Last modified: 2010-08-21 by ian macdonald
Keywords: heladiva | sri lanka | sinhalese |
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Heladiva is a nationalistic, political, and cultural movement of the majority
population of Sri Lanka - the Sinhalese. You can read more at:
http://sites.google.com/site/helafamily/.
"To the world, Sri Lanka was known as 'Heladiva' before the arrival of the
Aryan prince 'Vijaya'. 'Heladiva' simply translates to 'the land of the Hela
People', where the Hela people are the collective members of the four known
tribes that existed before the invasion of Vijaya. These tribes are Naga
(Serpent worshipers), Raaksha (Demon worshipers), Deva (Tribes who worshiped
godly deities) and Yaksha (Demon Worshipers). The term Sinhala, which was later
applied to the race of people and the language appears to have arisen after
Vijaya, referred to in legend as partly descended from a lion, was coined from
the joining of the Sanskrit word for Lion (Sinha) and Hela, resulting in
Sinhala.
The term Hela in Sinhala - the native Sri Lankan language -
refers also to the nationality of the majority Sri Lankans. The word literally
means "lions' blood". " (Julian Grebe).
"Standard [flag] of the Hela
depicts:
The light of Humanity (i.e. loving-kindness) is represented by the
'Sun-Face'
Wisdom (i.e. knowledge and self-actualisation) is represented by
the 'Lotus flower'
Self-sufficiency (i.e. sustainable prosperity) is
represented by the 'Wreath of rice-paddy'
In addition, the concept of
sovereignty is represented by the 'golden-yellow border', the quality of being
pristine (i.e. 'incorrupt', 'unpolluted' etc) is represented by 'the white
background' and the principle of equity is represented by 'the royal-blue
circle'.
Chrystian Kretowicz, 6 July 2010