The Symbols
For the past 2,500 years the only undisputed symbol of Sri Lankan Royalty and Leadership has been the sacred Tooth Relic of Gautama Buddha. Whosoever possessed this was acknowledged as the rightful ruler of Lanka, and thus the Tooth Relic was a possession exclusive to the ruling caste of Sri Lanka. Upon each change of capital, a new palace was built to enshrine the Relic. Finally, it was brought to Kandy where it is at present, in the Temple of the Tooth.
The oldest Buddhist sect in Sri Lanka, the Siam Nikaya (estd. 19 July 1753) are the custodians of the Tooth Relic, since its establishment during the Kandyan Kingdom. The Siyam Nikaya traditionally grants Higher ordination only to the Radala and Govigama castes and excludes Karave and other lower castes completely from its numbers. Separate Sects exist for Karave castes, which have no claim to the Tooth Relic. Thus the Tooth Relic has been under exclusive ruling Govigama / Radala custody from the time of the Kings of Sri Lanka, predating the Colonial Era
Meanwhile the symbols on Karava flags - the sun, moon, stars, elephant, fish, white shield, pearl umbrella, swords, lotuses, ship all are claimed by the Karave to be royal symbols in Sri Lanka’s past. However, no concrete documentation of a Karave linkage to these symbols exists from pre-Colonial Sri Lankan history.
Read more about this topic: Karava Heraldry
Famous quotes containing the word symbols:
“There are those who would keep us slipping back into the darkness of division, into the snake pit of racial hatred, of racial antagonism and of support for symbols of the struggle to keep African-Americans in bondage.”
—Carol Moseley-Braun (b. 1947)
“As usual I finish the day before the sea, sumptuous this evening beneath the moon, which writes Arab symbols with phosphorescent streaks on the slow swells. There is no end to the sky and the waters. How well they accompany sadness!”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)