The Sinhalese known as Hela are an ethnic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They constitute number greater than 16.2 million. The Sinhalese identity is based on historical heritage and religion; the Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language, are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a small percentage of Sinhalese follow branches of Christianity. The Sinhalese are found in North Central, Central and West Sri Lanka. According to the 5th century epic poem Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, a 3rd–5th century treatise written in Pali by Buddhist monks of the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese descend from the Indo Aryan settlers who came to the island in 543 BCE from Sinhapura, in India, led by Prince Vijaya. From the Sanskrit word Sinhala, meaning "of lions"; the Mahavamsa records the origin of the Sinhalese people and related historical events. It traces the historical origin of the Sinhalese people back to the first king of Sri Lanka, the son of Sinhabahu (Sanskrit meaning'Sinha' +'bahu', the ruler of Sinhapura.

According to the Mahavamsa, Sinhabahu was the son of princess Suppadevi of the Vanga, who copulated with the king of the beast, a lion, gave birth to a daughter called Sinhasivali and to a son, whose hands and feet were like the paws of a lion and who had the strength of a lion. King Vijaya, lineage of Sinhabahu, according to the Mahavamsa and other historical sources, arrived on the island of Tambapanni, gave origin to the lion people, Sinhalese; the story of the arrival of Prince Vijaya in Sri Lanka, the origin of the Sinhalese people is depicted in the Ajanta caves, in a mural of cave number 17. Early recorded history of the Sinhalese is chronicled in two documents, the Mahavamsa, written in Pāli around the 4th century CE, the much Culavamsa; these are ancient sources which cover the histories of the powerful ancient Sinhalese kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa which lasted for 1500 years. The Mahavamsa describes the existence of fields of rice and reservoirs, indicating a well-developed agrarian society.

Prince Vijaya and his 700 followers left Suppāraka, landed on the island at a site believed by historians to be in the district of Chilaw, near modern-day Mannar, founded the Kingdom of Tambapanni. It is recorded. Vijaya claimed soon the whole island come under this name. Tambapanni was inhabited and governed by Yakkhas, having their capital at Sirīsavatthu and their queen Kuveni. According to the Samyutta Commentary, Tambapanni was one hundred leagues in extent. After landing in Tambapanni Vijaya met Kuveni the queen of the Yakkhas, disguised as a beautiful woman but was a'yakkini' named Sesapathi. At the end of his reign, having trouble choosing a successor, sent a letter to the city of his ancestors, Sinhapura, in order to invite his brother Sumitta to take over the throne. However, Vijaya had died before the letter had reached its destination, so the elected minister of the people Upatissa, the Chief government minister or prime minister and leading chief among the Sinhalese became regent and acted as regent for a year.

After his coronation, held in the Kingdom of Tambapanni, he left it, building another one, bearing his own name. While he was king, Upatissa established the new capital Upatissa, in which the kingdom was moved to from the Kingdom of Tambapanni; when Vijaya's letter arrived, Sumitta had succeeded his father as king of his country, so he sent his son Panduvasdeva to rule Upatissa Nuwara. Upatissa Nuwara was eight miles further north of the Kingdom of Tambapanni, it was named after the regent king Upatissa, the prime minister of Vijaya, was founded in 505 BC after the death of Vijaya and the end of the Kingdom of Tambapanni. In 377 BC, King Pandukabhaya moved the capital to Anuradhapura and developed it into a prosperous city. Anuradhapura was named after the minister who first established the village and after a grandfather of Pandukabhaya who lived there; the name was derived from the city's establishment on the auspicious asterism called Anura. Anuradhapura was the capital of all the monarchs.

Rulers such as Dutthagamani and Dhatusena are noted for defeating the South Indians and regaining control of the kingdom. Other rulers who are notable for military achievements include Gajabahu I, who launched an invasion against the invaders, Sena II, who sent his armies to assist a Pandyan prince. During the Middle Ages Sri Lanka was well known for its agricultural prosperity under the Parakramabahu in Polonnaruwa during which period the island was famous around the world as the rice mill of the east. In the 13th century the country's administrative provinces were divided into three independent kingdoms: Kingdom of Sitawaka, Kingdom of Kotte and the Kandyan kingdom; the invasion by Magha in the 13th century led to migrations by the Sinhalese to areas not under his control. This migration was followed by a period of conflict among the Sinhalese chiefs who tried to exert political supremacy. Parakramabahu VI in the 15th century was the only Sinhalese king during this time who could bring back the unity of the whole island.

