28 March, 2024

Blog

Tirupathi Factor: Unbreakable Symbol Of Sri Lankan Politicians’ Spiritual Dependence On India

By Punsara Amarasinghe –

Punsara Amarasinghe

Man’s association with faith is the most inexplicable thing in the world which gives no clues of comprehending its very nature. Even the most powerful men in world history were known to be shaky and crumbled before the creed they ardently believed. In the annals of Roman history we find emperors like Hadrian who was extremely obsessed with Hellenic culture and his political decisions were more or less affected from the Greek soothsayers served in Roman imperial court. There are dozens of examples showing how oriental rulers were fascinated with their faith for foreign deities and oracles. Being a country located geographically closer to Indian mainland, Sri Lanka shares an enormous cultural and spiritual legacy from Indian civilization. Even though Sri Lankans tend to boast about their complete separate identity from India, it is a fact beyond dispute that the island’s political and cultural history is imbued with the influences gained from India. Since the day Asoka sent his son Mahendra to spread the word of Buddhism to Sri Lanka in 3rd century BC, the greater influences came from India have made some profound impacts in island’s political map and the present form its impact is reflected from Sinhalese Buddhist politicians knack on visiting the spiritual shrines in India often. In that case, paying homage to God Vishnu’s incarnation Sri Venkateswara in ancient Tirumala Temple located in Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh India by many politicians in Sri Lanka is an interesting phenomenon to observe as the this tradition has been survived in both main political parties in Sri Lanka. 

In tracing the recent history of number of official visits made by prominent Sri Lankan politicians to Tirupathi , it is evident how this spiritual mystic place has become a place of paramount importance to some key political characters in Sri Lanka. Starting from former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to current President Maitripala Sirisena the veneration of Tiru temple always have been crucial before they made any important political decision. It was reported even when president Rajapaksa decided to go for presidential election in 2015 before his term legitimately reached its end, that his decision was shaped by the predictions he heard at Tirupathi from its soothsayers, but on the contrary the outcome of the presidential election in Sri Lanka sent president Rajapaksa home and neither Tirupathi temple non its soothsayers saved him from his unexpected political debacle. Ironically both current president in Sri Lanka and prime minister have visited this Hindu temple several times as devotees. Most recently Sri Lankan prime minister paid homage to Tirupathi after performing an aged old ritual called “Tulabharam”, which is a tradition where a devotee wishes to offer sugar, rice, jaggery or amount equivalent to the weight of his or her body. Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe has known as a liberal minded statesman who is very much passionate in European liberal values, yet this kind of actions demonstrate the fact how spiritual belief in South Asian politics even in carving a mindset of a sophisticated liberal leader. 

The exact nature of Sri Lankan Sinhalese Buddhist mindset on its “Big Brother” India always remains an uncanny riddle as it is filled with love and hate. Sinhalese Buddhist majority in Sri Lanka always perceive India from a dualistic point of view. Throughout the history of the Island till Europeans arrived in 16th century , all the foreign invasions that stuck Sri Lanka had come from India and Sri Lanka’s ancient kings always had their bitter encounters with Chola empire in South India and many Sinhalese kings sought the assistance from Palllava and Pandawa’s in South India when Cholas attacked ancient Sinhalese kingdom of Anuradhapura. In post independent period both states faced their own socio-economic and political chaos, yet Indian influence on Sri Lankan grew stronger in parallel to how Tamil minority issue began to bloom in Sri Lanka’s politics. Many Sinhalese believed and still believe India was the architect behind planting the seeds of separatist ideology among Tamil minority and this antipathy reached its climax in 1987 when Sri Lankan president JR Jayewardene signed Indo- Lanka agreement with Indian premier Rajeev Gandhi, which caused uproar in Sinhalese society. Despite having such antagonistic attitude towards India, it is rather strange how Sinhalese society in Sri Lanka venerates India from a different side, that has nourished mainly due to Buddhism which Sri Lankan preserves as the biggest gift they received from India and also the spiritual beliefs that have spread across Sri Lankan society such as worshiping deities and reading horoscopes have mainly ascended upon Sinhalese Buddhist sub consciousness from larger Indian influence. As a matter of fact Sri Lankan politicians’ utmost faith in worshiping Tirupathi is a continuation of this deep psychological attachment to India even though they have bitter enmities on Indian policy making on Sri Lanka. As an example, it was evident that former president of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa upheld a closer link with China which caused New Delhi to be suspicious about him and after his unexpected defeat at the hand of Maitripala Srisena who happened to be the common candidate of the joint opposition , Mr.Rajapaksa openly accused Indian intelligence RAW for planning his defeat in 2015 presidential elections, but  his devotion on Indian spirituality has not yet been reduced as he still visits Tirupathi Temple and other holy places in India. 

