"By examining the public discourse on Ravana that has been widespread among Sinhalese in the recent past, this paper suggests that the Sinhala nation is perhaps on the verge of being redefined. In comparison to the origin story of the Sinhalese that remained seriously unchallenged till the end of the twentieth century, in which the Sinhalese were considered the descendants of the Aryan prince Vijaya who arrived on the island around 2,500 years ago, this new narrative identifies the yakkha king Ravana as the originator of the Sinhala nation by going further back into the past. The paper also attempts to explain why this surge of interest in Ravana is taking place at this particular moment and not earlier."
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1Possible duplicate of this question– Srimannarayana K VCommented Feb 23, 2020 at 14:42
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You're basically asking if sinhalese people are descended from rakshasas.– IkshvakuCommented Feb 25, 2020 at 21:10
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Sinhalese don't share Hindu myths. they originally thought they were North Indian Aryans as they battled "Dravidian" Tamils - but some of them now want to say "a pox on both your houses"(thats from Shakespeare to the uninitiated) to both North Indians and Tamils. If Hindus think Ravana was a "Rakshasa", the Sinhalese don't give a damn.– S KCommented Feb 25, 2020 at 22:00
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