Upatissa was purohita to and a Chief government minister under King Vijaya of Sri Lanka. He built a city Upatissa Nuwara named after himself, which became the second Sinhalese kingdom in Sri Lanka.

 

He became the King of Upatissa Nuwara for a short period of time after the death of Prince Vijaya until the arrival of the heir to the throne, King Panduvasdeva from North India.

 

Upatissa is a Saaligrama Brahamin (belonging to Salaagama Cast) according to the puiblication “King Vijaya and his Successors” which is based on A short history of Lanka by Humphry William Codrington.