In fact Sri Lanka’s nature as a cultural and spiritual parasite of Indian civilization is the most vitally important factor that always India can rely on expanding its influence whereas China being the recent involver lacks such a privilege to execute. In Using Joseph Nye’s Soft Power analogy , one can say Indian influence upon Sri Lanka’s politics and overall social structure is highly unlikely to be diminished in future albeit the ongoing Chinese involvement in Sri Lanka’s economy. It may not be an hyperbolic remark to state that Tirupathi ritual has gone beyond the stage of a mere cult worship by Sri Lankan politicians and India can proudly boast of it as a one practical diplomatic strategies in shaping the relations between two states. Being the regional power in South Asia India has used different approaches to keep its grip over other South Asian countries, For an example Nepal and Bhutan depend heavily on India as landlocked sates and their destines have always been imbued with India as their patron state. Sri Lanka’s aged long spiritual dependence of India always stands as a crucial factor in the relations between both countries and Tirpathi symbolizes its unbreakable rigor. 

Punsara Amarasinghe is a PhD Candidate in Public International Law at Institute of Law and Politics at Scuola Superiore Sant Anna in Pisa, Italy. He holds his LL.B from University of Colombo and LL.M from South Asian University, New Delhi India. He held a research fellowship at Faculty of Law, Higher School of Economics in Moscow and served as a guest lecturer at faculty of arts at University of Colombo. 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Latest comments

  • 8
    2

    Are these jokers first of all Buddhists? Buddha got away from Hinduism owing to cast discrimination, Brahmanical exploitation and talking of moksha only in the non-existing next birth. Buddha was against cast system and he also believed in some form of bliss in this birth itself through good deeds as there is no next birth. Brahmanas justified the poor discriminated many by hoodwinking them that do your duty in this birth without expecting anything in return and then you will go to Moksha and without rebirth and live happily ever after. Muslims said you kill in the name of Islam and you too will end up in heaven aka moksha but with 70 Virgins have eternal sexual bliss 24/7.

    These Sinhala Buddhist fools neither understand Buddhism or Hinduism and just being hoodwinked by their ignorance, stupidity and phobia. They are a shame to Buddha. Thanks to the Buddhist clergy, many of whom too are hell bent on disgracing Buddha and Buddhism. Many today refer to it as Sinhala Buddhism, an entity made from racism and blind religious faith. Poor Buddha who fought against the Brahmins to reform from Hinduism yet ended up in the same trap. In fact Buddhism’s spread to Sri Lanka made all the difference and in fact created even a race, yet the guys out of their total ignorance fell into the same trap as Indian and evil Tamil Hindu extremist and blind followers. Then who are benefited? Obviously the Brahmins and the Buddhist clergy. I have seen these clergy breaking coconut at Hindu temples and worshiping deities and oh lord Buddha the have already ruined Buddha’s effort. These cheap Sinhala politicians are filling part of their loots into thirupathy Bhramins coffers. What a bunch of idiots be it Mahintha or ranil or Aiyo MY3. Disgusting and disgraceful. A land of utmost confusion struggle to find an identity.

    • 6
      2

      /*

      In fact Buddhism’s spread to Sri Lanka made all the difference and in fact created even a race

      */

      Click on my name “Jambu” above to read by post.

      The Buddha was himself a Sinhala person.

      • 4
        2

        Jambu says “The Buddha was himself a Sinhala person”.
        He meant “……….a Govigama Sinhala ……….”

        • 2
          1

          All Buddha’s that emerge on this star-system are born in the island of Sri Lanka.

          That means the present Buddha, the Gotama then Kashyapa, Konagama et al. It is a long list.

          They all speak Maghadi – a parent and an older version of Sinhala.

          I urge you to click on the link above with the name ‘Jambu’ to get accustomed to the idea.

