Sinhabahu
Encyclopedia
Sinhabahu was father of Vijaya of Sri Lanka, the first Sinhalese
King and king of Sinhapura
.
According to the Mahavamsa
's folklore (the chronicled history of Sri Lanka
), Sinhabahu's father was a lion and his mother a princess of Kalinga
. His hands and feet were like a lion's paws.
When Sinhabahu was sixteen, he escaped with his mother and sister, Sinhasivali, and arrived in the capital of Vanga. He later killed his father for a reward and was offered the throne of Vanga.
He refused the throne, instead founding the city of Sinhapura, in his native country of Lála. He lived there with Sinhasivali, whom he made his consort. They had thirty-two children, of whom Vijaya was the eldest and Sumitta the second.
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
King and king of Sinhapura
Sinhapura
Sinhapura or Singhapura was the capital of a kingdom in Kalinga, modern Orissa in India, and later capital of Kalinga itself.It has been tentatively identified with modern Singapuram, a village near Chicacole....
.
According to the Mahavamsa
Mahavamsa
The Mahavamsa is a historical poem written in the Pali language, of the kings of Sri Lanka...
's folklore (the chronicled history of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
), Sinhabahu's father was a lion and his mother a princess of Kalinga
Kalinga
Kalinga is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Tabuk and borders Mountain Province to the south, Abra to the west, Isabela to the east, Cagayan to the northeast, and Apayao to the north...
. His hands and feet were like a lion's paws.
When Sinhabahu was sixteen, he escaped with his mother and sister, Sinhasivali, and arrived in the capital of Vanga. He later killed his father for a reward and was offered the throne of Vanga.
He refused the throne, instead founding the city of Sinhapura, in his native country of Lála. He lived there with Sinhasivali, whom he made his consort. They had thirty-two children, of whom Vijaya was the eldest and Sumitta the second.