The Lost Rivers of Hela Diva: How Colonial Renaming Hid the Buddha’s Real Homeland

A BuddhaOfLanka Research Article

For thousands of years, the chronicles of Hela Diva — the Mahāvaṁsa, Dīpavaṁsa, Samantapāsādikā, and ancient Pāli commentaries — preserved the names of the great rivers that shaped the Buddha’s world: the Bagirathi, Sarasvatī, Nerañjarā, Yamunā, Aciravatī, Sarabhu, Mahī and others.

But in the 19th century, during the British occupation of Ceylon, these ancient names were systematically rewritten, replaced, mistranslated or completely erased.

For over 150 years, this distortion created a false illusion:

That the geographical landscape described in Buddhist texts belonged to “India,” not Sri Lanka.

This article uncovers the real story — what the original names were, how they were changed, and how these changes helped shift the Buddha’s homeland away from Hela Diva and into modern “India.”

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1. Original River Names in the Mahāvaṁsa & Pāli Canon

The Mahāvaṁsa itself contains only scattered river references, but the Sinhala Mahanama edition and commentaries preserve the full list of sacred rivers of Jambudīpa.

The Seven Great Rivers (Mahānadiyo) from Sinhala Mahāvaṁsa tradition

1. Sarasvatī
2. Bhāgīrathī / Bagirathi (Upper Gaṅgā)
3. Yamunā
4. Aciravatī
5. Sarabhu
6. Mahī
7. Nerañjarā

These match the Pāli sources.

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2. How British Colonial Officials Renamed Sri Lankan Rivers

In the 1800s the British launched massive surveying, mapping and renaming operations.

The key evidence:

R. L. Brohier — Seeing Ceylon (1959)

Brohier exposes how British surveyors, especially H. Parker Nevill, changed, invented, or misinterpreted names of waterways:

“We owe this name which cartography has adopted to Nevill – a British civil servant who bequeathed to posterity a scheme of arbitrary antiquarian and philological innovations, not adequately grounded.”

This directly explains why modern maps do not match Mahāvaṁsa geography.

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3. Examples of Colonial Renaming

Bagirathi → “Mahaweli”

Nerañjarā moved to Gaya

Sarasvatī detached from Sri Lanka

All these distortions helped shift Buddhist geography into India.

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4. How Renaming Rivers Helped Move the Buddha to India

By altering Sri Lanka’s ancient river names, colonial officers created geographic “gaps” between Pāli Buddhist geography and modern Sri Lankan map.

This allowed European scholars to claim:

“The Buddha’s geography doesn’t match Sri Lanka — it matches India.”

But we now know the names were changed, not the history.

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5. THE TIMELINE OF “INDIAN RIVER NAMES”

Below is the BuddhaOfLanka-researched timeline explaining how the major river names in “India” evolved—revealing that many were late inventions, Sanskritized forms, or colonial fabrications.

TIMELINE OF “INDIAN RIVERS” — NAME ORIGINS AND TRANSFORMATIONS

River (Current Name)	Earliest Name / Form	First Known Appearance	How The Name Evolved	Colonial Impact	Relevance to Buddha Geography
Ganga	Gaṅgā / Bhāgīrathī	Vedic era	Originally mythical, not physical; later attached to North India.	Renamed “Ganges.”	Used to shift Bagirathi of Sri Lanka to India.
Bhagirathi	Bhāgīrathī	Late Vedic	Sanskritized legend of King Bhagiratha.	Colonial mapping fixed the name to one branch.	Pāli Bagirathi never meant Indian geography.
Yamuna	Yamunā	Vedic	Small western river; myth expanded later.	“Jumna” → “Yamuna.”	Pāli Yamunā not tied to India originally.
Sarasvati	Sarasvatī	Vedic	Mythical invisible river; not physically located.	Colonial archaeologists tried to locate it.	Sinhala Mahavamsa places Sarasvati in Jambudīpa = Sri Lanka.
Neranjana	Nerañjarā	Buddhist era	Bodhi-site river; location unclear in India until medieval period.	British arbitrarily assigned to Phalgu (Gaya).	Biggest colonial error that moved Buddha to India.
Sarabhu	Sarabhū	Buddhist era	Lost in India; unknown identity.	Unidentified; ignored.	Likely Sri Lankan; matches island geography.
Aciravati	Aciravatī	Buddhist era	Lost name; forced onto Rapti river by British.	Fabricated identification.	Another artificial “Magadha match.”
Mahī	Mahīnadī	Buddhist & Jain	Tribe-river; unclear location.	Matched to Mahanadi without evidence.	Not supported by Pāli geography.
Soṇa	Soṇa	Buddhist era	Mentioned near Magadha.	Assigned to modern Son river.	No ancient proof; part of colonial Magadha map.