Trade increased during this period, as Sri Lanka began to trade Cinnamon and a large number of Muslim traders were bought into the island. In the 15th

The A1237 road is a road that runs to the west and north of the city of York, England. It forms part of the York Outer Ring Road as either end of the route forms junctions with the A64 to the south-west and east of the city to act as a city distributor. Construction consisted of three distinct building phases; the road took three years to complete and has been subject since to studies looking to improve traffic flow and reduce accidents. The National Speed Limit for an A Class Road applies. An outer ring road for York had been proposed as far back as 1948 by members of York City Council's Civic Committee; the scheme proposed by Adshead and Minter was grander in scale than exists. The northern section, based on junctions with the old A64 route, would have started clockwise from the current A64 eastbound turn-off to Askham Richard and Bilbrough, it would have passed to the north west of Nether Skelton. It would still run south of Haxby and Wigginton, but continue more easterly than the current road to rejoin the A64 north of Stockton-on-the-Forest.

The case for a solution to the increasing traffic management issues in the centre of the city of York during the 1960s were to aid the local tourism industry. The first proposals were for an inner ring road; this met opposition as it would call for demolition of many archaeological sites. This resulted in a public inquiry in 1972 that backed the inner ring road proposal, but the decision remained with the Secretary of State for the Environment, who ruled against it in 1975, by which time the construction of the dual carriageway A64 was nearly complete; the inner ring road proposals were in contrast to 1958 report for the Minister for Housing and Local Government and the local council, by Lord Esher, entitled York: A Study in Conservation. This attempted to address modernising four English cities without undue impact on their heritage; the York Corporation, in contrast, still maintained their preference for the inner ring road, though this was subsequently limited to the current layout around the outside of the city walls.

To cater for the numerous proposed developments on the outskirts of York, such as Clifton Moor, the decision was taken to construct a road to the west and north of York to link to the A64. This came out of evidence given to the 1972 Public Inquiry into the proposed new Inner Ring Road. Studies conducted by Professor Smeed indicated an Outer Ring Road with radial roads was the best solution; the A1237 was the second part of the outer ring road and was constructed in three phases some 11 years after the first part, the A64 York Bypass, was completed. This was due to different organisations being responsible for the two roads and their strategic planning; the first phase of construction started in 1984 on the northern section between the A19 and the A64. It opened in 1986. Phase two and three started construction in 1985 with the second and third sections opening the following year in September and December respectively. Phase two was between the A64 and the A59 and phase three was the short section between the A59 and A19.

This section took longer to construct due to it having to cross the River Ouse and the East Coast Main Line. Phase three was opened by the Secretary of State for Transport Paul Channon on 11 December 1987; this is a single carriageway road, has twelve roundabouts. Starting at the western end going clockwise, the road begins as one of the exits from the grade separated junction with the A64 exit for Copmanthorpe, Askham Bryan and York North; the last 1 mile section ends with the double roundabout at Hopgrove that links Malton Road and the A1237 with the A64 to complete the York Outer Ring Road. In 2011 the roundabout on the A19 junction took about 12 weeks. Access and exits were widened. In 2014, the roundabout that formed the junction between the ring road and the A59 was improved by York City Council in time for the 2014 Tour de France Stage 2 to pass over it. In 2015 the City Council in partnership with North Yorkshire Police, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Joseph Rowntree School created a shared cycle/footpath by the ring road between the Haxby Road and Wigginton Road roundabouts.

