Funday Times - Mahavamsa

By Halaliye Karunathilake Edited and translated by Kamala Silva Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila

1. King Sena 1V assembled all the monks of the three sects (Nikayas) and took his seat, at the centre. He recited the suttapitaka. The relic casket with the Tooth Relic, was taken to the four main temples and due veneration and homage was paid to it. King Sena built a pirivena in a village named ‘Sittha,’ where he had once lived. After a short period of rule of only two years, he passed away in 956AD. He was succeeded by his Yuvaraja, named Mihindu, who was crowned as Mihindu 1V.

2. This king wielded his power in the entire country. Due to King Sena's righteous rule and deep involvement in religion, the people had to face a threat from the robbers. First of all, King Mihindu had to settle this problem. After that he unified the entire country. Though there were enough princesses here, he got down a princess from Kalinga in India. This princess belonged to the 'Chakravarti' dynasty. She was made his chief queen.

3. This queen bore three children, two sons and one daughter. The sons were offered the posts of ‘Adipada,’ and the daughter was made the Yuvarajini (Assistant Queen). This king had to face the Indian enemy. An army sent by King Vallabha came to fight. They landed in Nagadipa in 959AD. The king sent the royal army to attack. The forces of King Vallabha were badly defeated.

4. The king was jubilant over this victory. He recruited more men and organized the army, with the idea of invading South India. He appointed clever commanders and saw to it that those armies were well-trained. They were provided with all the facilities. These soldiers were sent to South India. They were skilled in warfare and were fierce too. From the moment they landed in India, they were wreaking havoc by burning villages, killing animals and causing a lot of destruction. The army of Vallabha came to fight.

5. The Sinhala army was not discouraged. As they were well-trained, fierce fighters, the armies of King Vallabha were easily defeated. This victory of the Sinhala army frightened the other rulers of South India. They came to the conclusion that Sinhala armies cannot be defeated. The best they could do was to get friendly with the Sinhala people. Envoys were sent to the king in Sri Lanka, with the intention of making peace. The king liked the idea. As a result, fighting stopped and the Sinhala army returned to the country. This battle made King Mihindu 1V, well known in the whole of South India.

6. King Vallabha's Sri Lankan invasion is described in a different manner in South Indian history. According to their history, the reason for the Lankan invasion was the fact that King Mihindu 1V had friendly relations with their enemy, King Veera Pandya of the Pandyan kingdom. When the Chola king went to fight the Pandyans, King Mihindu had helped the Pandya king and that had resulted in victory for the Pandyans.

7. This antagonized the Chola king Vallabha against King Mihindu. The Chola king invaded the Pandyan kingdom again and won in the fight. He attacked the Pandya kingdom once more and killed their king, Veera Pandya. This Chola king is referred to as ‘Sundara Chola.’ However, it was due to his anger with the Sinhala king, that he sent his armies to invade this country. Yet, his expectations were not fulfilled.

8. King Mihindu had constructed a number of temples and repaired even a larger number. The work on the 'Mani-prasada' begun by his uncle, King Udaya, was completed by this king. Four of his ministers built four pirivenas and offered all of them to the Jetavana temple. Queen Keerti also got a pirivena built for Thuparama.