Michael Roberts as a Cameraman …. seeing to emulate that genius the late Nihal Fernando
A Shoreline Fish-hunter south of Wattala at twilight where a small inland canal meets the sea …. the photo was shot in a snap decision from the prow of a padda boat about to land our touring-party on the beach …..
Jeremy Bourke: “The new Sri Lankan resort where wildlife roam free,” in The Weekend Australian Travel + Luxury Magazine, 3/4 February 2024 …….
Buffalos in pools, elephants on footpaths and an escort needed when you leave your pavilion – the fenceless Hilton Yala is quite the experience.
John De Silva is an Old Aloysian like the Editor Thuppahi. He resides now in Melbourne and is a key member of the small crew sustaining the Old Aloysian Magazine.
Filed under landscape wondrous, life stories, nature's wonders, photography, tourism, travelogue, wild life
Prageeth Sampath Karunathilaka, in Daily Mirror, 20 December 2023, where the title reads thus: “Longest mountain in Sri Lanka: How Saliya-Asokamala shaped the history of Galgiriya Mountain” ….
The Galgiriya mountain seen from afar
Filed under ancient civilisations, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, Buddhism, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, nature's wonders, pilgrimages, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
SOME POSTS from NICHOLAS ANDRIANI
Bruce Kapferer, … being the Huxley Lecture: British Museum, 16 December 2011, subsequently published in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 9, 8–86 ..in 2013 … [with the numerals in the publication date references subject to distortion in this version–distortions that will be corrected eventually]
Anthropology has often been criticized for its exoticism and orientalism. They are the paradoxes of a discipline focused on the comparative study of difference and diversity and are at the centre of the discussion here in the larger context of the importance of anthropology in the humanities and social sciences. The emphasis is on the role of the exotic as vital to anthropology’s study of difference and to its overall coherence and significance for the understanding of humanity as a whole.
Filed under Aboriginality, ancient civilisations, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, education, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, literary achievements, modernity & modernization, nature's wonders, performance, politIcal discourse, population, racism, racist thinking, religiosity, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, teaching profession, terrorism, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, truth as casualty of war, unusual people, violence of language, world affairs, world events & processes, zealotry
Avishka Mario Senewiratne, whose chosen title is “Jonathan Forbes and the Discovery of Sigiriya,” where it was presented in The Ceylankan, vol 26/3, August 2023
“Sigiri is the only example in Ceylon of those solitary activities, which form so remarkable a feature in the table-land of the dakka…” – Sir James Emerson Tennent
Surrounded by the glorious forestry, guarded by majestic ramparts, nourished by enchanting tanks and ponds, and illuminated by those picturesque frescoes, the Lion Rock: Sigiriya is certainly a grand delight in this palm-fringed isle. Its histories and mysteries are vast. For nearly 700 years this one-time Capital of ancient Ceylon, which housed the fortress of the infamous King Kasyapa I, was lost and forgotten by those in this country. What lingered of Sigiriya were tales from the ancient chronicle Cūḷavaṃsa (sequel of the Mahāvaṃsa) and other contemporary documents. It is most likely that Kings from Nissankamalla to Sri Wickrema Rājasinghe never saw or knew little of this important part of heritage. The older occupants of Ceylon’s maritime region: the Portuguese and Dutch also had no idea of Sigiriya. However, things began to change with the British occupation of the whole of Ceylon in 1815. One such was the translation of the ancient chronicles of Ceylon by George Turnour of the Ceylon Civil Service. The famous story surrounding Kasyapa the patricide, losing the favour of his people in Anuradhapura and locating a new fortress in Sigiriya has been well recorded in the annals of this country. However, when it was first recorded in English, the very mention of Sigiriya aroused the curiosity of the new rulers of this ancient country. Many pursued the idea of finding the long-lost Sigiriya.
Filed under ancient civilisations, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, British colonialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, nature's wonders, photography, rehabilitation, unusual people, world events & processes
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