Kingdom of Anuradhapura

Kingdom of Anuradhapura

 Mahagama Sekera was born on 7 April 1929 in Radawana, Gampaha. His father was Maha Gamage John Singho, mother was Ranawaka Arachchige Roslin Ranawaka. He had his initial education at Government School in Radawana and Kirindiwela Maha Vidayalaya. Sekera started life as an artist and in his later paintings and book covers he tended towards modern art. He got a thorough grounding in the forms and techniques of formal art at the Government School of Fine Arts of which he later became the Principal. Thus at a young age he was exposed to new ways of looking at the world and perceiving reality which combined with the folk culture of his inheritance in a typical village milieu gave its particular strength to his world view.

Sekera started his doctoral studies at Vidyodaya University of Ceylon in 1974. His thesis on "Sinhala Gadya Padya Nirmana Kerehi Ridmaya Balapa Athi Akaraya" (Influence of Rhythm on the Sinhala Prose and Poetry) was submitted to the university in 1975. At the time of his death in 1976, he was attending to the final editing of the thesis as recommended by the supervisors. He was appointed as a teacher to Gampaha Bandaranayaka School, where he worked for few months.

Anuradhapura, the first capital of ancient Sri Lanka, was established in the 4th century BC and served as the seat of the kingdom for over 1400 years. Founded by King Pandukabhaya in 377 BC, it flourished as a major cultural and religious center, particularly for Buddhism. Anuradhapura was abandoned in 1073 after repeated Indian invasions and the royal capital shifted south to Polonnaruwa.

The first king of the Anuradhapura kingdom was King Pandukabhaya. He is credited with making Anuradhapura the kingdom's capital around 377 BCE, according to Wikipedia. Pandukabhaya was also the sixth ruler of Sri Lanka since the arrival of Vijaya, according to some sources.

The Anuradhapura kingdom finally collapsed during the reign of king Mahinda V with Rajaraja I's invasion. The abandonment of Anuradhapura which had been the capital so far, and making Polonnaruwa their capital by the Cholas who conquered Sri Lanka also contributed to the downfall of Anuradhapura.