Pre-Buddhist Religious Beliefs in Ceylon.

Abstract

The  religious beliefs that were prevalent among the Sinhalese people before they accepted Buddhismin the third century B.C.  have been very little studied. The materials available for a such study are very scanty. The present paper is mainly a study of the religious foundations of Pandukabhaya (377-307 B.C.), supplemented here and there by epigraphical and other
literary evidence wherever such are found throwing light on the subject under discussion. These conditions are, on the whole very similar to the state of religious beliefs prevailing in North India during  the life time of  the Buddha.

Key Words:
Buddhism, Jainism, Deities, Religious festivals, Divinity, Hinduism,
Phalic Worship