Theravāda Buddhists also developed a series of scriptural commentaries (called the Atthakatha). The Theravāda tradition holds that a tradition of Indian commentaries on the scriptures existed even during Mahinda's early days. There were also various commentaries on the Tipitaka written in the Sinhala language, such as the "Maha-atthakatha" ("Great commentary"), the main commentary tradition of the Mahavihara monks, which is now lost. Furthermore, there were also Sinhala texts that were written in order to translate and explain the Pali Buddhist teachings to those who did not have knowledge of Pali. The Sinhala language thus developed during the Anuradhapura period under the influence of Pali (as well as Sanskrit and Tamil).