The glory of the Sinhalese of Ancient Lanka

Sinhalese are an endangered nation.

"When the Guide of the World, having accomplished the salvation of the whole world and having reached the utmost stage of blissful rest, was lying on the bed of his nibbana; in the midst of the great assembly of gods, he, the great sage, the greatest of those who have speech, spoke to Sakka' who stood there near him: "Vijaya, son of king Sihabahu, is come to Lanka from the country of Lala, together with seven hundred followers. In Lanka, O lord of gods, will my religion be established, therefore carefully protect him with his followers and Lanka. When the lord of gods heard the words of the Buddha he from respect handed over the guardianship of Lanka to the god who is in colour like the lotus."

History: 2550 years of unbroken recorded history beginning from 543 BC
Ancient kingdoms: Anuradhapura (437 BC-845 AD), Polonnaruwa (846 AD-1302 AD) (entire cities are UNESCO World Heritage Sites)
Ancient citadels: The Lion Rock citadel (Sigiriya) (479-496 AD) (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Medieval Kingdoms: Kandy the Royal City (1469-1815 AD) (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
Invaders: Dravidians from South India (Intermittent invasions 161 BC-1236 AD), Portuguese (1505- 1655), Dutch (1656-1795), British (1796-1814)
Colonialist ruler: the British (1815-1948)

Cultural triangle: Mihintale, The Lion Rock citadel (Sigiriya) (WHS), Golden Dambulla Rock Temple (WHS), Anuradhapura (WHS), Polonnaruwa (WHS), Kandy the Royal City (WHS). Since five centuries prior to the birth of Christ, Lanka, Taprobane as Ptolemy called it, has been a throbbing isle of vitality and a well-ordered civilization of advanced network of irrigation engineering, rainwater management, hydraulic achievements & river basin management which made it the Granary of the Orient with trade relationship with the Roman Empire.

Cities, castles, palaces, fortresses, tens of thousands of rain water reservoirs, parks, temples, monasteries, monuments of art bear testimony to the character, imagination, culture, philosophy, faith & nature of the people of the Resplendent Isle. The vestiges of this ancient civilization, which are abundantly extant today, substantiate the ancient history recorded in the ancient chronicle of Lanka, Mahawamsa.