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Message: <blockquote data-quote="netlife007" data-source="post: 20875139" data-attributes="member: 79514">"Devanada writes today Buddhism in Sri Lanka is monopolized by the Sinhalese. There are even those who call it “Sinhala Buddhism,” seemingly unaware of the fact that it is a universal religion. This notion was propagated only in the early 20th century by revivalists such as Anagarika Dharmapala"Unlike today, the ancient Buddhist /Hindu civilization in Sri Lanka and the ancient Palli /Sanskrit place names has nothing to do with ethnicity. Hence the Pali, Sanskrit place names in the North and East of Sri Lanka are part of the Tamil Buddhist heritage. The author states that the Tamil politicians, scholars, intellectuals and the Tamil media should make every effort to educate the Tamil public to be aware that Buddhism was a part of Tamil civilization, and in fact the most important part of the Tamil heritage of the North and East of Sri Lanka is its Hindu /Buddhist heritage. Hence the recent efforts by some elements to place Buddha statues in these areas to mark their ethnic presence is entirely misplaced apart from being contrary to the universal values and teachings of Buddhism. The situation in Tamil Nadu began to change after the 7th century. With the rise of Vaishnavism and Saivism, there was a significant increase in Hindu Braminical influence. The Buddhist and Jain institutions in Tamil Nadu came under attack and they began to lose popular support and the patronage of the rulers. The Chinese scholar monk Hsuan Tsang records instances of Tamil Buddhist monks fleeing to Sri Lanka when they were worsted in religious debates and feared the repercussions of the ruler’s change of religion.Pandit Hisselle Dharmaratana Maha Thera writes, “although Buddhism declined in the Tamil country from the 7th century onwards it was by no means eradicated.” For several centuries Buddhism still survived though in a state of decline. The continuation of the Mahavamsa states that in the 13th Century King Parakramabahu of Dambadeniya brought down Buddhist monks and scriptures from the Chola country in Tamil Nadu to revive Buddhism in Sri  Lanka. During this time there was a great deal of cultural exchange between South India and Sri  Lanka.”The chief of the monks who was brought from South India was Ven. Dhammakitti. He wrote the continuation of the Mahavamsa from the time of king Srimevan up to his time. The Ven. Dipankara of Chola known as Buddhappiya came to Sri Lanka for his studies in Buddhism. He wrote the Pali poem Pajjamadhu (nectar of verses) in adoration of the Buddha. He is also the author of a Pali grammar. The Ven. Buddhamitta and Maha Kassapa were also two monks from the Chola country of Tamil Nadu. They studied the Dhamma in Sri  Lanka and rendered great service to the religion, states Pandit Hisselle Dharmaratane Maha Thera.He goes on to say that this shows that up to the 14th century there were Buddhists monasteries and centres of learning in South India. There is also evidence that during the invasion of Magha of Kalinga in Sri  Lanka and the destruction of Buddhist monasteries there, monks from Sri Lanka fled to and sought refuge in monasteries in Tamil Nadu. However after the 14th century Buddhism disappeared</blockquote>

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