    • 7
      1

      “Throughout the history of the Island till Europeans arrived in 16th century , all the foreign invasions that stuck Sri Lanka had come from India and Sri Lanka’s ancient kings always had their bitter encounters with Chola empire”
      Even Punsara seems to suffer from the Mahavamsa mindset. The fact is that these were neither foreign nor invasions. How could someone who arrived 200 years after Vijaya be an invader, but not Vijaya?
      How come Mahinda is not an invader? Nowadays we know that the island has more than 30,000 years of human habitation,most of the time as a solidly connected appendage of what became Tamil Nadu. It is ridiculous to hear allegedly educated people talk about our “unique identity” when in fact the difference between a Keralite and a “Sinhalese” (if there is any such creature) is much less than that between a Tamil and a Punjabi.
      We are as much Indians as Taiwanese are Chinese.
      Let us forget petty-minded jingoism cum snide references to toilets and take pride in Indian achievements as our own.

    • 3
      5

      You are the ignorant one, dumb Tamil joker. Sinhala Buddhism is synonymously used for Theravada Buddhist school. That’s how it has been from ancient times – just read about Buddhism in Thailand and east Asia to understand what you are talking about. Tamils and their lackeys have tried to give a new definition to Sinhala Buddhism by dragging in politics and Sinhalese agitation against Tamil hegemony into Buddhism. FYI if a Buddhist monk engages in violence against someone, it doesn’t mean that the monk is practicing Buddhism. Do understand, dumb Tamil joker? You Tamil joker has nothing you should be talking or opening your joker’s mouth about, when it comes to Buddhism or for that matter real Hinduism. Tamil Hindus are evil? You think just because you criticize your own, you call a whole section of a population evil? You are totally out of your mind. And its not “cast” but caste. Hinduism and animism was the ancient religion of the Sinhalese. The Sinhalese never abandoned Hinduism and venerate Hindu Gods without the rituals even today. We do not need your permission to worship any God we wish. Got it, you dumb Tamil joker? You have no idea about Buddhism, so keep out of talking about it. Get an education.

      • 0
        0

        if these Tamil did have a Indian state, Sri lanka will never have problem with India. Tamil gangs is one problem, but if Sri lanka was powerful country, There won’t be Tamil gang nor foreign exploiters who exploit Tamil

        • 0
          0

          Jayt,
          Never heard of a state called Tamil Nadu? Your ignorance is truly world-class!

        • 2
          0

          Jayt

          “Tamil gangs is one problem, but if Sri lanka was powerful country, There won’t be Tamil gang nor foreign exploiters who exploit Tamil”

          Under the all powerful Gota the country will become very powerful. Please wait until Gota is elected the president of this island, he will run trains on time, he will fight the west and Tamils on the beaches, he will commit himself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the black hole and returning him safely to the Earth, he will make available the facilities for each and every human in this island the right to have Gene-silencing or Gene Editing and fit with Artificial Intelligence.

          This country will become not only a powerful country but a brainy country as well. China might consider providing head transplant facilities in this island of ours.

          The women of this island will be eager to have Gota’s children, hence his sperms will be rationed.

    • 0
      0

      My dear friendly, actually are they Singhalese? or you know who they are trying to fool somebody?

  • 4
    1

    Nathan!
    You are right. Sinhalese Buddhists have a Love Hate’ relationship to-words India. They love India because of Lord Buddha and hate India because of Tamils. Thirupthy is one of the richest temple in India, hence all the Rich and the Famous visit the temple from Srilanka, more for publicity purposes rather than to pray. Similar to Kathirkamam, where the murderers and the victims relations visit. .Murderers to escape the wrath of God & the Victims’ relations seeking punishment to the murderers. I feel sorry for the God’s predicament . Let both Gods from Thirupathy and Kathirkamam make a joint effort to save Srilanka.

    • 1
      4

      Its not Kathirkamam, but Kataragama.

      • 6
        1

        KATHIRKAMAM IS TAMIL

        • 2
          2

          Why is it so hard to say Kataragama?

