36-523: Nawalapitiya ( Sinhala : නාවලපිටිය , Tamil : நாவலப்பிட்டி , romanized: Nāvalappiṭṭi ) is a town in Kandy District , Sri Lanka . It is governed by an Urban Council . It is 38 km (24 mi) from Kandy and 112 km (70 mi) from Colombo, at a height of 589 m (1,932 ft) above sea level. It is located on the banks of the Mahaweli Ganga . The area was developed during
72-783: A supposed former abundance of lions on the island. According to the chronicle Mahāvaṃsa , written in Pali, Prince Vijaya of the Vanga Kingdom and his entourage merged in Sri Lanka with later settlers from the Pandya kingdom . In the following centuries, there was substantial immigration from Eastern India, including additional migration from the Vanga Kingdom (Bengal), as well as Kalinga and Magadha . This influx led to an admixture of features of Eastern Prakrits. The development of Sinhala
108-653: A Dravidian origin for this word. ), dola for pig in Vedda and offering in Sinhala. Other common words are rera for wild duck, and gala for stones (in toponyms used throughout the island, although others have also suggested a Dravidian origin). There are also high frequency words denoting body parts in Sinhala, such as olluva for head, kakula for leg, bella for neck and kalava for thighs, that are derived from pre-Sinhalese languages of Sri Lanka. The oldest Sinhala grammar, Sidatsan̆garavā , written in
144-470: A daughter of a yaksha leader legitimizing Vijaya’s rule over the region. Four versions of the legend explain the origin of the Sinhalese people. In all the versions, a prince comes to the island of Lanka and establishes a community which gives rise to the Sinhalese people. The Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa identify the prince as Vijaya, and the other two legends have different names for the prince. According to
180-546: A forest in the Lala (or Lada) region. The Mahavamsa calls the Sinha a lion; according to some modern interpreters, however, Sinha was a beastly outlaw human living in the jungle. Lala is identified as Bengal's Rarh region (part of the present-day Indian state of West Bengal ) or Lata , part of present-day Gujarat . Suppadevi fled from the attack, but encountered Sinha again. Sinha was attracted to her and she caressed him, mindful of
216-464: A hundred noble maidens, craftsmen, a thousand families from 18 guilds , elephants, horses, wagons and other gifts. The group landed in Lanka at a port known as Mahatittha. Vijaya then asked Kuveni, his Yakkhini consort, to leave the community because his citizens feared supernatural beings like her. He offered her money, asking her to leave their two children behind, but Kuveni brought the children along to
252-482: A kingdom which was named Tambapanni ("copper-red hands"), because the men's hands were coloured by the area's red soil . Members of Vijaya's community were called Sinhala, after Sinhabahu. Vijaya's ministers and other followers established several villages; Upatissa established Upatissagāma on the bank of the Gambhira river, north of Anuradhagama. Vijaya's followers decided to crown him king, but for this he needed
288-508: A letter to Sumitta, but died before receiving a reply. His ministers from Upatissagāma then governed the kingdom for a year while they waited for a reply. In Sinhapura, Sumitta had become king and had three sons. His queen was a daughter of the king of Madda (possibly Madra ). When Vijaya's messengers arrived, Sumitta asked one of his sons to go to Lanka because he was too old; Panduvasdeva , his youngest son, volunteered. Panduvasdeva and 32 sons of Sumitta's ministers reached Lanka, where he became
324-463: A maiden of a noble house as queen. His ministers sent emissaries with gifts to the city of Madhura, which was ruled by a Pandya king. (Madhura is identified with Madurai , a city in Tamil Nadu ). The king agreed to send his daughter as Vijaya's bride, and asked other families to offer their daughters as brides for Vijaya's followers. Several families volunteered, and were rewarded by the king, who sent
360-528: A number of commuter trains, with all local trains stopping at the station. The station comprises three platforms and two siding loops . In 1885 the railway was extended to Nanu Oya . Sinhala language Sinhala ( / ˈ s ɪ n h ə l ə , ˈ s ɪ ŋ ə l ə / SIN -hə-lə, SING -ə-lə ; Sinhala: සිංහල , siṁhala , [ˈsiŋɦələ] ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( / ˌ s ɪ n ( h ) ə ˈ l iː z , ˌ s ɪ ŋ ( ɡ ) ə ˈ l iː z / SIN -(h)ə- LEEZ , SING -(g)ə- LEEZ ),
396-722: A period of prior bilingualism: "The earliest type of contact in Sri Lanka, not considering the aboriginal Vedda languages, was that which occurred between South Dravidian and Sinhala. It seems plausible to assume prolonged contact between these two populations as well as a high degree of bilingualism. This explains why Sinhala looks deeply South Dravidian for an Indo-Aryan language. There is corroboration in genetic findings." In addition to many Tamil loanwords , several phonetic and grammatical features also present in neighbouring Dravidian languages set modern spoken Sinhala apart from its Northern Indo-Aryan relatives. These features are evidence of close interactions with Dravidian speakers. Some of
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#1732852862647432-427: A village, where they met a general of the Vanga Kingdom. The general was a cousin of Suppadevi, and later married her. Sinha began ravaging villages to find his missing family. The king of Vanga announced a reward to anyone who could kill Sinha, and Sinhabahu killed his father to claim the reward. By the time Sinhabahu returned to the capital, the king of Vanga was dead. Sinhabahu was crowned the new king, but later passed
