Kingdom of Dambadeniya

The Kingdom of Dambadeniya was a medieval kingdom

in what is present day Sri Lanka. The kingdom's rulers Kingdom of Dambadeniya
reigned from 1220–1345.
1220–1345

Contents
History
Founding
Rule from Yapahuwa
Rule from Polonnaruwa
Rule from Kurunagala
Rule of king Parakramabahu IV
Rule after king Parakramabahu IV
Culture
Education
Literature
See also
References Status Kingdom
Capital Dambadeniya
Yapahuwa
History Polonnaruwa
Kurunagala
Common languages Sinhala
Founding
Religion Buddhism
The first king to choose Dambadeniya as his capital was Government Monarchy
Vijayabahu III. He was able to bring about the unity among Monarch
the Sangha that had fled in various directions due to the • 1220–1224 Vijayabahu III
hostile activities of the invader Kalinga Magha and • 1271–1283 Bhuvanaikabahu
succeeded in holding a Buddhist convention in 1226 to I
bring about peace among the Buddhist clergy. • 1283–1302 Interregnum
• 1325/6-1344/5 Vijayabahu V
King Parakramabahu II was the king who inherited the
Historical era Medieval era
throne after King Vijayabahu. He was considered a genius,
who was a great poet and a prolific writer. Among the books • Fall of 1220
Polonnaruwa
he wrote are Kausilumina, which is considered a great piece
• Capital moved to 1345
of literature. Unifying the three kingdoms that existed within Gampola
Sri Lanka at that point of time is regarded as greatest
achievement. Currency Massa (coin)
King Bosath Vijayabahu, as the eldest son of King Preceded by Succeeded
Parakramabahu the second was crowned in 1270. He was by
well known for his modest behaviour and for his religious
Kingdom of Kingdom
activities. He was killed in the second year of his reign by a Polonnaruwa of
minister called Miththa. Gampola

After the demise of his elder brother Vijayabahu,

Bhuvanekabahu I, as the next in line to the throne, shifted the capital to Yapahuwa for reasons of security.
He followed his father's footsteps as a writer and continued with the religious activities started by his
brother Vijayabahu IV.

Rule from Yapahuwa

After the assassination of Vijayabahu IV his brother became king after a series of conflicts with several
dissident generals thus became Bhuvanekabahu I. He considered Dambadeniya as insecure so he made
Yapahuwa a rock fortress his permanent residence. Yapahuwa served as the capital of Sri Lanka in the latter
part of the 13th century (1273–1284). Built on a huge, 90 meter high rock boulder in the style of the
Sigiriya rock fortress, Yapahuwa was a palace and military stronghold against foreign invaders.

The palace and fortress were built by King Buvanekabahu I (1272–1284) in the year 1273. Many traces of
ancient battle defences can still be seen, while an ornamental stairway, is its biggest show piece. On top of
the rock are the remains of a stupa, a Bodhi tree enclosure, and a rock shelter/cave used by Buddhist
monks, indicating that earlier this site was used as a Buddhist monastery, like many boulders and hills in the
area. There are several caves at the base of the rock. In one of them there is a shrine with Buddha images.
One cave has a Brahmi script inscription. At the southern base of the rock there is a fortification with two
moats and ramparts. In this enclosure there are the remains of a number of buildings including a Buddhist
shrine. There is also a Buddhist temple called Yapawwa Rajamaha Vihara built during the Kandyan period.

The Tooth Relic was brought from Dambadeniya and kept in the Tooth Temple built for the purpose at the
top of the third staircase. The relics were carried away from the temple to South India by the Pandyas, and
then recovered in 1288 by Parakkramabahu III (1287–1293), who temporarily placed them in safety at
Polonnaruwa.

Yapahuwa was one of the ephemeral capitals of medieval Sri Lanka. The citadel of Yapahuwa lying
midway between matara and galle was built around a huge granite rock rising abruptly almost a hundred
meters above the surrounding lowlands.

In 1272, King Bhuvenakabahu transferred the capital from Polonnaruwa to Yapahuwa in the face of
Dravidian invasions from South India, bringing the Sacred Tooth Relic with him. Following the death of
King Bhuvenakabahu in 1284, the Pandyans of South India invaded Sri Lanka once again, and succeeded
in capturing Sacred Tooth Relic. Following its capture, Yapahuwa was largely abandoned and inhabited by
Buddhist monks and religious ascetics.[1]

Rule from Polonnaruwa

Parakramabahu III who was son of Vijayabahu III and grandson of Parakramabahu II became king in
Polonnaruwa. He tried to bring back the tooth relic to island via establishing diplomatic relationships with
the Pandyan Kingdom. He succeeded and housed the tooth relic in the temple of tooth in polonnaruwa.[1]
King died after reigning five years in 1303.
Rule from Kurunagala

Bhuvanekabahu II son of Bhuvanekabahu I succeeded his cousin in 1303 and shifted capital to nearby
Kurunagala and ruled for two years until his death in 1305.

