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113992242-Dravidian-Settlements-in-Ceylon-and-the-Beginnings-of-the-Kingdom-of-Jaffna-By-Karthigesu-Indrapala-Complete-Phd-Thesis-University-of-London-1965

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It is not possible to identify <strong>the</strong> sites <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se Buddhist<br />

270<br />

establishments, but <strong>the</strong>y are stated to have been <strong>in</strong> gadIpa.<br />

These references <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Mahvaisa <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Clavai1sa not only<br />

show that <strong>the</strong>re were Buddhists <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Jaffna</strong> pen<strong>in</strong>sula <strong>in</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> Anurdhapura period but also <strong>in</strong>dicate that it cont<strong>in</strong>ued<br />

to be under <strong>the</strong> suzera<strong>in</strong>ty <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Anurdhapura rulers.<br />

The gold plate from Vallipuram reveals that<br />

<strong>the</strong>re were Buddhists <strong>in</strong> that part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> pen<strong>in</strong>sula <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

1<br />

second century A.D. At <strong>the</strong> site <strong>of</strong> this <strong>in</strong>scription <strong>the</strong><br />

foundations <strong>of</strong> a Buddhist vihra were uncovered. These foundations<br />

are <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> premises <strong>of</strong> a modern Viu temples There is<br />

little doubt that <strong>the</strong> Viu temple was <strong>the</strong> orig<strong>in</strong>al Buddhist<br />

monument, converted <strong>in</strong>ttoa Vaiava eStablishnient at a later<br />

date when Tami.ls settled <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> area. Such conversion <strong>of</strong><br />

Buddhist establishments <strong>in</strong>to aiva <strong>and</strong> Vaiava temples seems<br />

to have been a common phenomenon <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> pen<strong>in</strong>sula after it<br />

was settled by <strong>Dravidian</strong>s. In <strong>the</strong> premises <strong>of</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r Viu<br />

temple at Moolai were discovered some 'vestiges <strong>of</strong> ancient<br />

rema<strong>in</strong>s <strong>of</strong> walls' <strong>and</strong> a broken sedent Buddha image Aga<strong>in</strong>,<br />

1. E.Z.,IV - - rr 31 ff•<br />

2. Ibid., ?2<br />

3. A.S.C.A.P. for 19k9, p. 28.

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