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Category Archives: literary achievements
Peradeniya University Convocation, July 2025
The Convocation of the University of Peradeniya; 23 and 24 July 2025
The 86 th Convocation of the University of Peradeniya is organised as a majestic ceremony in the presence of dignitaries and parents to witness the graduation of nearly 4450 graduands looking towards the future with optimism and determination. The convocation ceremony this year will be held in four sessions today and tomorrow in the Gymnasium of University of Peradeniya as a joyous and proud occasion while celebrating 83 years of service par excellence to University education in Sri Lanka.
St. Anthony’s College in Kandy: Its Heritage
Bernard VanCuylenburg and Sisira Weragoda … whose title reads “From Little Things Big Things Grow – Antonians Who Excelled Beyond Excellence”
Prologue
As an introduction to the subject of this article I had to choose a title which nails it all in just one line. It is the story of an academic miracle which emanated from a simple school in its infancy, St. Anthony’s College Katugastota, by a group of students who raised the bar of achievement and excellence in the prestigious London Matriculation Examination in 1934, with a 100% pass rate THUS OBTAINING THE BEST RESULTS IN THE BRITISH EMPIRE. It was a path breaking year for the College and a validation of the school’s excellence. Twelve students sat the examination that year of whom six obtained first division passes, and six obtained second division passes. Their names which should be emblazoned in letters of gold in the field of education will be mentioned in this article. Paraphrasing the title of the book by Rubeih Murray James, we should “Carve their names with pride”.
Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, performance, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people
A Pathway to History: Biographical ‘Hits’ in Thuppahi, 22 July 2025
Michael Roberts
Biographical tales and investigations serve as one pathway to historical enquiry. Because they resonate with readers interest in their own personal journeys this fascination seems to evoke continuous appeal. The WORD PRESS record of readers hits on items in THUPPAHI confirm this fact. Let me, therefore, provide TPS readers with a list of some of the items that drew at least one reader …. that is one HIT …. today/yesterday.
Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, charitable outreach, communal relations, cricket selections, cultural transmission, discrimination, disparagement, economic processes, education, ethnicity, female empowerment, foreign policy, fundamentalism, governance, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, island economy, landscape wondrous, Left politics, life stories, literary achievements, LTTE, military strategy, modernity & modernization, patriotism, performance, photography, plural society, political demonstrations, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, prabhakaran, press freedom, religiosity, Royal College, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, social justice, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, Tamil migration, Tamil Tiger fighters, teaching profession, terrorism, transport and communications, truth as casualty of war, unusual people
How the ICES – the International Centre of Ethnic Studies – Arose
A Note by the Late SWR de Samarasinghe penned in 2021 and presented now in his Honour, albeit against his wishes then.
Dear Michael:
I will have a look at the document when you place it on Thuppahi.
BTW, I noticed that you mention the names of KM, Neelan and Radhika as the three people responsible for the establishment of ICES. Factually, Neelan got the initial grant from the Ford Foundation, KM got permission from JR to set it up. JR also instructed the then Finance Minister Ronnie de Mel to facilitate the process. Neelan invited Radhika [Coomaraswamy] to join as Associate Director and KM invited me to join as the Associate Director.
Filed under centre-periphery relations, Colombo and Its Spaces, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, legal issues, life stories, literary achievements, nationalism, patriotism, performance, politIcal discourse, power politics, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people, world events & processes
Biographical Paths to Lankan History via ‘Hits’ on TPS
A MEMO From Michael Roberts as Editor, Thuppahi, July 2025
The Word Press system keeps me informed about the HITs on TPS items everyday and also assembles figures for each week. Reviewing these details provides one with a glimpse of internet viewers and their interests. As an exercise with this objective I provide figures of HITS on items carrying biographical tales.
HEREWITh, then, are the figures of such hits — HITS on bio-tales –– during the past week.
Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, British colonialism, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, cricket selections, cultural transmission, disparagement, economic processes, Eelam, ethnicity, European history, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian Ocean politics, insurrections, island economy, landscape wondrous, language policies, Left politics, legal issues, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, nationalism, performance, politIcal discourse, population, power politics, S. Thomas College, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, Sri Lankan cricket, sri lankan society, Tamil Tiger fighters, teaching profession, theatre world, unusual people, world affairs, world events & processes
Introducing A Cutting Edge Journal: SOUTH ASIA
Michael Roberts
SOUTH ASIA has been a form of Australian exploration — in the plural form of manifold journeys and investigations — in South Asia for several decades. I was a small cog in this cluster of activities some 20 years back; but, alas, fell away. Some old partners in arms are still part of the Editorial Advisory Board; but its a fresh and bright team that is bringing the Indian subcontinent into the Aussie arena. Sri Lankan scholars and readers need to take note of this work and chip in with their own ‘commentary’ — whether in article form or as avid readers.
Check https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/csas20 …. AND/OR write to shameem.black@anu.edu.au ……….. OR ……………………….. priya.chacko@adelaide.edu.au
Filed under ancient civilisations, australian media, British imperialism, Buddhism, centre-periphery relations, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, electoral structures, ethnicity, European history, governance, heritage, Hinduism, historical interpretation, Indian General Elections, Indian Ocean politics, Indian religions, Indian traditions, land policies, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, migrant experiences, modernity & modernization, parliamentary elections, patriotism, pilgrimages, plural society, politIcal discourse, Portuguese imperialism, Portuguese in Indian Ocean, power politics, Presidential elections, press freedom & censorship, racism, Rajiv Gandhi, religiosity, riots and pogroms, security, self-reflexivity, terrorism, transport and communications, working class conditions, world events & processes, zealotry
THOMIA’s Frontal Pages ….
The hard copy of THOMIA by Richard Simon in two volumes — all 868 + lxv pages of this searching history — is now in print. Presented here are the initial pages.
Filed under British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, Colombo and Its Spaces, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, education policy, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, language policies, life stories, literary achievements, patriotism, politIcal discourse, religiosity, S. Thomas College, sri lankan society, teaching profession, unusual people, world events & processes
Gananath’s Manifold Reach: Many Voices in Vale
IT is a testament to Gananath’s openness and skills that personnel from so many walks of life have stepped up to record his influence on their thinking and lives. May he dwell comfortably in his after-life. ….. Michael Roberts
A Female Voice in Facebook, March 2025
I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Prof Gananath Obeyesekere. Much will be written about Prof Obeyesekere’s contribution to academia in the coming days. He was a giant in the field and one of the most well-known and respected Sri Lankan intellectuals.
Filed under anti-racism, art & allure bewitching, caste issues, charitable outreach, communal relations, cultural transmission, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, language policies, life stories, literary achievements, patriotism, pilgrimages, politIcal discourse, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, world affairs, zealotry
Reflections on Gananath’s Wide-Ranging Corpus of Work
Professor M.W. Amarasiri de Silva, about 3/4 years back in … … where the full title of the essay reads thus: “Sinhalese Society Through The Prism Of Religion: An Appreciation Of Gananath Obeyesekere’s Work On Sinhalese Buddhism”
This article celebrates the remarkable scholarly contributions of Gananath Obeyesekere, specifically in the field of popular Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Obeyesekere, now aged 93, embarked on his anthropological career at the University of Ceylon (now University of Peradeniya), where he earned his undergraduate degree in English. Subsequently, he served as a lecturer and professor in the Department of Sociology from the 1960s to 1972, before moving on to the United States. He was Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University from 1980 to 2000.
Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, caste issues, centre-periphery relations, commoditification, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, fundamentalism, governance, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, language policies, Left politics, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, nationalism, patriotism, performance, pilgrimages, politIcal discourse, power politics, racist thinking, religiosity, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, social justice, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, teaching profession, transport and communications, unusual people, vengeance, working class conditions, world events & processes, zealotry