Kurunegala was the capital city of Sri Lanka from 1300-1341. It was a kingdom following kingdom of
Yapahuwa. Kurunegala, capital of the Kurunegala District and the modern day province of Wayamba, was
used as a royal capital for around half a century with five kings of the Sinhala dynasty reigning as
monarchs. The first ruler was King Buvanekabahu II (1293–1302) the son of Buvanekabahu I of
Yapahuwa and cousin to King Parakramabahu III of Polonnaruwa. He was followed not long after by the
reign of his son King Parakramabahu IV (1302–1326). Parakramabahu not only translated the Buddhist
Jataka tales into Sinhala, he also commissioned a number of temples to be built including the Alutnuwara
Dewale in the Kegalla District. Not much is known about his successor Bhuvanaikabahu III who ruled for
9 years and the next two following rulers Vijayabâhu V and Bhuvanaikabâhu IV nor the reason why the
capital was soon after moved again. But we do know that the brother of Bhuvanaikabâhu IV, King
Parâkkamabâhu V began his reign under the new kingdom of Gampola (1344–1408).

Kurunegala, was once known as Hasthishailya-pura and in literature as Athugal-pura (Ethagala). It is the
"city of the elephant rock" which is a literal translation and is so named because of a large elephant shaped
rock decorating the landscape. Nestled in with other large rocks, folk legend relates how the rocks were all
transformed animals. Once, long ago there was a severe drought and the people became alarmed when
many animals began consuming the water and threatened the water supply, so a local witch helped out by
turning some of them into stone. The other rocks such as monkey rock and tortoise rock, etc., were named
after the different animals and today, on top of the elephant rock sits a gigantic 88 ft tall Buddha.

Kurunegala was also one of the districts in which the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha was kept and
venerated. In the 13th century the city had a main citadel and today only a few remains are left of the tooth
relic temple apart from a few stone steps and part of a doorway. During the time of King Parakramabahu
IV (1302–1326), there was a strong religious revival and rituals concerning the relic were re-ordered in a
more systematic way as recorded in the Dalada Sirita.

Later on after the capital changed, the tooth relic was removed to the new capital Jayavardanapura Kotte
closer to Colombo by king Virabahu but subsequent Portuguese colonial power in 1505 began to cause the
deterioration of Buddhist activities and fearing for the safety of the relic, it was secreted away by Buddhist
monks to the kingdom of Sitawaka ruled by king Mayadunne. For a time it was moved around and placed
in different locations including the cave temple of Ridivihara about 13 miles from Kurunegala and in the
Delgamuva Vihara in Ratnapura. It was from Ratnapura that the tooth relic was finally brought to its
current resting place at the temple of the tooth, in Senkadagala (Kandy) by King Vimaladharmasuriya I
(1592–1603). Though prior to all these events, the tooth relic had also been kept for a time at Polonnaruwa,
Yapahuwa and Dambadeniya.

Throughout the district and near by, other archaeological cities and sites can be found dating from different
periods. The earlier capitals include the city of Panduvasnuwara in the north-west where visitors can see the
remains of a moated palace along with Buddhist monasteries dating from the 12th century, Dambadeniya to
the south-west, dating from the mid-13th century, and the fortress of Yapahuwa in the north (circa 1301).
King Buvanekabahu II established Kurunegala as a kingdom at around 1300 A.C. His son succeeded as
king Parakramabahu IV.

Rule of king Parakramabahu IV

He is the greatest king of Kurunegala period. He was known as Panditha Parakramabahu II because of his
services towards Buddhism, education and literature. His services and authority have been witnessed even
beyond Kurunegala as far as Kandy, Kegalle, Colombo, Ratnapura, Kalutara, Galle and most of the
Southern areas. He wrote a book named Dalatha Siriththa. He built the Asgiriya Viharaya in Kandy.

Rule after king Parakramabahu IV

Two kings named Buvanekabahu III and Vijayabahu V (Savulu Vijayabahu) ruled the kingdom.

Culture

Education

Parakramabahu IV the son of Bhuvanekabahu II was a very wise and intelligent king who was also known
as Panditha Parakramabahu. He was responsible for writing 'Dalada Sirita'. He renamed Mahanuwara as
Senkadagale, the king was also responsible in translating pali books into sinhala

1) Sinhala Bodhiwansaya
2) Sanda Kinduru Daa Kava

Literature

The Dambadeniya period is considered as the golden era of Sinhala literature. Important literary works such
as Sinhala Thupavamsa, Dalada Siriththa, Sarajothi malai were written during the period. Several books in
Sinhala, Pali & Sanskrit were written in this time. Among them are books of poetry such as Kausilumina,
Muwadewdawatha, Sidath sangarawa, Buthsarana, Saddharma Rathnawaliya. The stone inscriptions in this
period include keulgama mavilipitiya, Narambadde Ududumbara Lipiya, Rambukana Dewala Lipiya,
Aluthnuwara Dewala Lipiya, Galapatha Viharaya Shila Lipiya. Parakramabahu II wrote two books namely
Visuddi Marga Sannasa and Kavisilumina.

See also
Sri Lanka
History of Sri Lanka
List of Sri Lankan monarchs

References
1. Culavamsa

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