          • 0
            0

            Kathirgamam’s history is here.

            https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=401

            It is an ancient shrine of/for God Murugan

          • 0
            1

            Is it very hard to say Kathirkamam?. The Buddhist commenced worshiping Kathirkamam lord Muruga as Skantha very much after the so called freedom. Rightly or wrongly the Buddhist felt drawn to-words Lord Muruga as much as to the other Hindu gods else where, and started calling it Kataragama and introduced statues of lord Buddha into the temple premises. Once the Buddhists established themselves there, they did not like the Ramakrisna Mission Rest being popular and sounded Hindu. Hence they dismantled the mission building under the guise of ‘Sacred Area’, It appears that a place become sacred only after lord Buddhas Statues are planted. While I have nothing against lord Buddha in other parts of the world I am rather concerned about Hindu gods statues being replaced by lord Buddha’s statues like in Mullaitheevu by the Hamuduruwas with the support of the Army and Police
            Unfortunately, Buddhism is being polluted in Srilanka for political purposes and to damage the good relations with the Hindu Tamils.
            Having said all this I maintain that religion is the cause of most of the murder and mayhem all over the world, perhaps lead by Srilankan Buddhists. Man can exist without religion but religion can’t exist without man. Satu sathu sa/Arohara/Amen.
            “Then Nadu Udaya Sivane Potri En Nattavarukkum Iraiva Potri’
            Meaning’ that “Lord Shiva hails from the south but blesses every one in the world , without discrimination”

          • 2
            1

            it is Kathirkamam, an ancient preshitoric Tamil Hindu Saivite place of worship. This where Lord Murukan met and wooed the Vedda lass Valliamma and married her. Now after independence Sinhalese Buddhist Fascists have replaced all the ancient Hindu statues with Buddah statues , just like they are doing in the Vanni and in the east and called it a Buddhist place of worship, destroyed the Hindu Ramakrishna Mission and renamed the place Kataragama, just like Kantalai, became Kantale, Manal Aru became Welioya, Chellapam became Chilaw, Pattipalai Aru became Gal Oya and Amparai became Ampara. the list goes on. Another ancient name for Lord Murukan in Tamil is Kathirkamar ( the god from Kathirkamam) . This is a very ancient Sri Lankan Tamil name to address Lord Murukan. This is why many Tamil males are named Kathikamar, Kathirkaman. Kathirkamathambi in honours of the Tamil god Murugan. He is a pure Tamil god.. The Sankritised version of his name is Hirthik or Karthik. That the Sinhalese worship him as a major god and go in still go in droves to his temple in Kathirkamam and are using Buddhism now to claim this for themselves and have stolen it for themselves, proves their ancient Tamil origin and their great devotion to the gods of their Tamil ancestors , like Lord Murukan( Kathirkamar) , Pattini, Ayanayake( Ayannar)

            • 0
              0

              Siva!
              Unfortunately there was a Kathirkamar (a christian)who was considered an enemy of the Tamils unlike many other Christian
              Tamils, except perhaps Sumanthiran PC who is neither fish nor fowl no vegetable.

  • 1
    0

    Humans created God/s and/or Messenger/s.
    No wonder the God/s and Messenger/s acted and/or act like humans.
    .
    Almost all the Gods of the Indian sub-continent, by word of mouth, have been projected as ‘favour-granters’.
    Tirupathi God as THE one who can be bribed into granting favours.
    .
    The world over, politicians are corrupt. SL is no exception and Punsara Amarasinghe points out “Tirupathi Factor: Unbreakable Symbol Of Sri Lankan Politicians’ Spiritual Dependence On India”.

  • 3
    0

    I am wondering why Italian – Sri lankan was selected to spread Anti-Indian sentiments among Sri lankans. I think Sri lankan and Indian cultures are intertwined far, far longer than the supposed time of the western estimates of the beginning of the human civilization or Human Evolution. When Europeans were jumping from branch to branch of a tree,; when they were getting ready to climb down from trees, India, Sri lanka and Asia had civilizations.

  • 1
    0

    Sri Lanka political leaders, in spite of their inherent anti-Indian prejudices, rush to Tirupathy and temples in Kerala because, whether we are obstinate or not, ethnically Sinhalese have a strong and more recent Indian (Dravidian) blood-line. Learned men with decades of honourable research work behind them like Prof. Sudarshan Seneviratne and Shiran Deraniyagala will not openly deny this irrefutable factor. Openly, they may – for public consumption, if you like. But this is because of the bogus but hostile nationalism. This is more because of the variety like Gandassara around with hundreds of blood-thirsty yellow-robed thugs hanging around them – a serious embarrassment to genuine and pious Buddhists. Let me add, a Dravidian blood-line does not mean they are less Sinhalese. They are not. They have every right to feel proud to be Sinhala Buddhists.