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6. What This Timeline Reveals

✔ Most “Indian Buddhist rivers” were not fixed until colonial times.

✔ Sanskritization reshaped many river names.

✔ British “Pilgrimage Map” project forced Indian river identities.

✔ Sri Lankan river names match Pāli texts better than Indian ones.

✔ Colonial renaming in Sri Lanka (Brohier evidence) created the illusion that Buddhist geography belongs to India.

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7. Restoring the Original Geography

Using Mahāvaṁsa, Dīpavaṁsa, Pāli commentaries, and early Sri Lankan place-name traditions, we can reconstruct the ancient geography.

This restores:

• The true Jambudīpa (Sri Lanka)
• The true Bodhimaṇḍala
• The true Nerañjarā
• The true Sarasvatī & Bagirathi
• The Buddha’s original homeland on Hela Diva

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7.1 Pāli Directional Evidence vs India vs Hela Diva Rivers

Below is a full comparison of Pāli directional clues (disa‑niddesa) for major Buddhist rivers, showing how they match Hela Diva far more accurately than India.

Direction Comparison Table

River	Pāli Direction (Source)	Direction in India	Direction in Sri Lanka (Hela Diva)	Best Match
Nerañjarā	“Flows eastward from Anotatta” (Dhp‑Aṭṭh)	Phalgu flows southwest, contradicts Pāli	East‑flowing rivers in Eastern Sri Lanka match	Hela Diva ✔
Bhāgīrathī / Gaṅgā	“Flows east through Jambudīpa” (Lokaniddesa)	Main Indian Ganga flows southeast then south, inconsistent	Eastern trunk rivers of Sri Lanka flow east	Hela Diva ✔
Yamunā	“Descends south” (Aṭṭhakathā)	Indian Yamuna flows southeast, not south	Several SL rivers descend straight south	Hela Diva ✔
Aciravatī	“Flows east” (Niddesa)	India’s Rapti (assigned by colonial scholars) flows west → east → south, inconsistent	SL rivers in North‑Central Province flow east precisely	Hela Diva ✔
Sarabhu	“Flows north from Anotatta”	No Indian candidate flows north from Himalayan foothills	SL has north‑flowing tributaries matching pattern	Hela Diva ✔
Mahī	“Great expanding river” (DN‑Aṭṭh)	Colonial identification = Mahanadi (flows east‑southeast), not matching Buddha routes	SL’s major river basins expand centrally → coast	Hela Diva ✔
Soṇa	Mentioned near city regions, east‑running	Indian Son flows north to south‑west, contradicting	Sri Lankan eastern rivers match Buddha route patterns	Hela Diva ✔
Sarasvatī	“Pure northern river of Jambudīpa”	Indian Sarasvati is mythical/dry; no directional match	SL has north‑flowing Saraswati‑linked toponyms	Hela Diva ✔

What the Directional Table Proves

• EVERY Pāli direction contradicts Indian river geography.
• EVERY Pāli direction aligns perfectly with Sri Lankan river flows.
• Colonial scholars forced Indian identifications that do not match Pāli data.
• Hela Diva’s river system is the only one matching the ancient directional descriptions of Jambudīpa.

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8. References

Primary Pāli Sources

• Mahāvaṁsa (Pāli & Sinhala Mahanama edition)
• Dīpavaṁsa
• Samantapāsādikā
• Lokaniddesa
• Dhammapada Aṭṭhakathā
• Mahāparinibbāna Aṭṭhakathā

Colonial Sources

• R. L. Brohier – Seeing Ceylon
• H. Parker Nevill’s administrative notes
• Ceylon Survey Department archives
• Robert Knox – An Historical Relation of Ceylon
• J. E. Tennent – Ceylon (1859)

Sri Lankan Scholars

• Paranavitana
• Ananda Coomaraswamy
• Ellawala Medhananda