
Ancient Names of Sri Lanka
· Another ancient name for Sri Lanka was "Lankadeepa". This is the name by which Sri Lanka was known at the time of Gautama Buddha, the founder of the Buddhist religion 2,500 years ago. Diwa or Deepa means island. Thus "Lakdiva also means "Island of Lanka". Bima in Sinhala means Land. Thus "Lakbima" means "The land of Lanka".