Several bodies have proposed improvements to the A1237 including: Dualling the road by 2030 as detailed in the North Yorkshire Strategic Prospectus. In the West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund, improvements to seven roundabouts between the Wetherby Road and Monks Cross junctions; the design includes ensuring room for future dualling of the carriageways. On 3 March 2015 the Executive of York City Council resolved to progress Option 1 of the report into improvements to the York Outer Ring Road; this was to carry out the work recommended in the West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund Congestion became a problem at peak times, the 1989 Department for Transport's Roads for Prosperity white paper included improvements to the section between. The proposals were for a new continuous through-route running parallel to the existing road with just a single grade separated junction at the B1363; the existing road, the roundabouts, would have been retained for local access. The plans were subsequently dropped. Plans for dualling 7.8 km, at a cost £31M, of the A1237 York Outer Ring Road were rejected by the Regional Transport Board in 2009.

Congestion at peak times remains an issue and has led to studies that show that delays at all junctions will lead t

Vadukeeswarar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva, located in Thirubuvanai, a village in Pondicherry - Villupuram highway in Pondicherry in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Shiva is worshiped as Vadukeeswarar, is represented by the lingam, his consort Parvati is depicted as Thiripura Sundari. The temple is located on the Chennai - Villupuram highway; the presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the nayanmars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam. The temple complex covers an area of two acres and all its shrines are enclosed with concentric rectangular walls; the temple has a number of shrines, with those of Vadukeeswarar and Thiripura Sundari being the most prominent. The temple has three daily rituals at various times from 6:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and many yearly festivals on its calendar. Sivaratri festival during the Tamil month of Masi, Vaikasi Visagam during May–June, Skanda sashti during October - November, Thaipoosam during January–February and Navaratri during the month of Purattasi are the most prominent festivals celebrated in the temple.

The original complex is believed to have been built by Cholas, with additions from different ruling dynasties. In modern times, The temple is maintained and administered by the Archaeological Survey of India as a protected monument; as per Hindu legend, one of the three Hindu trios, got proud of his accomplishments and power. Once Parvathi, the wife of the other trio Shiva, got confused with the five heads of Brahma thinking it to be that of Shiva's. Shiva removed one of the five heads of Brahma as a punishment. Brahma pleaded with Shiva. Shiva came to be known as Vadukeeswarar; the original structure is believed to be existent from time immemorial, while the additions are believed to have been built by Cholas, while the present masonry structure was built during the 16th century. There are inscriptions from Chola emperors like Rajaraja Chola I, Kulothunga Chola I, Rajendra Chola III. Vadukeeswarar temple is located in a village called Thirubuvanai located 21 km from Pondicherry on Viluppuram - Pondicherry highway.

The temple has a flat entrance tower facing east, all the shrines of the temple are enclosed in concentric rectangular granite walls. The shrine of Thripurasundari is housed in a shrine facing north in the second precinct; the central shrine housing Vadukeeswarar is approached through pillared halls. The shrine houses the image of Vadukeeswarar in the form of Lingam; the central shrine is approached through a Arthamandapam. As in other Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu, the shrines of Vinayaka, Navagraha and Durga are located around the precinct of the main shrine; the stucco images on the four sides of the vimana of the temple were plastered by Archaeological Survey around 1994. The temple is believed to be built by the Cholas - Parantaka I; the inscription is dated the 30th regnal year of Rajaraja. There are inscriptions from Chola emperors like Rajaraja Chola I, Kulothunga Chola I, Rajendra Chola III; the region along with the temple switched hands to Pandya empire as indicated by the inscriptions in the temple.

The regions changed hands from British to French colonial Empire during the 17th century. Most temples in the place were destroyed during the French invasion, it is one of the shrines of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams - Shiva Sthalams glorified in the early medieval Tevaram poems by Tamil Saivite Nayanars Thirugnana Sambandar. The temple priests perform the puja on a daily basis; the temple rituals are performed three times a day. Uchikalam at 11:00 a.m. and Sayarakshai at 5:00 p.m. Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka, alangaram and deepa aradanai for Vadukeeswarar and Thiripurasundari. There are weekly rituals like somavaram and sukravaram, fortnightly rituals like pradosham, monthly festivals like amavasai, kiruthigai and sathurthi. Sivaratri festival during the Tamil month of Masi, Vaikasi Visagam during May–June, Skanda sashti during October - November, Thaipoosam during January–February and Navaratri during the month of Purattasi are the most prominent festivals celebrated in the temple.

The temple is maintained and administered by the Archaeological Survey of India as a protected monument