Funday Times - Mahavamsa

The priests who had fled Tapovana, were getting ready to come back to Anuradhapura. Yuvaraja Sena and the Ádipáda Udaya made all the necessary arrangements. The priests were conducted in procession. By this time Tapovana was reorganised and it looked once more, the sacred place, it used to be. King Udaya went forward to welcome them.

The King met the priests who were leading the procession, fell at their feet and worshipped them. He begged pardon for all the wrongs done. Then the priests preached the dhamma and consoled the king. The king then took them to the Tapovana. Since then, King Udaya worked to extend royal patronage to Tapovana. He turned over a new leaf by giving up his wicked ways and tried his best to carry on a righteous rule.

The king followed the footsteps of the previous kings and engaged himself in meritorious deeds, like offering alms. He repaired the temples. All facilities were provided for the development of agriculture. Tanks, canals and dams, were repaired. In 938AD, this king passed away. His period of rule was only three years. He was succeeded by the Yuvaraja Sena.

He came to the throne as King Sena III. He offered the post of Yuvaraja, to his friends, Ádipáda Udaya. By this time King Sena had given up his rough and cruel ways and turned to be a good person. He became a good Buddhist and got engaged in Buddhist ways of life. All this is the result of the guidance given by the monks of Tapovana. Once he became king, he gave freely and generously to the poor and the destitute.

He observed sil on all four poya days. A thousand kahápanas' were distributed among the poor, who came to him on full-moon days. He got beautiful lodgings (árámas) built, in various places. He donated 40 thousand kahápanas; for the maintenance of the Abhayagiri Vihara. Tanks and other irrigation works were repaired. He donated a village to Nágasála Vihara, which King Agbo built.

King Sena III passed away in 946AD. He was succeeded by his Yuvaraja Udaya. It's another ádipáda who was named Sena, that became his Yuvaraja. This king was addicted to alcohol. As a result he was never in his proper senses. He was lazy and most of his time was spent in sleeping. Because of this bad conduct of the king, the administration of the country was neglected.

The officials worked according to their whims and fancies. The countries overseas too got to know of this weak political situation of the country. The Chola King, Parantaka I, sent envoys to Sri Lanka. They were here to take back the crown and the other royal regalia, left here, by the Pandya king. By this time, Cholas had conquered even the Pandya country and his aim was to be the king of the Pandya kingdom too. King Udaya did not give any of the things requested by the Cholas.

Furthermore, it's important to note, that the king did not know, where they were kept. He was leading a very careless life, not showing any interest in anything that mattered. The Chola king got angry over this attitude of the King. He thought of taking, what he wanted even by force. He sent an army here. When that army arrived, the commander of King Sena had left the capital and gone to a distant province to suppress a rebellion.

By Halaliye Karunathilake Edited and translated by Kamala Silva Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila