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"To me the beauty of Ceylon lies not so much in its blue seas and golden beaches, its jungles and mountain peaks, as in its ancient atmosphere. There is no nation, from Egypt of the Pharaohs to modern Britain, in whose literature this island has not at some time been mentioned by one or other of its many names – Lanka, Serendib, Taprobane, Ceilao, Zelon to recall a few. History lies buried in its sands, and ghosts of romance lurk among its bastioned rocks, for Lanka is very, very old." - D.J.G. Hennessy, Green Aisles, 1949

These foreign names have only served to mask the original name we gave to our Island - Heladiva. Heladiva literally means 'Island of the Hela'.

History is indeed buried in the Island’s ancient sands for that name is now all but forgotten. Today we describe the Island by a romanticised and politicised name of Indian origin: ‘Sri Lanka’ - which translates to ‘resplendent’.

In a misguided attempt to re-name the Island as 'resplendent', we have ignored the legitimate right of ownership we have to our land. This is no different to the legitimate right of ownership the French have to France or the English have to England. Therefore, we refer to our Island as Heladiva as was originally intended.

Our Origins

Our history as it was taught to us, placed our origins with a maverick prince (called Vijaya) who landed on our Island in 543 BC. Prince Vijaya's arrival and the Sinhela royal dynasty he founded is well recorded in the chronicle Mahavansa ('The Great Dynasty'). There are some who offer this written record as proof to our origins. There is no doubt this 'origin myth' provided much needed legitimacy for the Sinhela royal dynasty that Prince Vijaya founded but on the weight of evidence the myth falls apart.

The archaeological record of Heladiva dates human habitation to around 125,000 years. mtDNA evidence provides dates from 85,000 and 65,000 years. Even the Mahavansa acknowledges there were people on the Island when prince Vijaya arrived. In fact, the Mahavansa in detail describes Prince Vijaya's encounter with the Hela princess Kuveni who he later married.

Our oral tradition, passed on to us by our elders speaks of an ancient Hela King named ‘Manu’ who ruled the Island from his capitol in Mannarama (‘Mannar’). It is said that the ‘Hela New Year’ (that dawns on April 14th each year) is in fact, the annual celebration of the coronation of this famed King Manu. [The coronation coinciding with the Sun’s northerly movement, at a time when it was directly over the capitol Mannarama - at midday]. This legend has now been superseded by the 'official' version that relies solely on astrological reasonings for the New Year - the transition of the Sun, from Pisces to Aries.

After King Manu’s royal dynasty there are other royal dynasties mentioned in the oral tradition, such as Tharaka (~10,000 years ago), Mahabali (~7500 years ago), and Raavana (~5000 years ago).

Interestingly, of these kings, King Raavana’s technological and military prowess was so renowned that he is depicted in Indian literature as having ten heads and numerous hands holding a multitude of weapons. When eventually King Raavana succumbed, to the wrath of Rama, (his Indian nemesis) the people of India rejoiced in victory and celebrated in a festival atmosphere. The Hela believe that 'Deepavali', celebrated by Indians each year commemorates this event.

[A romanticised version of the great saga between Rama and Raavana can be found in Valmiki's epic the ‘Ramayanaya’.]

The Aryan influence

Originally from Europe, the Aryans (described as a 'war like, expansionist' people) arrived in India around 1500 BC overwhelming the Indus valley civilisation and established their dominance. Aryans were characterised by their values of material wealth, loyalty to the group, rituals, sacrifice, progeny of sons, racial purity, power, competition and a caste system of priests and warriors. These values were in stark contrast to the Hela values of humanity, self-sufficiency and wisdom. Soon the Aryans would exert their influence on Heladiva.

The strongest influence of Aryan culture was to arrive on Heladiva in the form of a maverick prince called Vijaya (543-505BC). He established his authority on the Island by a bloody massacre of the indigenous Hela at Sirisavastupura (an ancient Hela city). Some of those who escaped the massacre refused to be governed by this invader and fled to the forests of the central mountains. These escapees who were used to an agrarian lifestyle now had to adopt a 'hunter- gatherer' lifestyle for survival. Because they lived in the forests, the rest of the Hela referred to them as 'beddha' - meaning 'forest dweller'. This word was corrupted as the years went by to 'Veddha'. The Veddhas have been described by modern day intellectuals as 'the primitive indigenous people of the Island, quite distinct from the Sinhela'. The DNA evidence however points to the truth that the Hela and Veddha are one and the same.

As the Aryans progressively gained control of the entire Island, political ideologies turned towards nationalism. Thus Heladiva was renamed 'Sinheladeepaya' (meaning 'Island of the Sinhela'), adopting Vijaya's clan name of 'Singha' (‘Lion ’). The people were identified as ‘Sinhela’ (Singha + Hela). As a result, the indigenous Hela who identified themselves with ‘Humanity’ were lowered to the animal realms to identify themselves with a Lion.

Summary

We the Hela are the indigenous people of the Island presently known as Sri Lanka. The word Hela means 'pristine' or 'the pristine people'. The meaning does not convey a sense of racial superiority. On the contrary, it refers to the positive human qualities of 'incorrupt', 'unpolluted' etc.

We the Hela have lived on our Island Heladiva ('Island of the Hela') for many millennia. Our uninterrupted history on the Island is to be found both in the oral tradition and in the literature. Our history includes the many royal dynasties on the Island; the first that began with King Manu (Manu royal dynasty) and the last that began with King Vijaya (Sinhela royal dynasty).

We the Hela have had an uninterrupted historical relationship with our Island, Heladiva.

Around the 2nd century BC, the progressive Aryan influence and their preferred language Sanskrit resulted in two distinct forms of expression among the Hela: a written language and a spoken language. The written language is closer to Sanskrit and the spoken language is closer to the original Helabasa. Today these two versions are jointly known as 'Sinhela' language. The earliest known form of Helabasa that survives today is what the ‘Veddha’ Hela people speak.

It is said that the Buddha himself spoke Helabasa on his three separate visits to the Island. A written record of Buddha’s first sermon to the Hela has been found recently in the original Helabasa text and has subsequently been published. Although some may argue otherwise, it is inconceivable to think that the Buddha would speak any other language when he has specifically stated to the Dhammadutha ('missionary') sages that the Dhamma should be conveyed in the mother tongue of the people, so that they could absorb it in their minds.

Around the 5th century AD, a group of Buddhist monks who’s intentions were to re-introduce Buddhism to the birth place of the Buddha in India (which by this time had declined dramatically) decided to translate all old Helabasa text into Pali (the language of the Buddha’s birth place). It is said in the oral tradition that these Helabasa texts were heaped into a pile, ‘Seven elephants high’ and burnt after everything was translated into Pali. From this point onwards, Buddhism had to be taught in the Pali language. The Hela who knew nothing of Pali were now unable to make use of the wisdom of Buddhism. This misguided act of burning texts was a great injustice to the Hela and a gross insult to the Buddha and his teachings.