These historic photographs are in my stock by the grace and initiative of LAM SENEVIRATNE of Colombo, a venerable follower of a venerable game.
Unbuddhist Interventions; A Critique
Usvatte-aratchi in https://island.lk/why-so-unbuddhist/…. 24 February 2o26
Hardly a week goes by, when someone in this country does not preach to us about the great, long lasting and noble nature of the culture of the Sinhala Buddhist people. Some Sundays, it is a Catholic priest that sings the virtues of Buddhist culture. Some eminent university professor, not necessarily Buddhist, almost weekly in this newspaper, extols the superiority of Buddhist values in our society. Some 70 percent of the population in this society, at Census, claim that they are Buddhist in religion. They are all capped by that loud statement in dhammacakka pavattana sutta, commonly believed to have been spoken by the Buddha to his five colleagues, when all of them were seeking release from unsatisfactory state of being:
‘….jati pi dukkha jara pi dukkha maranam pi dukkham yam pi…. sankittena…. ‘
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High-stakes Standoff in West Asia: Will Trump bomb Iran?
Desert Wanderer, whose incisive & startling READINGS have been subject to highlights from the Thuppahi ‘pen’
The US War against Iran could start in the next few days. The US has deployed over 60% of its air force, two US battleship fleets, and a number of submarines to the Persian Gulf. That is a massive build up of military power. The US isn’t doing that to join Muslims to celebrate Ramadan. The US doesn’t bring that amount of weaponry into a confined space to have a Hello Kitty party, and eating apple pie.
Israeli Knesset Member Almog Cohen says the month of Ramadan, when Muslims all over the world are fasting, is the ‘best time to kill’ the people of Gaza because they’re weak and tired’….. See middleeastmonitor.com/Filed under Uncategorized
Sacred Heart Convent in Galle Marks Its 130th Year: Dadhi Bidi !!
Dadhi Bidi !! …. Dadhi Bidi !! ….
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T20 World Cup: The Logistical ‘Nightmare’
Michael Roberts
The ongoing T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka involves quite a logistical challenge for the principal units involved in arranging air and land travel for the several teams involved in the competition –– EIGHT teams all told: namely, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, SriLanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe
Premadasa Stadium
There are SEVEN VENUES involved, two in Sri Lanka and 5 in India: N Modi Stadium, AHMEDABAD; …..MA Chidambaram Stadium, CHENNAI; …..Premadasa Stadium, COLOMBO; ……. Arun Jetley Stadium, DELHI; ….. Pallekele Stadium, KANDY; …..Eden Gardens Stadium, KOLKATA; ….. Wankhede Stadium, MUMBAI
Wankhede …Mumbai
Chidambaram … Chennai
… AND, then, there will be the vicissitudes of WEATHER!
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Sri Lanka Crumble Against England at Pallekele
in ESPNcricinfo, 22 February 2026, …. where the title reads “Will Jacks stars again as England dismantle Sri Lanka”
Defending a modest total of 146 after Phil Salt’s lone hand, Will Jacks takes three as Sri Lanka are rolled for 95 …..England 146 for 9 (Salt 62, Wellalage 3-26) beat Sri Lanka 95 (Shanaka 30, Jacks 3-22) by 51 runs
England have jumped to the top of Group 2 of the Super Eight with a dominant, Net Run Rate-boosting 51-run win over Sri Lanka in Pallekele. In pursuit of what should have been a manageable target of 147, the hosts were snuffed out for 95 in an error-strewn innings that continued a grim 12-match losing streak to England, who lead Pakistan and New Zealand by a point after their washout on Saturday.
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Dragon in Melbourne … & … A Signature Moment
Dragon Dance in Melbourne … & … A Signature Moment
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An Appraisal of the NPP Government’s Performance Over Its First Year
A Bedgar Perera in SUNDAY ISLAND, 20 February 2026: “WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MOVE TOWARDS A “ CIVILISATIONAL TURN” BROUGHT ABOUT THROUGH THE CHANGE OF ADMINISTRATION ?”
Now that the new administration has completed one year in office and is well into its second year, I thought it is opportune to follow-up my letter titled ”A move towards a ‘CIVILISATIONAL TURN’ brought about by the change of administration“, published in the Sunday Island of February 23, 2025.
Looking back with an open mind for any changes in the political culture, one can easily see that changes did commence and politicians in power do not in general seem to be above the law as much as before. It is evident that the law enforcement agencies mostly function without political interference with a number of key politicians from the earlier regime already behind bars upon conviction by courts for various misdeeds.
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SWRD Bandaranaike: 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑨𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂’𝒔 Long-Term Strategy?
Avishka Mario Seneviratne in Facebook, February 2025
A few days ago, when I visited the Bandaranaike museum of the BMICH I noticed a briefcase labelled “Minister of Local Government” among the very many artifacts of the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike.
S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike first rose to island wide prominence when he entered the First State Council of Ceylon in 1931 as Member for Veyangoda, elected unopposed. A famous photograph published in “The Ceylon Daily News” showed him in national dress beside his father, Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, clad in Edwardian style, standing at the foot of the State Council building. It was not admiration but ridicule. From the beginning, he stood between two worlds..
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The Politico-Economic Pillars of Domination in SL Tamil Society Today
Chandre Dharmawardena in May 2014 responding to Devanesan Nesiah’s Article [latter at https://thuppahis.com/2014/05/19/engaing-issues-of-caste-in-india-and-sri-lanka/]
Mr. Nesiah’s discussion “engaging” caste issues begins with the opening remark: “Caste is observed by the overwhelming majority of Sinhalese and Tamils but the subject remains virtually taboo in public discussions. If it is mentioned in public, it is often either to hurl abuse or to negotiate a marriages “ . This is absolutely correct and especially so for communal politics since the time of Arunachalam Ponnambalam and Ponnambalam Ramanathan.
What is often not realized is that the same click of Colombo-based lawyer-Landed aristocracy, and their descendents, have ruled the Tamil-speaking community since the 19th century. The 2013 election of Wigneswaran, Sampanthan, Sumanthiran and others to the NPC is merely a continuation of the same “unchanged leadership”. Unfortunately, this has not been realized by Western observers (see for instance, the observations of the top diplomats in the Canadian Foreign ministry, that I have examined in: http://dh-web.org/hrsits/
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