    Puththisali

  • 1
    1

    Punchi Gona,

    Who asked you not to worship anything you want and why not even worship MR or Gnanasara? Your language alone is a proof of your ignorance and primitive archaic mind set evolved from uncertainty. My foot, clown who said Buddha is a Sinhalese? Is he related to you too? Modaya like you are responsible for all the modakama, distortion and making religious philosophies a joke. Wake up man and keep an open mind and look around if you want to go to Moksha despite your stupidity and warped thinking. By the way where was Buddha born, is it Matara? What else? You are a good village story teller. By the way Ravana too a Sinhalese? Being a wife lifter it may be even possible. Be sensible before you open your gap.

    • 2
      0

      /*

      My foot, clown who said Buddha is a Sinhalese?

      */

      Well, it was me Jambu who said so. I even furnished an article with historical references from Marco Polo, Robert Knox et al to explain the story.

      So look, it does come as quite a shock to most. That is understandable. Ask me anything and I will explain things to you,

      /*

      By the way where was Buddha born, is it Matara?

      */

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKaVbXWICCo

      He was born in Lumbini – Sri Lanka. Currently the location of the Bambaragala temple shown in above video.

      As usual I have the kink under my name “Jambu”.

    • 1
      1

      Stop trolling, you useless Tamil troll – somebody says that Buddha is Sinhalese, and I am related to that person? If that’s how your head functions, no wonder you write these totally useless comments. Why should I worship Mahinda and Gnasara? If you like them so much you can worship them.
       
      FYI – We do not care who the Gods are or who else worship them. If we like a God, we will worship him. If we do not like the religious philosophies we will change them. There’s nothing you can do to stop it. I do not care where the Buddha or Ravana was born, or whether they were Sinhalese or not, I only care about saving my country from Tamil jokers like yourself. Also one thing which is certain about Buddha and Ravana is they were most certainly not Tamils.
       
      Another thing which is certain is that Tamils like you desperately need to be coached in how to behave in a peaceful manner, and not to insult other people’s religions and sinking to lowly tricks of insulting and attacking people by putting their treasured spiritual beings like the Buddha against them and saying the stuff you say – examples: “ They (the Sinhalese) are a shame to Buddha ”, “ …disgracing Buddha and Buddhism ” etc. etc. You must know, your behaviour proves that you are a disgrace to humanity for the hate speech you propagate against the innocent Sinhalese people, even resorting to lowly vicious tricks like dragging in the Buddha. As long as your type of Tamils with your hatred towards the innocent Sinhalese people exist, it is evident why there will never be peace here.

      • 1
        1

        Punchi Point
        Punchi Brain
        Punchi Willi

        ” somebody says that Buddha is Sinhalese, and I am related to that person?”

        Some Sinhalese have been brainwashed to believe they are the descendants of Shakya clan and the Shakyamuni Buddha belonged them.

        Excerpts:
        Sri Lanka-India Relations – Substratum is Buddhism
        by Satharathilaka Banda Atugoda
        …..
        It was at this time that Siddhartha Gauthama’s (Buddha’s) paternal uncle Amithodana moved away the Sakya kingdom to Kalinga from Patalipuththa, due to the onslaughts of Vidhuda, a rival ruler. The Sakyas established a kingdom in Kalinga and Amithodana was succeeded by his son Pandu-Sakya. The matrimonial links between the Sakya’s and the Lankan Monarchy was such that Pandu-Sakya’s daughter Baddha-Kachchayana married Panduvasudeva in Lanka.
        …..
        ….
        There were trying moments in his childhood and attempts on his life that he eliminated uncles who were against him and he became the first Monarch in Anuradhapura. He married his uncle Girikhanda Siva’s daughter Swarnapali. He spared the two uncles Abhaya and Girikhanda Siva. His son was Mutasiva, and Devanampiyatissa was Mutasiva’s son. This lineage provides sufficient evidence to show that Lanka had extremely close blood links with the Sakya Kingdoms, and Sri Lanka- India relations were at the zenith due to the Buddhist Doctrine.

        http://www.island.lk/2009/01/10/satmag2.html


        Punchi
        You cannot have the cake and eat it.

        People like you have a serious problem.
        You never knew who you are.
        You think you know who you are
        However I know who I am.
        Please spend some time and discover your origin.
        Start your search here and now.

        • 0
          0

          /*

          The matrimonial links between the Sakya’s and the Lankan Monarchy was such that Pandu-Sakya’s daughter Baddha-Kachchayana married Panduvasudeva in Lanka.