468-473: Is a conspicuous example of the linguistic phenomenon known as diglossia . Sinhala ( Siṁhala ) is a Sanskrit term; the corresponding Middle Indo-Aryan ( Eḷu ) word is Sīhala . The name is a derivative of [[[:wikt:सिंह|siṁha]]] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script ( help ) , the Sanskrit word for 'lion'. The name is sometimes glossed as 'abode of lions', and attributed to
504-584: Is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka , who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also spoken as the first language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about 2 million speakers as of 2001. It is written using the Sinhala script , which is a Brahmic script closely related to the Grantha script of South India. Sinhala
540-479: Is divided into four epochs: The most important phonetic developments of Sinhala include: According to Wilhelm Geiger , an example of a possible Western feature in Sinhala is the retention of initial /v/ which developed into /b/ in the Eastern languages (e.g. Sanskrit viṁśati "twenty", Sinhala visi- , Hindi bīs ). This is disputed by Muhammad Shahidullah who says that Sinhala Prakrit branched off from
576-412: Is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, alongside Tamil . Along with Pali , it played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. Early forms of the Sinhala language are attested as early as the 3rd century BCE. The language of these inscriptions, still retaining long vowels and aspirated consonants, is a Prakrit similar to Magadhi , a regional associate of
612-450: The Mahāvaṃsa , the king of Vanga (the historical Bengal region) married a princess named Mayavati of neighbouring Kalinga (present-day Odisha ). The couple had a daughter, Suppadevi, who was prophesied to mate with the king of beasts. As an adult, Princess Suppadevi left Vanga to seek an independent life. She joined a caravan headed for Magadha , which was attacked by Sinha ("lion") in
648-700: The Middle Indian Prakrits that had been used during the time of the Buddha . The most closely related languages are the Vedda language (an endangered, indigenous creole still spoken by a minority of Sri Lankans, mixing Sinhala with an isolate of unknown origin and from which Old Sinhala borrowed various aspects into its main Indo-Aryan substrate), and the Maldivian language . It has two main varieties, written and spoken, and
684-546: The Pulindas of India). Vijaya was crowned king. The Pandya king's daughter became his queen, and other women were married to his followers according to their rank. Vijaya bestowed gifts on his ministers and his father-in-law; he abandoned his evil ways, and ruled Lanka in peace and justice. Vijaya had no other children after Kuveni left. Concerned in old age that he would die without an heir, he decided to bring his twin brother Sumitta from India to govern his kingdom. Vijaya sent
720-576: The UNESCO National Commission of Ceylon According to Wilhelm Geiger , Sinhala has features that set it apart from other Indo-Aryan languages. Some of the differences can be explained by the substrate influence of the parent stock of the Vedda language . Sinhala has many words that are only found in Sinhala, or shared between Sinhala and Vedda and not etymologically derivable from Middle or Old Indo-Aryan. Possible examples include kola for leaf in Sinhala and Vedda (although others suggest
756-464: The 13th century CE, recognised a category of words that exclusively belonged to early Sinhala. The grammar lists naram̆ba (to see) and koḷom̆ba (fort or harbour) as belonging to an indigenous source. Koḷom̆ba is the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo . The consistent left branching syntax and the loss of aspirated stops in Sinhala is attributed to a probable South Dravidian substratum effect. This has been explained by
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#1732852862647792-700: The Eastern Prakrits prior to this change. He cites the edicts of Ashoka , no copy of which shows this sound change. An example of an Eastern feature is the ending -e for masculine nominative singular (instead of Western -o ) in Sinhalese Prakrit. There are several cases of vocabulary doublets , one example being the words mæssā ("fly") and mækkā ("flea"), which both correspond to Sanskrit makṣikā but stem from two regionally different Prakrit words macchiā (Western Prakrits) and makkhikā (as in Eastern Prakrits like Pali ). In 1815,
828-813: The Rada, or Rarh, region) or Singhpur, near Jajpur ( Sinhapura, Odisha ). Those who identify the Lala kingdom with present-day Gujarat place it in present-day Sihor . Another theory identifies it with the village of Singupuram , near Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh . It has also been placed in present-day Thailand or on the Malay Peninsula . Vijaya was made the prince regent by his father, but he and his band of followers became notorious for their violent deeds. After their repeated complaints failed to stop him, prominent citizens demanded that Vijaya be put to death. King Sinhabahu then expelled Vijaya and his 700 followers from
864-568: The Yakkha city of Lankapura. She asked her children to remain behind as she entered the city, where other Yakkhas saw her as a traitor; suspected of spying, she was killed by a Yakkha. On the advice of her maternal uncle, the children fled to Sumanakuta (identified with Adam's Peak ). In the Malaya region of Lanka, they married and began the Pulinda race (identified with the Vedda people, not to be confused with
