If it states that the land where Buddha was born is not India

බුදුරදුන් උපන් දේශය ඉන්දියාව නොවන බව ප්‍රකාශ කළහොත්

 The people lived in Heladiva i.e.  Helayo, in the time of the Buddha had a very close relationship with the Buddha and because of this we can assume that they had used Buddha’s name for the towns and the villages in their country. And also we can assume that in order to make their offerings for Buddha more meaningful, they would have used the name of the Buddha. We can get a very clear idea about this when we take a look on the numerous caves offered for the use of the Buddha.

This particular system of offerings made for the clergy which cannot be traced in any country in the world are well depicted by the inscriptions in Heladiva. But if someone is still driven by the ignorance of the framework of the visit of Mahinda Thero then it will be very difficult for him or her to understand the real Heladiva in Buddha’s time. We should pay more attention on the greatness of the Buddha which was ruined by the author such the one of Mahavamsa (Mahāvamsa). If we fail, then we will be victimized by the false views than by the reality. Because of this point of view, it is visible that the Buddhism had become ‘Mihidusm’. That was the fate experienced by Mihinthalaya.  But not a single person utters a single word about that. Sometimes it could be due to their poor knowledge over this matter.

I would like to present few popular names of villages found in the texts which had been used in the ancient times in Heladiva. They are Buddhagāma බුද්ධගාම, Buddhahelagāma බුද්ධාහේලගාම, Buddhangala බුද්ධංගල, Budhugehinna බුධුගේහින්න, Buddhubāwa බුදූබාව, Buddhumuththāwa බුදුමුත්තෑව, Buddhama බුද්ධම, Buddhanāhela බුද්ධානහෙළ and Buddhawāligāma බුද්ධවාලිගාම. The names of this nature cannot be found from any country in the world. It can be seen in the history that following their own interests, these names had been changed by the invaders who came here in different times. Buddhawāligāma බුද්ධවාලිගාම mentioned here had been a village situated in the Heladiva in the north Jaffna peninsula. Though Buddhawāligāma බුද්ධවාලිගාම had been a village situated in the north in the Buddha’s time, during the times of surveys, this name had been changed in to Valikarmam වලිකාමම්.

Manikdena Puraana Buddhagāma Vihara (1) in Vagapanaha Pallesi Paththu (2) in the Kandapalla Korala (3) in Mathale district is a very ancient monastery in the county.  Major Forbes who mentioned about this place for the first time, introduced this place as an old city. Later, Mullar said it was a palace-complex. According to H.C.P. Bell it was a Buddhist monastery. Now, based on the findings done then and there, this place had been known by many names such as Buddham Vehera බුද්ධම් වෙහෙර, Buddhgamiya බුද්ගමිය, Buddgamu Vehera බුද්ගමු වෙහෙර, Buddhagāma බුද්ධගාම and Rattha රට්ඨ.

Paying homage to the sacred foot print of the Buddha and the sacred Bodhi trees (Bōdhi) are the well known ancient two customs of worshipping practiced in Heladiva.  Historical facts in relation to them can be found from this place. This place is situated in the vicinity of Dambulla and Sigiriya and when that factor is also taken in to consideration, we feel that this is a place which is having a long history. Due to the lack of understanding of the birth place of the Buddha, nobody knows the importance of this Buddhagāma බුද්ධගාම. When the mind is fascinated by the story of the visit of Mahinda Thero, the confidence over the Buddha Rashmi (4) had been disappeared.  There is information to prove that the Buddha had lived in this village. But it cannot be understood due to lack of intelligence.

Even the western nationalities came here ruined the names of villages and cities in the way they wished. If a particular part from a book written by one of them is highlighted with regards to this, it goes as follows.  “ … another canal called “Gōmathi ගෝමතී ” was started from the very same place where the canal called “Achirawathi අචිරවතී” was started and it went up to the eastern direction of the river.”  (Pu.Ma.La.Vi. Page 219”). What is included here is a statement made by Niculas over some branches of the river Mahaveli. “Gōmathi ගෝමතී” found here is a name given by the white men. (5) The real name of that should be Gōthama. When this name is compared with the other names found here, there are enough and more evidence for this name to be confirmed so. It will be realized by the presence of names used in the Buddha’s time such as canal Narmadha නර්මදා ඇළ, canal Yamunaa යමුණා ඇළ, canal Sarabu සාරාභූ ඇළ, canal Neranjara නේර[ජරා ඇළ, canal Bhageeratha භගීරථ ඇළ and Anothaththa Vaapiya අනෝතත්ත වාපිය. But, if we mention that Buddha was not born in India, then how many of them will not be angry over that statement?

1 - Ancient Buddhagaama Vihara in Manikdena.
2 - Paththu – area or province.
3 - Korala – area or province.
4 - The rays of Buddha.
5 - The British.

{The English translation of 'බුද්ධෝත්පත්තිය හෙළදිවයි' (Buddha was born in Heladiva) - Part – 8} 

Translated by Amal Meemanage (amalmeemanage@gmail.com)