          */

          That is true. Although Sakya’s live in the East of the island and Lanka is towards the west of the island. “Lanka” is not the entire island.

          Click “Jambu” for the map.

  • 2
    1

    Faith as it manifests in its multitude should be allowed to do so. Whether it is Tirupati or anywhere else, if the spiritual needs of anyone is satisfied, why not let them do it? Just don’t do asinine stuff like donating everything to Tirupati or any other place. Live and let live.

    Buddha is regarded in the highest esteem in most of Hinduism (except perhaps the crazy Dravidian version). That is why he is considered an avatar of Vishnu himself.

    The problem is the Dravidian -Indo-Aryan issue with Lankan Sinhalese and Tamils. The last war of Mahabharat was fought on the banks of Nandikadal, and the Sinhalese Aryan forces won. That completed over 5 millenia long battle between invading Aryans and Dravidian and natives Adivasis. Sadly the battle is now over for Dravidian forces. They should just collaborate with the Sinhalese. After all Sinhalese themselves, though fighting the last Aryan battle, don’t know they are Aryans for the most part and have no affinity to the Mahabharat war or anything else from history except their own Dutugemunu legends. A much wider, broader war manifested in Lanka and the cheer from across the Palk Straights came not only from North Indians of Aryan origin but also from the Dravidian fluent, Brahmins of South India, who assiduously study the Vedas and revere Sanskrit at home. After all they migrated to the South from the North, as full Brahmins and never mixed with the Dravidians.

    This is a complex subject but the spiritual heart of South Asia is in India and it does a cycle around it and definitely manifests in Lanka as well. Both lands are blessed with and enormous spiritual heritage.

    • 1
      1

      Jay Chambers

      “After all they migrated to the South from the North, as full Brahmins and never mixed with the Dravidians.”

      Is it so?
      Could you define Dravidians?
      Could you also define none Dravidians?

      “This is a complex subject but the spiritual heart of South Asia is in India and it does a cycle around it and definitely manifests in Lanka as well.”

      Just like the Sinhala/Buddhist fascists destroying this island the Hindutva fascists have already staring the process of self destruction.

      BJP, Shiv Sena, …………… may have vacancies for a twisted Aryan Hindu ideologue like M.S. Golwalkar. You have good chance of succeeding him.

      • 1
        0

        Mr. Vedda, it would really help you to peruse a few good refence books from a decent library and educate yourself as well as follow some groundbreaking genetic research under way in the world these days. Let me help you out here a bit and see whether it helps.
        Start by reading the book “Early Indian” by Tony Joseph. Then read the research by Prof. David Reich of Harvard, who has the world’s best technology and researchers and had published a multi-decade research paper (actually a tome) on South Asia. These establish, without the usual anecdotal mumbo jumbo, the validity of the Aryan Invasion theory. Its a fact, and the Indian Brahmin are mostly genetically related to higher echelons of Persia (Iran) and both groups are related to Caucasians of Europe.
        These are facts. And Indian Vedas, specially the Rig Veda, is nothing other than the tale of the invasion and conquering of India by Aryans. Even Indian politicians do not like to hear these facts these days, because they want to talk about an Out of India theory, which is just hogwash.
        Lankan Sinhalese are the bearers of the blood of the original Aryans, albeit diluted now. The power of the original blood is evident in the Anuradpura civilization, which is akin to a Persian, Greek, Roman or North Indian stylistically. The local “Ravana” blood sure blended into the Sinhalese and also some South Indian, but the dialect of Maghadi spoken by the Buddha, through Pali, has become Sinhalese, which shares a multitude of nouns and etymology with Aryan languages of North India and Europe.
        Personally I would definitely support BJP, Shiv Sena and RSS as it is needed to fight the fanatic forces of Jihadi Moslems, which India must undertake sooner or later.

        • 1
          1

          Mr Chambers,
          That was a good education for the pesky kalaveddah.
          You as a highly cultured visitor to SL know what sort of extremists are present here. I would include not only Tamil racists but other nut-cases like those who oppose the efforts of our agricultural genius Ratana Thero. Your thoughts would be highly appreciated?