900-508: The colonisation of the island by the British, as one of the colony's centres of Coffee Production . Nawalapitiya is located at the junction of Nawalapitya- Ginigathena (B319); Nawalypitia- Kotmale (B317) and Kandy Roads (AB13). In 1874 the railway line was extended from Kandy to Nawalapitiya, with the Nawalapitiya railway station opening on 21 December. The station serves as a terminus for
936-483: The features that may be traced to Dravidian influence are: ඒක ēka it අලුත් aḷut new කියලා kiyalā having-said මම mama I දන්නවා dannavā know ඒක අලුත් කියලා මම දන්නවා ēka aḷut kiyalā mama dannavā it new having-said I know "I know that it is new." ඒක ēka it අලුත් aḷut new ද da Q කියලා kiyalā having-said මම mama I දන්නේ Prince Vijaya Prince Vijaya (c. 543–505 BCE)
972-569: The form of a dog. One of the followers thought that a dog indicated habitation, and followed her. After some time, he saw a Yakkhini named Kuveni (or Kuvanna) who was spinning thread . Kuveni tried to devour him, but Vijaya's magical thread protected him. Unable to kill him, Kuveni hurled the follower into a chasm ; she then did the same thing to all 700 followers. Vijaya went to Kuveni's place, looking for his men; he overpowered her, and forced her to free them. Kuveni asked Vijaya to spare her life, swearing loyalty to him. She brought food and goods from
1008-403: The guardianship of Lanka to the lotus-coloured god ( Upulvan ), who came to Lanka in the guise of an ascetic to protect Vijaya. Wilhelm Geiger identifies the lotus-coloured god as Vishnu ; uppala is the blue lotus . Senarath Paranavithana identifies him with Varuna . Vijaya tied a protective ( paritta ) thread on the hands of his followers. Later, a Yakkhini appeared before them in
1044-538: The island of Ceylon came under British rule . During the career of Christopher Reynolds as a Sinhalese lecturer at the School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London , he extensively researched the Sinhalese language and its pre-1815 literature. The Sri Lankan government awarded him the Sri Lanka Ranjana medal for his work. He wrote the 377-page An anthology of Sinhalese literature up to 1815 , selected by
1080-495: The kingdom. The men's heads were half-shaved, and they were put on a ship that set out to sea. The wives and children of the 700 men were sent on separate ships. Vijaya and his followers landed at a place called Supparaka; the women landed at a place called Mahiladipaka, and the children landed at a place called Naggadipa. Vijaya's ship later reached Lanka, in the area known as Tambapanni , on the day that Gautama Buddha died in northern India. Those who think that Vijaya set out from
1116-464: The kingship to his mother's husband (the general). Returning to his birthplace in Lala, he founded the city of Sinhapura (or Sihapura). Sinhabahu married his sister, Sinhasivali, and they had 32 sons (16 pairs of twins). Vijaya Singha ("the greatly victorious") was their eldest son, followed by his twin Sumitta. The location of Sinhapura is uncertain. It has been identified with Singur, West Bengal (in
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1152-513: The new ruler. In Sri Lanka, the legend of Vijaya is political rhetoric used to explain the origin and genetics of the Sinhalese; it is often treated as an account of historical events. Sinhalese scholars such as K. M. de Silva have used the legend to confirm the Indo-Aryan origin of the Sinhalese, distinguishing them from the Dravidians ; Tamil authors such as Satchi Ponnambalam have dismissed
1188-447: The prophecy. He kept Suppadevi in captivity in a cave, and they had two children: a son named Sinhabahu (or Sihabahu, "lion-armed") and a daughter named Sinhasivali (or Sihasivali). When the children grew up, Sinhabahu asked his mother why she and Sinha looked so different. After she told him about her royal ancestry, he decided to go to Vanga. While Sinha was out, Sinhabahu escaped from the cave with Suppadevi and Sinhasivali. They reached
1224-518: The ships of the traders she had devoured for Vijaya and his followers, and Vijaya took her as his consort. Vijaya woke up to the sounds of music and singing. Kuveni told him that the island was home to Yakkhas, who would kill her for sheltering Vijaya's men, and the sound was from wedding festivities in the Yakkha city of Sirisavatthu. With Kuveni's help, Vijaya defeated the Yakkhas. Vijaya and Kuveni had two children: Jivahatta and Disala. Vijaya established
1260-663: The west coast of India (Sinhapura was in Gujarat) identify present-day Sopara as the location of Supparaka. Those who think that Sinhapura was in the Vanga-Kalinga region identify it with locations off the east coast of India; S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar speculates that Supparaka might have been Sumatra . According to the Mahavamsa , Gautama Buddha asked the lord of gods (identified as Indra ) before he attained Nirvana to protect Vijaya in Lanka so Buddhism could flourish there. Indra gave
1296-504: Was a legendary king of Tambapanni , based in modern day Sri Lanka . His reign was first mentioned in Mahāvaṃsa . He is said to have came to Sri Lanka with seven hundred followers after being banished from Sinhapura . However, there is no archaeological evidence of this. After arriving on the island, Vijaya and his settlers defeated a yaksha near "Thammena" ( Tambapaṇṇī ) displacing the inhabitants. Eventually Vijaya's married Kuveni ,
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