the plains.
extreme (map 4). Perhaps this number may
double if we considered the drip-ledged caves Accumulation of a greater density of drip-
without any inscriptions. Majority of such caves xxi ...tattha tattha ca game te tassa’machcha nivesayum; an-
are in the area out of the central mountains. uradhagamam tannamo kadambanadiyantike... gambhiranadiya
Some of the notable locations are Mihintale, tire upatisso purohito-upatissagamam mapesi anuradhassa uttare
Ritigala, Manakanda, Dambulla, Situlpauva and (Mv vii v. 43-44).
Maha Alagamuva. Emergence of a large number xxii An archaeological survey carried out in the Lower
Kirindi Oya basin of the Hambantota district has suggested
xx It is worth to mention here about R.A.L.H. Gun- that there were .......... phases of the expansion of the settlements
awardhana’s seminal article written on the early political forma- into the flood plain of Kirindi Oya. Earliest habitations were
tion in Sri Lanka for further information on those hierarchical scattered in the outer flood-plain areas centering the small rain-fed
social setting (vide, Gunawardhana .1982). reservoirs (vide Somadeva 2006).
ledged caves in the lower elevations mark an doctrine during Buddha’s lifetimexxiv.
important dynamism triggered off during the Thus the initial movement of diffusing of
last centuries of the first millennium BCE. It Buddhism in Sri Lanka had occurred before
was the rising surplus of the agro-pastoralist the Mauryan missionary set forth and the Giri
production and also through the long-distance Dîpa or the central mountainous tract of the
trade that had commenced in the period country became the focus of stretching the
referred above. This profusion may create an cave monastic-cum-residential abodes of the
idea of dominance of the politico-social milieu Buddhist monks, while forming the archaic
of the dry zone plain suppressing the historical Buddhist religious landscape in Sri Lanka.
significance of the settlements developed in
the mountainous areas (eg. Senevirathne 1996).
Future fieldwork will reveal more sites on the
hill slopes of the central mountains showing
the actual dimensions of the density and the
extent of settlements of the early agro-pastoral
communities of the native genre.
7. Concluding remarks
Summing up the discussion that has been
already presented in this essay, it could be
argued that the territorial entity known as
the Giri dîpa in the historical chronicles is not
geographically external to the island per se and
it was the land of the native inhabitants of Sri
Lanka distributed over the central mountains.
Radiometric dates suggest that some of those
settlements existed in this region at least
since the late third millennium BCE. In two
inscriptions of the early period found in Sri
Lanka, these people have identified themselves
as Dîpa Kulas (dipi kulikana)xxiii which means
‘belonging to the island family’. As a result of
the engagement with the long-distance trade in
the Indian Ocean, as suggested by the historical
and scanty but indicative archaeological
evidence recovered so far, it seems that they
got familiar with the teaching of Buddhist

xxiii Paranavitana has also commented on this word com-

pound. He takes the meaning of the word dipi as a synonym to
the word ‘dipi’ in the Pali language. It uses to denote the meaning
of ‘leopard’ (Skt. divipin> P. dipi> Elu. divi). Paranavitana
thought that the compound dipi kulika appeared in the early
Brahmi inscriptions in Sri Lank means ‘ of those of the family
or clan of the leopard people’. (1970:111). But neither literary
nor archaeological evidence recovered to date to substantiate this
notion. Instead, it is reasonable to think that the word dipi in
this compound is derived from the word dvipa in Sanskrit and
dipa in Pali. In this case the word dipa appears in locative case as
an adjective to the word kulika. In Sinhala Prakrit, the postfix
of the locative case singular that is frequently held was ‘i’. (vide
.......Dubalagamakahi upasaka Utaraha lene (ASCAR 1911-
12:121). Here the postfix ‘pi’ in the word ‘dipi’ forms adding
the vowel ‘i’ to the pure consonant of ‘pa’. It is also important
to consider the meaning of the word ‘kulika’. It is the derivative
form of the word ‘kula’ used in the Sinhala Prakrit to denote
the meaning of ‘ family’.
xxiv It is noteworthy to mention about one of an important
reference appears in Mahavamsa which is relevant here. After
five years elapsed from the great enlightenment, Buddha has
arrived Nāgadipa in Sri Lanka for the purpose of resolving a
crisis held between two leaders of Nāgas named Chulodara and
Mahodara. When the Buddha departed from Jetavan vihara ,
he accompanied a celestial being named Samiddhi Sumana who
resided in Rajayatana of Jetavana. (...............samiddhisumano
nama devo jetavane titam-rajayatanamadaya attano bhavanam
subham- buddhanumatiya yeva chattakaram jinopari-dharaya-
netta upagannachi tanam tam pubbavuttakam (Mv v. 52-53).
As described in the chronicle, Samiddhi Sumana was born in
Nagadipa once in his previous births (.....devo hi so nagadipe
manusso’na nantare bhave-ahosi; rajayatanatthitattane sa add-
asa) (ibid v.54). I think this passage may hints that there were
Sri Lankans who reside in Jetavana vihara during the times of
Buddha.
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