Veins of Influence: Colonial Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in Early Photographs and Collections, by Shalini Amerasinghe Ganendra
[This book is a pioneering monograph that brings a rich array of early and previously unpublished images of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) into the global discourse of photography, pairing a striking lens of visual appreciation with distinctly humanizing perspectives.
Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, Buddhism, commoditification, Dutch colonialism, economic processes, ethnicity, female empowerment, governance, heritage, Hinduism, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, modernity & modernization, photography, photography & its history, plantations, Portuguese imperialism, power politics, religiosity, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, the imaginary and the real, tourism, transport and communications, unusual people, wild life, working class conditions
Editorial in Daily FT, 8 June 2023, which is entitled “Archaeology Department must act impartially in N & E” … with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
The past few months have seen several protests held in the North and East over the acquisition of land to construct new Buddhist shrines. It has been alleged that Buddhist monks aided by army personnel have been engaged in these questionable activities with the tacit approval of the Archaeology Department which have led to tensions among the local population and the military.
At a recent meeting with Archaeology Department officials, President Ranil Wickremesinghe weighed in on the issue and chided Department officials for taking money from Buddhist monks to carry out their work and reminded them that they do not work for a private firm but a Government institution that has to act according to the law.
Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, anti-racism, architects & architecture, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, ethnicity, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, Rajapaksa regime, religiosity, religious nationalism, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, sri lankan society, tolerance, travelogue
Dr. Dharmaratna Herath
A detailed book on the history of the Tooth Relic. This is the extended version of the PhD thesis of the author submitted to School of Oriented and African Studies(SOAS), University of London in 1974.
This was first priced for Rs14,000. But it is now available for Rs 8,500 (extra 10% off if purchased from Vijitha Yapa or Visidunu at CIBF).
Filed under architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, Buddhism, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, politIcal discourse, religious nationalism, sri lankan society, unusual people, world events & processes
A New Investigative Website …. https://atita.org/
About Atita: Atita is dedicated to the investigation of historical events in Sri Lanka. Taking its name from the Pali word for “past” (atīta), Atita serves to fill in gaps in English-language literature of Sri Lankan history.
All are welcome to read our work, but those already familiar with Sri Lankan history since 1948 will find it the most enriching. Our primary focus is on events from 1948 to 1972, when Sri Lanka was still called “Ceylon.”
Filed under Aboriginality, accountability, ancient civilisations, art & allure bewitching, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, historical novel, Indian religions, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, paintings, patriotism, politIcal discourse, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, tolerance, transport and communications, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, world events & processes
An APPRECIATION from Senaka Weeraratna
ISRIYALLAYA HARAHAA ARABIYEA BUDUDAHAMA
Professor A.D.T.E. Perera, renowned Buddhist Scholar, with a Ph. D. from the Australian National University, passed away on September 17, 2023 at the age of 87 years of age. He was formerly an Associate Editor, Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, Government of Sri Lanka, publication, Research Associate and Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of New Mexico, USA, Guest Research Fellow, Department of Disarmament and Development, UNO, New York.
A NOTICE ciruclated by ASLA and Nayan Perera in Adelaide, August 2023
Dear Friends,
Adelaide Lakhanda with the Nalanda Old Boys Association of South Australia & Sri Lanka Cricket South Australia is excited to invite you to a meaningful event with an entertaining and purposeful evening. On 26th August, at the Regal Theatre Kensington, we will be screening the movie “Sinhabahu” for a noble cause.
Ven. Prof. Bellanwila Wimalaratana Thera, Anunayaka of the Kotte Chapter & Chancellor of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, posted on May 13, 2020 by sinhaladhamma… and sent to Thuppahi in July 2023 by Tommy Fernando **
Ven. Mapalagama Vipulasara Thera was born on March 03 , 1925, in a village named Mapalagama in the Galle District. He studied at Paranthaneyamgoda Govt. school. He was ordained on July 14, 1940 at Paramadhamma Chetiya Pirivena, Ratmalana and obtained his Higher Ordination on February 18, 1946.
Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, Buddhism, Colombo and Its Spaces, cultural transmission, education, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, meditations, patriotism, performance, religiosity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
Lee Tulloch, in Sydney Morning Herald, 9 June 2023, where the title reads = “Why you should visit this undersold, teardrop-shaped island right now”
If there’s a country that could do with a lot of love right now, it’s Sri Lanka. Over the past three decades, the island nation has been ravaged by conflict and disaster, beginning with the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which claimed 30,000 lives, and the 26-year-long civil war, which ended in 2009.
It had just re-emerged as a popular tourist destination when, on Easter Sunday 2019, an Islamic group, in retaliation for the Christchurch attacks thousands of kilometres away, bombed three churches and three luxury hotels in Colombo, unnerving the tourists who had returned in record numbers.
Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, australian media, Buddhism, commoditification, cultural transmission, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, photography, pilgrimages, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
Ananda Abeysekara’s Academic Article: “On Rewriting Buddhism: Or, How Not to Write a History,” Religion and Society, vol. 13. 1(2022): 39-80.
ABSTRACT: Through a detailed reading of a recent study of medieval Buddhism and politics in Sri Lanka in conjunction with a number of other works, this article explores the troubling legacy of translating the historical questions of subjectivity into the modern language of ‘agency’, ‘autonomy’, ‘innovation’, and ‘creativity’. This legacy cannot easily be separated from the politics of white privilege in post-colonial studies of Buddhism and South Asian religion. The problem with trying to expose creativity, so pervasive in the studies of South Asian religion, is not merely a matter of anachronistic conceptualization of divergent historical forms of religious practice and subjectivity. It is that the very possibility of translating subjectivity into easily digestible aestheticized modes of being (e.g., creativity) is predicated on an uninterrogated assumption about the self-evidence of such concepts independent of temporal forms of power encountered in forms of life. Continue reading
Filed under ancient civilisations, art & allure bewitching, Buddhism, cultural transmission, education, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, modernity & modernization, politIcal discourse, religiosity, religious nationalism, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, tolerance, world events & processes
Gananath Obeyesekere, in a Video Talk in 2023 ………………. https://kathika.lk/2023/05/06/the-relevence-of-buddhist-story-telling-in-education-gananath-obeyesekere-video/?fbclid=IwAR1T52u
Professor Gananath Obeyesekere spoke of the dry presentation of Buddhist teachings in abstract intellectual terms that he remembers from his youth. These were in contrast to the experience of going to pilgrimage places where pilgrims and their teachers told stories based on vernacular texts.
thuppahi
