Thaprabone (Sri Lanka)

This is a famous demon of Sri Lanka who it is claimed uses a black dog as the vehicle. When it's influence is felt, people see the apparition of a black dog and faint off; some have the hand print on the body where the apparition struck. Mythological history claims that two warriors of the warrior king Dutugemunu (Circa B.C. 100) had a duel. One kicked the head of the other out of joint effectively decapitating the victim. Since the dead warrior was a champion bear-hunter, he was buried with the head of a bear. This is claimed to be the "Mahasona" apparition.

In the village of Hundarivapi there lived a man named Tissa, who had eight sons. The youngest was named Sona and later became known as Maha Sona. It is said that when Mahasona was seven years old, he had the strength to tear young palms with his bear hands. When he was ten, he could uproot palm trees.

The King of Rohana, Khavantissa, who was looking for brave young men for his army, heard of the this young boy's strength and sent his men with gifts to his parents, requesting them to send their son to the royal court. After seeing him, the King enlisted him into the service of Prince Gemunu who was building up his army.

WWW Virtual Library - Sri Lanka

I watch two elderly gentlemen in a sparring contest. The now famous state­ment "He floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee" made about leg­endary boxer Mohammed Ali in Johnny Wakelins hit single in the 70's 'Black Superman' rings in my head. I continue to watch the two sixty something men, each dressed in a white padded skinny and traditional 'Diya Katchiya', as they size the other up; floating like butterflies. I wait for the sting...it comes...so sudden that it takes me by surprise. One throws a quick punch. The other gracefully avoids it and entangles his adversary's hand in a lock, wraps his other arm around the assailant's neck and wrestles him down to submission. The two men then get up and smile at me. I have just been witness to the oldest and probably the only form of authentic Sri Lankan martial art: Angampora.

The two men giving the demonstration are two old hands at the sport. They are master Karunapala, who runs a school for Angampora in Mirihana and Rienzie Wickremasinghe. They both have practised and taught this ancient art for over five decades, and are determined to ensure that it does not die out or is subject to distortion in anyway. Both also hold the title of 'Panikkirala', the highest grade in Angampora, equivalent to the black belt in karate. Where did this art originate? What are the fundamental principles its practi­tioners follow? What future does it have? With these questions in mind Sports Weekly inquired about the masters and practi­tioners of this ancient and elusive art. The findings amazed us.

Its History: The exact date of the origin of Angampora is not known. What is known however is that it dates back to the Anuradhapura era to the times of the ancient Sinhala kingdoms. In those days it was the fighting technique of the noblemen. Legend has it that the army that came under the command of Sapumal Kumaraya comprised fighters skilled in this martial art. Angampora continued with the Sinhala kings with the transition of the kingdoms towards the southwest of the country. However, with each new king emerged new gurus and as a result the pedigree of the gurus of Angampora got diluted...

Several Hindu gods predominate in the many myths, legends, and styles of worship in Lanka. One of the main Hindu gods is Vishnu, often represented as a divine king accompanied by his beautiful wife, Lakshmi, the bestower of wealth and good fortune. Besides presiding as a divine monarch, Vishnu periodically descends to earth, assuming a physical form to help beings attain salvation. Vishnu has ten main incarnations, two of which--Rama and Krishna- -are particularly popular. Rama was a great hero, whose exploits in rescuing his wife from the demon king of Lanka are recounted in the epic Ramayana. Vishnu's most popular incarnation is Krishna, who combines in a single divine figure the mythic episodes of a warrior prince and a rustic cowherd god. As warrior, Krishna figures prominently in what is perhaps the single most important Hindu text, the Bhagavad Gita, where he stresses the importance of doing one's duty and devotion to god. As divine cowherd, Krishna served as an inspiration for a vast body of religious poetry in Sanskrit and the regional South Asian languages. From the eighth to the twelfth centuries, Tamil devotees of Vishnu (alvars) composed poetry in praise of the god. These Tamil poems, collected in anthologies, are still recited during worship and festivals for Vishnu.

The second major Hindu deity, and by far the most important god among the Tamils in Sri Lanka, is Siva. He differs considerably from Vishnu. In many stories he reigns as a king, but often he appears as a religious ascetic, smeared with ashes, sitting on a tiger skin in the jungle, with a snake around his neck. He is the lord of animals. Although he is an ascetic, he is also a sexual figure, married to the beautiful Parvati (the daughter of the mountain), and his image is often a single rock shaped like a phallus (lingam). He is often a distant figure whose power is destructive, but paradoxically he is a henpecked husband who has to deal with family squabbles involving his sons. His devotees enjoy retelling his myths, but worshipers visualize him as a cosmic creator who will save his creatures when they have abandoned themselves totally to his love...

UFO sightings have been reported from various parts of Sri Lanka over the years. Hundreds of people have seen UFO phenomena over Sri Lanka according to professor Chandana Jayaratne of the University of Colombo who has investigated some cases of UFO. Some predict that the Extra Terrestrials could either be on the lookout for technology that was used to construct sacred buildings or may be an attempt to locate the "Vishva Yathura" (Key to the Universe)! The UFO analysts believe that UFO lights that moves two feet off the ground could be an alien probe. "They could be doing a research," he says. "Extra Terrestrials may be seeking the 'Key' to the 'Star Gate' and thereby activate a system of travel that transcends conventional space travel to reach another galaxy."

UFOs reports from Sri Lanka: (Sunday Observer, Colombo, Sri Lanka, on June 16, 2002, by Umangi de Mel) Could the strange blue ball of light, speeding at just 2 feet above the ground near the ancient, sacred cliff of Dimbulagala, have been an alien space probe seeking the mysteries of our ancients? Sanjaya Bandara, a UFO expert claims that the "strange blue light" that has been sighted in Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura during the past few weeks, could be a probe craft of an extra terrestrial space ship. The particular "blue light" was sighted for the first time in the seed farm in Polonnaruwa on May 13, around 11.30 pm. It has also later appeared in the Anuradhapura district. "It took me three days to get this thing on video tape and when I finally did, it was around Dimbulagala, the same stretch where it was first seen," says Gamini Obeysekara, Polonnaruwa correspondent of Rupavahini. "It was about 3km away from me," he says. However, this "UFO" sighting has still not been confirmed, even though many predictions were being made. "Members of the Sri Lanka UFO Research Association will proceed to Polonnaruwa to get an on-the report on Saturday as 95% of the sightings could be fabrications," says Chandana Jayaratne, Senior lecturer in the Physics department, University of Colombo...