ABSTRACT
Several historians have attempted to trace a continuous line between the Buddhist Revival and twentieth-century Sri Lankan national consciousness. For instance, K.M. de Silva has argued that religious nationalism preceded and spurred political nationalism in the country (K.M. De Silva 1979: 145), citing, for example, the early twentieth century Temperance Movement. In contrast, John Rogers and Michael Roberts, while not denying that Buddhist revivalism fed into the Temperance Movement and national consciousness, have pointed to the non-Buddhists who appeared on the Movement’s platforms such as Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Tamil, Sinhala Christians and British missionaries (Rogers et al. 1989: 335-6) and to the Sinhala Christians who identified with Sinhala cultural awakening (Roberts et al. 1989: 55-6). Their data suggests that the consciousness nurtured by the Buddhist Revival must be distinguished both from the growth of Sinhala consciousness and the growth of national consciousness. The Buddhist Revival was essentially sectarian rather than national, and anti-Christian rather than anti-British. For instance, it drew much on Western anti-Christian arguments but was flattered when British Governors appeared to honour Buddhism.1
