Explorations in Sri Lankan Archaeology with Raj Somadeva Part 1

Manohar Publishers and Distributors and SAARC Cultural Centre, Colombo, New Delhi, 2017

A Table of Contents listing the headings and subheadings from the rather long Part 2 of my study of the practice of Esoteric Buddhism in the late-seventh century court of the Lambakannas and the late seventh century Abhayagirivihara, and the playing out of its fortunes on the island. The essay itself may be found in the Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 19 (2018), pp. 181-458.

Whilst the Early Historic and Medieval periods of Sri Lanka are often presented as a golden age of Sinhalese and Buddhist achievement, there is also substantial evidence for a multiplicity of communities residing within the island during that time. This is unsurprising, given the island's location on trade routes spanning the Indian Ocean, linking its communities with East Africa, the Middle East, South-east Asia and China. The physical evidence of this trade is clear from excavations within the island's ancient capital Anuradhapura and its major port, Mantai, with their assemblages of fine Chinese ceramics, glazed and bitumen-coated vessels from Mesopotamia, and semi-precious stones from Afghanistan . The spread of Buddhism into the island also forged strong regional links with communities in northern India but, at the same time contributed to increasing differentiation between communities in the south of the Subcontinent. Indeed, tensions were also evident within and between the island's Buddhist sects, which led to conflict on a number of occasions. Archaeological research in the hinterland around Anuradhapura has also identified a variety of competing, yet complementary ritual foci, indicating that whilst Buddhism may have been regarded as the official religion of the island, other traditions and belief systems were strong and pervasive (Coningham & Gunawardhana 2013). These divisions may have often been superficial or have had 'fuzzy' boundaries in the past, yet they have been used to legitimate colonial and post-colonial religious and political inequalities. Despite these uncertainties, Sri Lanka's place at the heart of international trade routes, linking East and West is undisputable, creating an island of diverse communities and traditions, and prospering in the process.

Globalization, Immigration, and Transformation in the Underwater Archaeological Record Assuming that maritime archaeology conducted in Sri Lanka is new to most readers, the present paper has been written with a dual purpose. First, it tries to give some background to the birth and growth of the discipline in this country and shows its involvement in ICOMOS––ICUCH (International Council on Monuments and Sites––International Committee on the Underwater Cultural Heritage) activities. Second, it tries to deal with the focus of the 2013 SHA conference by addressing three sites, each of which can be developed into a case study relating to the conference themes. Sri Lanka was always a place where East/West shipping interacted, whether before or after A.D. 1500, and was also always conscious of the looming presence of India. This paper, however, deals only with material aspects in the period after 1500.

Historical evidence clearly shows that during the 8 -15 century A. D. Esoteric Buddhism played a considerable role in the history of Sri Lankan Buddhism. This paper is the result of an attempt to examine two inscriptions found at the Abhayagiri Stupa during [1940][1941][1942][1943][1944][1945] and which shed light on this subject. I was able to identify the original source of these two dharani inscriptions, which have remained unidentified for five decades. These dharanis have been taken from the Sarva-Tathagata-Tattva-Samgraha-Mahayana-Sutra (STTS). This paper is mainly based on the contents of those two dharanis and other information relevant to the STTS Sutra. The first part of the paper will explain the practice of dharmadhatu deposition in stupas and esoteric fragments found at the Abhayagiri stupa. The second part will examine the accounts given in the Nikayasamgraha on esoteric Buddhism in Sri Lanka and their relations to the STTS Sutra; further it will also contain an analyse of the contents of the newly identified dharanis. Finally, the paper will discuss why esoteric Buddhism was severely criticized in the Nikayasamgraha.

ILIS Journal of Librarianship and Informatics, 2021

This paper is based on the study of 139 theses/dissertations accepted by the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology (PGIAR) University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka during the period of 2000-2018, which are available in the Library. The study aims to identify the subject areas of research in archaeology and related disciplines, to find out the year-wise and language-wise distribution of the academic research reports, and to identify the research trends in archaeology in Sri Lanka during the last two decades. The research was carried out based on the analysis of 139 theses/dissertations accepted by the PGIAR during 2000-2018. Overall, a lack of stability in the growth could be observed in the past 20 years, in fact a downfall could be identified in the period of 2009-2012. The findings of this study would be of help to maintain quality of research in PGIAR.

During the course of seven years Sri Lankan and Swedish archaeologists in collaboration built up a core of what is today the Sri Lankan settlement archaeology. Through surveys, excavations and ethnoarchaeological studies an understanding was gradually obtained regarding settlements and subsistence strategies of the Sri Lankan dry zone, from the Mesolithic to the present, and a generation of young Sri Lankan archaeologists got a fair amount of necessary field training. The primary objective was to develop the human resources of Sri Lankan archaeology, but something can also be said about the research results of the project. This article gives a generalised background and, in very brief outline, an overview of the work done, its methodology, constraints and results.

Asian Perspectives, 2019

Arts Asiatiques, 1999

The main aim of the article is to discuss how the results of our investigations on the organization of maritime trade in the Indian Ocean connected with Sri Lanka, throw light on the trade relations with Iran, Central Asia, Northwest India and South India. New archaeological evidence has been obtained from the exploratory programme on the ancient western and southern ports of the island. The most important characteristic of all ancient ports of the western and southern coast and many others around the island is their geographical situation at the estuaries of rivers. The location of emporia along rivers must have facilitated transactions with the interior regions. The positive results of the explorations and excavations carried out since 1994 and our research on beads, iron metallurgy, inscribed coins, seals, sealings and imported pottery, put into question most of the previous hypotheses on the organization of trade activities in the island. It is now evident that Sri Lanka cannot be isolated from the regional exchange pattern connected with India and dating back to the megalithic period.