MIHINTALAVA

Our chronicles, which are amongst the earliest and the most reliable in the world, records that the first immigrants from India reached our shores on the very day of the Buddha’s Final Release, his ‘Parinibbhana’. As the Master was breathing His last, in the Salgrove of the Mallas in Kusinara, He saw with His divine […]

We are the fortunate heirs of a rich and highly developed culture moulded by the lofty and noble teaching of Buddhism. The introduction of this sublime teaching by the great Emperor Asoka through Arahat Mahinda to our land brought about a remarkable transformation in the life, thought and beliefs of the people. Above all, it […]

The message of Thera Mahinda turns out to be the most fortunate we Sri Lankans received a little over two thousand three hundred years ago. At that time, during the reign of King Devanampiyatissa, were we very highly cultured or not cultured enought that our pre-Buddhist King of Anuradhapura took to deer hunting as a […]

The arrival of Arhat Mahinda from Janbudipa to Sinhaladipa or Lankadipa is no stray incident. The “Mahindagamana” is not a bolt from the blues. The entire event from its conception at Cetiyagiri to his arrival at Misaka Pabbata, now known as Nigindu – talava or Mihintalava, was well thought out, meticulously planned to take place […]

Padma EDIRISINGHE Thousands of Buddhist flags flutter in the island today. If North and Brownrigg had their way, the scenario may have been different. The Whites, converts to a religion born on Asian soil more proximate to Europe did many things to Buddhism as threatening its existence betraying it using education as a tool against […]

Sachitra Mahendra The young ascetic Sumedha was committed to achieve the highest spiritual realm, only a few could reach. That day he heard Dipankara Buddha was visiting his town. What he wanted was a definite prophecy that he would be a Buddha in eons to come. However the place was congested with people and the […]