An exploratory study on archery in Sri Lanka as revealed in Mahawamsa

Abstract

In Sri Lanka archery, as a sport is representing a primeval history since 3rd century B.C. Archery was a sport of royals that highlighted recreational patterns which were connected with hunting. Ancient Lankans have shaped this sport into different events with aquiline differences. "Mahawansa" the best guide in developing Sri Lankan history has whacking information to reveal lore of archery in Sri Lanka. Also the literature such as "Pujawaliya" and "Bodhiwansa Gatapadaya", are providing facts on above mentioned phenomenon. Because archery is a competitive sport in current world, it has many rules and regulations and there were not a lot of rules in ancient Sri Lanka as at present. The objective of this study was to reveal intelligence of archery of Sri Lanka which was a folk sport among commons. Historical survey method was used in order to achieve the purpose of this study and the below conclusion was made. There were four events in ancient Sri Lankan archery. There can be identified a few rules conflated with archery in Sri Lanka such as "Akshanawedi" (shoot togetherwith lightning), "Walawedi" (shoot for the highest distance), "Shabdawedi" (shoot according to sound) and "Sharawedi" (shoot with generations of arrows) through historical sources.