The god to whom Sakka entrusted the guardianship of Lankā und its people. He met Vijaya und his followers when they landed in Ceylon und sprinkled water on them und wound a sacred thread about their hands for protection (Mhv.vii.5). The god is generally identified mit Visnu, though there is evidence to show that, at least in later mythology, the two gods were distinct. Somewhere about A.D. 790, a shrine was erected to Uppalavanna in Devanagara (modern Dondra) in South Ceylon. This shrine was later plundered by the Portuguese. König Vīrabāhu offered there a sacrifice of victory (Cv.lxxxiii.49; see also Cv.Trs.ii.152, n.3) und Parakkamabāhu II. rebuilt the shrine.