          • 1
            0

            L.A. Buddhadasa

            Please read what one of our regular commentator Douglas on March 2, 2017 wrote about the saffron clad part time politician/businessman and full time racist :
            Excerpt from:
            Athuraliye Rathana Thero Hits Out At Ranil Says He Is A ‘Loser’
            MARCH 2, 2017
            Colombo Telegraph

            {Perhaps , what Native Vedda suggested could be the reason i.e ” ….. bought Athraliye Rathanasara for a good price”. Recently he sold his car permit too and could be looking for more to retire and seek NIRVANA.}

            Enjoy reading the rest of his comment.

    • 0
      1

      Tamils always held lord Buddha in very high esteem/ respect unlike the Sinhalese and the Burmese who eclipsed themselves behind the Buddhist Religion (Not The Philosophy) and went on murdering the minorities and replacing statues (Hindu) and chasing the Muslims to Bangladesh. One of my Sinhalese Buddhist friend told me, that he likes the Hindu Religion because it has many Gods and if he gets angry with one God he can seek the help of the other. May be true. Perhaps that is the reason why Buddhists have many Hindu gods in their Pansaalas, though they don’t say it in so many words.
      It may be prudent to worship unknown/unseen gods, rather than ‘God’ like humans.

  • 4
    0

    Belief is a sign of lack of understanding. There is no reason for next life as even atoms do not have properties of rebirth. It can only recycle. India has umpteen gods and beliefs, just indicating how much Indians understand. If one is an ardent believer, he or she should understand that you cannot operate a local account for afterlife privileges. The afterlife account has to be opened after going there, by being a good human. If one is wise, he will operate the local account while alive on this earth. Heaven is all what we sense in this universe. There is no one out there, with virgins or otherwise. It is pathetic to see people being so foolish looking for better life after death than while living on this good earth miserably.

  • 1
    0

    ay,
    First of all Aryan is not a race but it refers to some respectable person in Sanskrit. Those who lived in the region of mainly north western part of Indian came to be referred to as Aryan without any validation. Hitler too an Ariyan. Where as the Bhramins are a blend of suckers of varied origin and varied values but it Botton line a bunch of opportunistic self seeking guys who subsequently wrote all kinds of vedas, upanishad, Gita and many more all for their exclusive benefit and exploited the people in the name of god and religion. Do you know Tamil is known to be older than Sanskrit. Later sanskrit became more refined and used for great literary works in Hinduism and stories like mahabaradha and Ramayana, all good fictions. But these guys ensured that the poor masses believed all these as true and started worshipping then including the monkey god hanuman. This is all corrupt Brahmin exploitation and even now these opportunists are against dravidians because they are Para Brahmins. Still they are active and influenced and encouraged by North Indian Hindu extremists.
    When moguls came these guys were with them and some even became Muslims and when British came they joined them and exploited the poor Indians. Their mantras are a simple bluff recited in almost extinct Sanskrit that vast majority don’t understand. They did not even allow others to learn Sanskrit saying it was a divine, godly language that is meant for Brahmins only.
    In TN they are getting the works and hence their antiTamil stand. These guys always divide Indian through caste lines while calling themselves as in between lower castes and God, what a bloody mischief. As long as these guys are India, it cannot progress or get out of it ignorance and mess.

  • 0
    0

    There are three clans in Sri Lanka whose origin is India.

  • 0
    1

    Punchi. I uunderstand your racism ant not mine. If you read carefully without your jaundiced eye then you will know who dragged Buddha into criticism and even dared to say he is a Sinhalaya. For that matter at the time of Buddha there were no singhalese and only the natives and dravidians in SL. If Buddha born in SL why all his teachings in Bali?

    For sone of you guys distorting and rewriting history is a part time and a survival instinct. One clown talking of Marcopolo and what an emagination and these are guys who will believe only lies and not facts.

    If my earlier language is harsh then I am sorry about it but some of you guys (some of you who distort truth) deserve a little harsh response. Don’t you agree some of you are a insult to Buddhist philosophies.

