Image of a Bodhisattwa, Maligawila, Sri Lanka.

The history of Mahayana Buddhism has been totally put to the back burner in Sri Lanka. It had and still has a profound influence on Sri Lankan culture. The antagonisms started around the 5th century AD when Abheyagiri Vihara in Anuradhapura was burnt to the ground. Several valuable commentaries were burnt. But Mahayana had its profound influence by the statues at Aukana, Buduruwagala, Maligawila to mention just a few. I took this picture of the restored Bodhisattwa image at Maligawila around the late 1990s.