Concise Mahavamsa Ruwan Rajapakse, P.E., Sinhalanet.com 1

Concise Mahavamsa Ruwan Rajapakse, P.E., Sinhalanet.com 35
Suranimala: Suranimala was the second strongest giant in the country. He became famous due to his
extraordinary strength and King Kawan Tissa decided to draft him into the service.
Mahasona: When young Sona was seven years old, he could break palm trees with his bear hands.
Due to this reason he was known as “Mahasona” or “Big Sona”. The news of the strength of
Mahasona reached King Kawan Tissa and King decided to draft Mahasona into the service.
Gothaimbara: A man named Mahanaga had a son and called him “Gothaka”. Gothaka was
small, compared to other children of his age but had immense strength. One day Gothaka and his
brothers went to cut Imbara trees in the forest. While his brothers were taking a rest, Gothaka pulled
down all the Imbara trees. When Gothaka’s brothers came after the break they were amazed to see that
Gothaka had pulled down all the Imbara trees by himself. After that incident, Gothaka was called
“Gothaimbara”.
Theraputthabhaya: A man named Abhaya had a son and was called “putthabhaya” meaning son of
Abhaya. Later Abhaya became a monk (monks are known as “Thera” in Pali) and his son was called
“Theraputthabhaya”. Young Theraputthabhaya was strong and vigorous. His fame was heard by the
King and was admitted to the service.
Velusumana: Velusumana grew up in a local governor’s house. One day the governor brought a
stallion from India. These stallions were known as “Saindhava” and happened to be extremely fast and
strong. Riding these horses required special skill. No man was able to ride the horse brought by the
governor. When the horse saw Velusumana, the horse thought “This is a man worthy of riding me”
and let Velusumana mount him. King heard of Velusumana’s skills and accepted him to the service.
Khanjadeva: In the village of Mahadonika, there was a boy named Deva. Since the boy had a small
limp, the boy was called Kanjadeva. When the boy was a teenager he could wrestle buffalos and
antelopes with his bear hands. King heard of Kanjadeva and drafted him to the service.
Pussadeva: Near Kitthaka Pabbatha Vihara, there lived a boy named Pussadeva. When Pussadeva
went to the temple, he blew the shell so loudly people were astonished. The sound was powerful as a
thunderbolt and some people were terrified. Other than the skill of blowing shells, Pussadeva was a
skilled archer. He could hit a target from the light of lightening. King heard of him and admitted to
the service.
Labhiyavasabha: Near the Thuladeva mountain, there lived a young man named Vasabha. He
was gifted with great body and people called him Labhiyavasabha. With the help of his friends,
Labhiyavasabha started to construct a small reservoir. Within a short period of time, he was able to
finish construction of the reservoir. King heard of this great achievement and accepted
Labhiyavasabha to the service.
King Kawan Tissa called upon the ten great warriors and asked them to find ten more warriors each.
Then he asked those new men to find ten more each. This way King Kawan Tissa built a great Army
and gave it to Prince Gamini.