Reference
Glossary
The Sinhala and Pali terms used across this archive, with their script forms and meanings.
- All 39
- Irrigation & agriculture 6
- Office & administration 7
- Religion & monastic life 10
- Society & community 6
- Architecture & craft 6
- General 4
D
- Dagoba දාගැබ dāgäba
- A stupa — a solid hemispherical monument enshrining relics. From Pali dhatu-gabbha, "relic chamber". Also stupa, vehera, seya, chaitya.
- Dana දානය dāna
- Giving, particularly the offering of food to monks. One of the principal meritorious acts in Theravada practice and a central obligation of lay Buddhist life.
- Devalaya දේවාලය dēvālaya
- A shrine dedicated to a deity, often standing within or beside a Buddhist temple complex.
N
- Nikaya නිකාය nikāya
- A monastic fraternity — an ordination lineage with its own succession and internal governance. Sri Lanka has three principal nikayas: Siyam, Amarapura and Ramanna.
P
- Perahera පෙරහැර perahära
- A ceremonial procession. The Kandy Esala Perahera, in which the relic casket is carried through the city, is the largest and best known.
- Pinkama පින්කම pinkama
- A meritorious act or the ceremony performed to accumulate merit — an almsgiving, a temple offering, a recitation.
- Pirivena පිරිවෙන pirivena
- A monastic college. Pirivenas taught Pali, Sinhala, Sanskrit and Buddhist doctrine, and were for centuries the principal institutions of higher learning on the island.
S
- Sangharaja සංඝරාජ saṅgharāja
- Supreme patriarch of the monastic order. Weliwita Saranankara was appointed the first Sangharaja of the revived order in the eighteenth century.
U
- Upasampada උපසම්පදාව upasampadā
- Higher ordination as a fully ordained monk, distinct from novice ordination. Restricting upasampada to Govigama candidates from 1764 is what caused the Siyam Nikaya's division from the maritime communities.
V
- Vatadage වටදාගේ vaṭadāgē
- A circular relic house built to shelter a small stupa, with concentric stone terraces and a roof now lost in every surviving example.