By Milinda Moragoda
India and Sri Lanka are separated by a narrow strait, but connected by a far deeper civilizational continuum that is still not fully appreciated on either side of the Palk Strait.
While Sri Lanka has its own distinct identity and historical evolution, its cultural, religious, linguistic, and mythological foundations are deeply interwoven with India. These connections span both North and South India and are reflected across both of Sri Lanka’s principal communities—the Sinhalese and the Tamils.
The Tamil Hindu civilizational links with South India are widely recognised and remain visibly alive through language, temple traditions, pilgrimage routes, and shared cultural practice. What is less appreciated—but equally significant—is the civilizational relationship between the Sinhalese and North India.
The majority of Sri Lankans are Sinhalese, and most Sinhalese are Buddhists. The arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE marked a defining transformation of the island’s history. Emperor Ashoka, arguably the most consequential ruler of ancient India, sent his son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitta to Sri Lanka to transmit the teachings of the Buddha.
This was not a routine act of diplomacy. It reflected a civilizational relationship of exceptional depth and trust, one that would fundamentally shape Sri Lanka’s identity, state formation, and worldview.
This civilizational connection is not confined to history. It continues to find expression in living traditions observed across both countries. In May, India observed Buddha Purnima on 1 May, while Sri Lanka will observe Vesak on 30 May—both anchored to the full moon calendar that has traditionally shaped Buddhist observances across the region. Both observances reflect a shared civilizational memory of the Buddha’s life and teachings, expressed through distinct but parallel traditions.
Buddhists in Sri Lanka have long regarded pilgrimage to the sacred sites of Buddhism—most of which are located in India—as an important spiritual practice. Chief among them is Bodh Gaya in Bihar, where the Buddha attained enlightenment, along with Sarnath, Kushinagar, and Lumbini, which together form the core geography of the Buddha’s life and teachings. These sites remain central to Sri Lankan Buddhist devotion and cultural memory.
Sri Lanka’s great chronicle, the Mahavamsa, written in the 5th century CE by the monk Mahanama, remains both a foundational text of Sinhala historical consciousness and an important source for reconstructing aspects of Mauryan-era India. In this sense, Sri Lankan and Indian historical traditions illuminate each other.
The Sinhala language itself carries this inheritance, drawing heavily from Pali and Sanskrit. For centuries, Sri Lanka’s Buddhist monastic institutions have preserved and transmitted Pali canonical texts that remain central to Theravada Buddhism across Asia.
Sri Lankan origin traditions trace the Sinhalese to Prince Vijaya, believed to have arrived from regions of ancient India such as present-day West Bengal or Gujarat. Over time, Sri Lanka also became closely linked with Buddhist centres of learning in Bihar and Odisha—civilizational ties that are now largely under-recognised in contemporary discourse.
Sri Lanka also occupies a central place in India’s epic imagination. The Ramayana situates its climactic narrative on the island. While Ravana is widely remembered as the antagonist, many traditions also portray him as a learned and capable ruler—one who is credited in several accounts with dignity and restraint.
Taken together, these layers of history, myth, language, and religion point to something larger than proximity. They reflect a shared civilizational field that has evolved through interaction, convergence, and exchange over millennia.
Yet in contemporary understanding, this shared inheritance is often unevenly recognised. The Tamil–Hindu link between Sri Lanka and South India is widely acknowledged. The Sinhalese–Buddhist–North Indian continuum is far less present in public consciousness, both in India and Sri Lanka.
Correcting this imbalance is not an academic exercise alone. It has direct relevance for the future of India–Sri Lanka relations. A fuller appreciation of shared civilizational roots can deepen mutual understanding, reduce misperceptions, and strengthen the emotional and cultural foundations of bilateral ties.
In practical terms, this calls for greater investment in people-to-people connectivity: expanded Buddhist pilgrimage circuits linking Bihar, Odisha, and Sri Lanka; Ramayana cultural routes; and the Ramayana Trail, together with the Shiva–Shakti and Murugan pilgrimage circuits, also represent enduring Hindu civilizational linkages that merit further development and strengthening.
In an increasingly complex Indo-Pacific, civilizational awareness is not a soft concept—it is strategic infrastructure. It shapes perception, trust, and long-term alignment between neighbours.
India and Sri Lanka are not merely neighbouring states. They are civilizational partners whose histories have been continuously intertwined.
Rediscovering that shared inheritance is not about revisiting the past. It is about strengthening the foundation for a more stable and connected future.
(Milinda Moragoda is a former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister and diplomat of Sri Lanka. He is the founder of the Pathfinder Foundation, a strategic affairs think tank., This was published on wionews.com)