Contents.
The Vaipavamalai pages 1-58
Appendix.
Iradchathar
The Nagas
Kasi Kandam
Thiruvathavurar puranam Skanda-purana
Thirikonasala-puranam Yalpanach-chariththiram
Puthaththampi-nadakam The Vinea Taprobanea The Kalveddu
The Kayilaya malai
The origin of the Singhalese, Tamil, Moorish and Malay
inhabitants of Ceylon The Moors
The Colombo Chetties
The Tamils of Jaffna...
The Pagnchangkam
Glossary and index ...
The Author's Preface.
At the request of the illustrious Dutch Governor Maccara,
this work, in Tamil prose, was undertaken by Mayilvakanan, a
descendant of the celebrated Vaiya, the author of the poem "
Para-rasa-sekeran-ula" and the chronicle " Rasa-murai", made in
the reign of king Seka-rasa-sekaran, out of materials collected
from " the Kayilasa-malai" and other ancient works.
The Translator's Preface.
This is a free translation, but it preserves, to a great
extent, the modes of thought and expression peculiar to the
Tamil original.
In the transliteration. of foreign names into English, the
translator has not been able to follow any method. The same name
is differently spelt and pronounced by different writers,
according as they adopt the Tamil, Singhalese, or Sanscrit form.
All that is known of the author is what he says of himself in
his preface. The Governor Maccara, of whom he speaks, was Jan
Maccara who was Governor of the Dutch possessions of Ceylon in
1736. And there is sufficient internal evidence to show that the
author lived about that time, but the bold language in which the
policy of the Dutch is described and the prophecies which the
work contains, relating to the English, must be regarded as
interpolations of a later date.
The work is looked upon as one of great authority among the
Tamils of Jaffna, and there are several manuscript copies of it
extant in the peninsula.
The Appendix and the Glossary which are added to this
translation will, it is hoped, be found useful not merely
towards a right understanding of the author, but as explaining
points of general interest connected with the history and
literature of the Island.
Colombo,
July 10th, 1879.
From pages 1-3 It is related in the ithihasas and puranas that the Rakshasas
held Langka during the first three yugas of the world. Tradition
adds that Vibhishana, who received the kingdom from Dasarata Rama,
the conqueror of Ravana, continued to reign up to and during the
early part of the present yoga, and that when Vibhishana was taken
up to heaven, the Rakshasas quitted Langka from fear of foreign
subjugation.
About two thousand four hundred years ago, Singha-bahu a
Kshattriya of Range was king of Lade. His eldest son, Vijaya-kumara,
a lawless youth, rendered himself extremely hateful to his
countrymen, and was in consequence expelled the kingdom. The exile
wandered from place to place in search of an asylum, but he found
none.
When at last he reached Kashi he was informed in a dream that Langka
was assigned to him for a heritages and that he should go thither
and establish himself at Kathirai-malai in the centre of the
country. He went accordingly, and took with him, besides his usual
retinue, a priest of the name of Nilakanda-acharya a Brahman of Kashi. The Brahman was accompanied by his whole family,
which consisted of his wife, Akilanda-valli-ammal, and his eons and
daughters with their wives and husbands. The expedition safely
reached its destination, and advancing into the heart of the country
took up its residence at Kathirai-malai.
In those days Langka was a great wilderness, inhabited only by the
Vedar and wild animals. There were no human beings in it. And Vijaya-raja
(for raja i.e. king he now undoubtedly was) made constant efforts
to obtain colonists from the adjacent countries, From Kanya-kumari
to the Himalaya mountains, all despised "the country of the Rahshasas", as they termed Lanka in contempt.
The baffled king turned his thoughts to the Buddhists of
Diagadha, who had been driven from their country by
reason of their having embraced Buddhism. Some of them had already
found permanent seats in the countries lying to the North of the
Himalaya mountains ; but others, who had travelled eastward and
crossed the Brahmaputtra, were as yet leading a wandering life in
Siam and other parts of Burma.
Vijaya-raja went to Siam, and
successfully induced a number of those wanderers to follow him into
the new kingdom. He placed them in various parts of the country, and
gave them liberty to follow their own faith. In process of time
these Buddhists came to be called Singhalese from the fact of their
inhabiting Singhalam.—" Singhalam'' being
another name for "Langka."
Vijaya-raja did not himself profess Buddhism, but he
only tolerated it as a means of peopling the country,
He was a staunch worshipper of Siva: and began his
reign by dedicating his city to that god and building
four Sivalayams as a protection for the four quarters.of his infant kingdom :
—In the East he erected Konesar-koyil at
Thampala-kamam: In the West he re-built Thiruk-kethich-churan-koyil,
which had long been then in ruins : In the South he raised
Santhira-sekaran-koyil at Maththurai : and on the North he
constructed Thiruththampa-lesuran-koyil and
Thiruth-thampa-tesuvari-ammankoyil at Thiruth-thampalai,at the foot
of Kirimalai.
Near the last mentioned two koyils be caused a third to be built
which he dedicated to Kathirai-andavar. Over these three temples he
appointed Vamatheva-acharya, the third son of the Kashi-brahman,
Nila-kanda-acharya, to be priest, and assigned to him and his wife,
Visalakshi-ammal, a habitation in the neighbourhood, which he had
carefully supplied with everything necessary for their comfort.
From the circumstance of there being three koyils at
Thiruth-thampalai its name was changed into iroyil-kadavai.
Koyil-kadavai was the scene of the meditations
austerities of Nakula-muni, a holy sage, who lived in a cave
at the foot of Nakula-malai, a hill so called after him.
Nakulam means a mongoose, and the muni was so named from the
resemblance which his face bore to that of a mongoose....
Dedication