Gunasoma’s Unique Art ….. Polishing Stones

This village is located close to Pilimatalawa. I come across a man who sits at a small workbench turning stone into sight. The room is modest. There are no machines or rows of factory tools. Instead, on a table worn smooth by years of work, lies a piece of pale crystal taken from the earth. The craftsman presses it against a rotating tool slowly and patiently. He would go on shaping it until it becomes something remarkable: a lens.  It is not glass. Nor plastic. It is stone.

It was locally called Diyatharippu for centuries. It is a natural crystal believed to cool the eye and sharpen vision. Long before mass-produced spectacles arrived from overseas, lenses carved from this mineral helped scholars, monks and even kings see clearly again.

The tradition continues to survive in the hands of a single craftsman. His name is Chulamani Gedara Gunasoma.

Diyatharippu is not ordinary glass. It is a form of natural quartz crystal formed deep underground under pressure over thousands of years. The stones are typically found in Sri Lanka’s gem-rich regions, particularly around Ratnapura.

The transparent and faintly white mineral has a natural cooling quality. In traditional Sinhala medicine, it was believed that lenses carved from this stone could soothe the eye while improving vision. Diyatharippu lenses are entirely natural unlike modern spectacles made from plastic or synthetic glass.

The craft flourished quietly for generations. Royal Courts and learned elites relied on these lenses, carefully ground by hand, to correct failing eyesight. Unfortunately the knowledge has nearly disappeared.

This village, which is close to Pilimathalawa, is called Kahambe in the Kirivavula area. That’s where Gunasoma continues the work passed down through his family. He is the eighth generation in a lineage of Diyatharippu craftsmen.

“I learned this from my father,” he says. “This is not just work. It requires patience. It’s almost like meditation.”

The story of his family’s craft stretches back centuries. According to Gunasoma, their ancestors once made Diyatharippu spectacles for King Buwanekabahu IV of Gampola. The king, he says, struggled to read the intricate carvings and inscriptions at temples such as Embekke, Gadaladeniya and Lankatilaka. The lenses crafted by Gunasoma’s ancestors helped restore his sight.

In gratitude, the royal Court granted the family 16 acres of land.

“We still live on that land today,” he says.

Making Diyatharippu eyeglasses is a slow and demanding process. First, the right stones must be found. Gunasoma travels to Ratnapura to purchase raw quartz crystals known locally as Thiriwana. These stones come from mines and are sold by weight.

Only a few are suitable.

“We choose the best stones from the lot,” he explains.

The crystals are then shaped and polished using specialized tools. One key instrument is the menik katuwa, a gem-cutting bit obtained from Elahera, another gem-producing region of the island.

Each lens is ground and polished by hand. His wife, Sunitha, and his sister help with the work. In earlier generations, producing a single pair of glasses could take nine to ten days. Today, with a few pieces of modern machinery provided through a Ministry of Industry programme in 2019, the process takes about two or three days.

Still, much of the craft depends on human touch. “The final finish cannot come from a machine” Gunasoma says.

Supporters of Diyatharippu claim the lenses offer advantages over modern spectacles. Because the crystal naturally retains a cool temperature, it is believed to soothe the eye and support corneal health. Some users say it helps reduce digital eye strain, now common in the age of smartphones and computers.

“When people wear these glasses, their eyes don’t burn and they don’t water,” Gunasoma observes.

He also notes that eyesight tends to weaken in stages through life, often around ages 30, 40 and 60. Diyatharippu lenses, he says, can be made for each stage.

The lenses are durable. Unlike ordinary glass or plastic lenses, the crystal resists scratches and can last for decades. A single pair could last a lifetime, with proper care.

Despite its long history, the craft now stands on uncertain ground. The first challenge is raw material. High-quality quartz crystals have become harder to find. Prices have risen sharply. Another problem is succession.

the raw material

the polished 

Only a few young people are willing to spend years learning such a meticulous craft.

“If there were more support from the government or private sector,” Gunasoma says, “this could become something valuable for the whole world.” Yet there is hope close to home. His eldest child has begun to show interest in the craft.

“I believe he will continue it,” Gunasoma says.

The family’s expertise extends beyond spectacles.

In Sri Lankan Buddhist architecture, the Chuda Manikya the crystal pinnacle that crowns a stupa, which is one of the most sacred elements of the structure. Creating it requires extraordinary precision and patience.

According to Gunasoma, artisans from his lineage crafted some of the earliest Chuda Manikya pieces and contributed to the pinnacles of several historic temples. Even today, he continues to produce them.

Over the years, Gunasoma has received numerous honours for his work, including the Presidential Award, Kala Bhushana, and Desha Keerthi. The awards sit on a shelf. But recognition is not what concerns him most. “I received awards,” he says, “but I worry that this art will disappear after me.”

He pauses, holding a newly polished lens between his fingers. “This is a science,” he says quietly. “There is no greater merit than taking a stone from the earth and giving a human being the ability to see the world through it.”

In a time when vision is corrected by mass-produced lenses shipped across continents, Gunasoma’s workshop offers a different story. Here, sight begins underground in a crystal formed over thousands of years and ends in the careful hands of a craftsman who still believes that stone can help people see.

Not just the world around them. But the past that shaped it.