148 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [V° L - XIII. 



Discounting the poetic description as regards the division 

 of water by striking the sea with the iron mace, the exploits 

 of Nila in the city of Chola, and the production of water from 

 sand and the iron mace, there is, I think, no reason to doubt 

 that the king who went to the Chola country was Gaja 

 Bahu I., and that it was he who established the worship of 

 Pattini in Ceylon. 



We ought to be thankful to Mr. P. Coomaraswamy for 

 having brought to the notice of this Society the Tamil poem 

 Ghilappatikdram, which is of great interest from various 

 points of view, not the least of which is its remarkable 

 confirmation of Sinhalese history ; for, from an entirely 

 foreign source, the accuracy of many of our historical works 

 besides the Mahdwansa has been established, as to the time 

 when one of its ancient kings reigned in Ceylon, and as to 

 how he introduced the worship of one of the most popular 

 goddesses into the Island. 



4, Mr. Arun achalam inquired of Mr. Ranasinha if any explanation 

 was possible of the omission of the Mahdwansa to record so important 

 an event as the visit of Gaja Bahu to India, and the introduction by 

 him into Ceylon of the worship of the goddess Pattini. 



Mr. Ranasinha said that the Sinhalese chronicle did not purport to 

 be a complete history of each and every Sinhalese king's reign, but 

 a good deal of selection was exercised by the chronicler. The Mahd- 

 wansa was a history not so much of Ceylon as of Buddhism in Ceylon, 

 and perhaps the monkish chronicler preferred to omit all reference to 

 the introduction of a worship that the orthodox Buddhists would not 

 approve of. 



Mr. P. Coomaraswamy : " The question is. which Gaja Bahu 

 visited India at the time of the Chera King, Senkuttuvan ? In my 

 Paper read in October last I expressed the view that it was Gaja 

 Bahu I. I am now glad to find that view confirmed by the Sinhalese 

 authorities cited by Mr. Ranasinha. While collecting materials for 

 a Paper on the age of certain Tamil poets, I have come across many 

 facts which leave no doubt whatever as to the correctness of this 

 conclusion. I shall to-night state only one argument. 



" Those who have some acquaintance with Tamil literature are aware 

 that the term Vallal is specially applied to twenty-one persons for 

 their unbounded munificence. They were divided into three classes 

 of seven each, and the third class included two Tamil princes, Pekan 

 and Pari, who were contemporaries. Pekan had a quarrel with his 

 wife Kannakai — whose name was the same as the heroine of Chilap- 

 patikdram—SLnd turned her out of doors. Many friends interfered, 

 and amongst them Kapilar and Paranar, both of whom addressed 



