The Pali Literature of Ceylon is of great extent & importance & also of multifarious interest,it is of value alike to the historian & the student of folklore,to the philogist & the student of comparative religion.Broadly speaking,it may be classified under three main heads: 1 -The buddhist scriptures, or Tipitaka,which from pali canon, 2- The commentaries(of Buddhaghosa, his contempories and successors),exegetical expositons of the text of the Tipitaka compiled as we have them now,only after the fifty century of the Christain era,but alleged to be based upon records of distincly greater antiquity;and 3 -Historical,grammatical & other works on secular subjects,which have been produced by scholars at various times from about the fifth century to the present day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR G P Malalasekera
Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera (8 November 1899 - 23 April 1973) was a Sri Lankan professor, scholar and diplomat. He was the first Ceylon Ambassador to the Soviet Union,Ceylon High Commissioner in Canada, Ceylon High Commissioner to United Kingdom and Ceylon Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. Coming under the influence of Buddhist renaissance of Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala, he changed his foreign names of George and Pieris to those of Gunapala Piyasena and henceforth came to be known as G. P. (Gunapala Piyasena) Malalasekera. After gaining his BA he took to teaching at Ananda College, Colombo, then under the principal P. de S. Kularatne. Both of them were the architects of the Sinhala national costume.In quick succession Malalasekera rose up the ranks to be the Vice Principal and acting Principal of Ananda College. Thereafter he left for London for his graduate studies. On his return to the motherland in 1926, he was appointed Principal of Nalanda College Colombo.
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