  • 3
    1

    Historicaly Tirupathi/ Thirumalai was a Tamil Hindu Vaishnavite shrine until recently . You can still see many ancient inscriptions in Tamil , as it was built by them. This was considered the historical northern boundary of the Tamil lands in India. Later , especially during the British era when Madras presidency was formed , and also during the Telugu origin Vijaynagar empire , Telugus started to migrate and settle in large numbers in the northern Tamil country, especially when Madras became a huge commercial hub. Many areas , which are now part of Southern Andhra , were Tamil but now have a Telugu majority . This also incudes the city of Chennai , which is around 50% Telugu speaking. During the states being reorganised on linguistic basis , due to weak Tamil leadership , Tamils lost a lot of their historic lands to the Telugus, Kanndigas and Malayalis. The Telugus were even trying to claim Chennai ( Then known as Madras) as theirs. They used to arrogantly say ” Madras Mamate” meaning Madras is ours . It was the Raja Gopla Chari he was firm and stated Chennai ( Madras) is Tamil and stopped the Telugus , who had a huge state at that time twice the size of Tamil Nadu from grabbing further historical Tamil lands. The deal was Telugus can have Tirupathi but not Chennai( Madras) and the important port areas. Kamraj who was very high up in the then Indian Congress was happily nodding and agreeing to many important and key Tamil areas like Kolar and other southern areas in Karnataka was given to Karnataka. The huge then Tamil predominating district of Idduki to Kerala and would have handed even Chennai to the Telugus if Rajaji did not stand firm. Many thought that was not decisive and firm with the others due to his untouchable background and this proved a great disservice to the Tamils. Many of the leaders of the Dravidian parties then , like now , despite calling themselves Tamils had a Telugu heritage , so really did not care. Strangely it was a Tamil Brahmin , who many accuse of caste superiority , who stood form and put a stop to this land grabbing

    • 0
      0

      SIVA!
      Not only the Gods World, but even the Cinema World are ruled by Telugus and Malayalis. Tamils claim that ‘Vanthari Valavaikkum Van Thamil Nadu’, meaning that the Tamils welcomed all races into Tamil Nadu and let them live and earn at the expense of the Tamils. Further the poet Barathi Dasan said that’Veru Oruvan Nulaiyathu veli ittuThamil nattan Valththillai’.meaning that Tamils never fenced their borders to prevent others coming in. This resulted in the Tamil language being in a sorry state in Chennai to-day. An achcharu with Tamil,English,Telugu, Malayalam and Kannadam. being used in their dialogue. Exploitation being at its height.
      This is why we should ensure that Tamil language in Eelam/Srilanka does not become a nondescript language.

  • 0
    1

    There is no issue that Tamils and Sinhalese are of the same stock. The problem arose because Sinhala majority in SL tried to show that they are different, so called nonexistent Ariyan race up there and a locally boomed language. This is nothing but religio-political manipulation to capture power. But like in Hindu India, the innocent majority swallowed the gundu and believed they are different. How can they be different. The politicians used Buddhism to mislead the people and even succeeded in it. Can any one believe there is a person trying to portray Buddha as a Sinhalese. What a tragedy and imagine the sense of insecurity. He is even trying to quote references from some trash. Ask Hon Mervin Silva and he will answer this in appropriate language.

  • 3
    0

    I do not think Lanken people or their politicians like Ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksha Or Incumbent PM Ranil Wickramasingha or the others have any faith in south Indian temple called Thirupathi temple but their local Astrologists have some sort of deal with administrations of these temples. When politicians get their horoscopes examined , Those astrologists directed them to visit these temples & get blessings. Astrologists may get percentage of offerings as offerings of our politicians make is very huge. That is the scenario behind this pilgrimage of our politicians. otherwise they do not go there on their own. Their future dream political goals push them to worship those temples under the guidance of their horoscope examiners. That is the general situations among Lanken people. When facing hurdles look for what is written in horoscopes and Examiners take full advantage.

  • 1
    1

    Dear Punsara

    Cool stuff.

    You missed one other point we sacrificed our Mother Lankan Children to Tirupathi to wash off all our sins in our last life???……. Tirupathi demands blood for ‘Arul’ (blessing) in return has to be understood………..the benefit of getting Independence from the Whitman replaced by Tirupathi and the Bollywood to support the breeding program……. Poor Gandiji did not realise what he has let out of the bottle.

    Last time how children were snatched to be taken to the training camps to TN under TULF supervision without the knowledge of the parents/entire planet…..the untold story of the blood bath..the voodoo practice….can TNA do it again???

    Now the question is have we got a list of children ready for the next round of sacrifice………

Leave A Comment

Comments should not exceed 200 words. Embedding external links and writing in capital letters are discouraged. Commenting is automatically disabled after 5 days and approval may take up to 24 hours. Please read our Comments Policy for further details. Your email address will not be published.