Juliet Coombe
Sri Lanka’s Tea Country Trail. 582 likes · 9 talking about this. The Tea Country Trail is a proposed 310 km long-distance hiking trail through the Sri Lankan Tea Country. The trail winds its way…
Category Archives: pilgrimages
Exploring the Etymological Strands of the Word “Thiruketheeswaram
Chandre Dharmawardana
The word stub “ket,”, கேத, in the place name: Tiru-k-keteeswaram, திருக்கேதீசுவரம்
In finding a meaning for the component –ket– in Tiru-ket-heesvaram, well known Engineer Thiru Arumugam has quoted an interpretation given in 1849 by Pridham which leans on a mythological tale of Vishnu’s exlir of mortality that fell into the hands of a demon. The demon was said to be cut into two and became Rahu and Ketu (.இராகு கேது) recognized in astrology. Predham stretches his imagination very far to convert the Tamil -கேத- sound to கேது in finding an “explanation” or rationalization for the stub -கேத- found in the place name.
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Thiruketheeswaram: the Site of a Temple from Pre-Historic Times
Thiru Arumugam, being an article presented recently in The CEYLANKAN, Journal of the Ceylon Society of Australia. No. 3, August 2021
Thiruketheeswaram is located about eight km north of Mannar Town. It is on the coastal mainland of Ceylon, near the seashore on the direct coast road from Mannar to Jaffna. It has been the site of a Temple dedicated to Siva from pre-historic times. The place name of Thiru-Kethu-Iswaram has been devised as follows. ‘Thiru’ means sacred or holy and “Iswaran” is another name for Siva. As regards ‘Kethu’, Charles Pridham in his 1849 book A Historical, Political and Statistical account of Ceylon and its Dependencies describes how the gods asked Vishnu to prepare an elixir which would make them immortal. The elixir was prepared by churning the oceans but a demon who was a bystander also managed to drink the elixir. When Vishnu realised this, he cut off the demon’s head, but he was too late as the elixir had already made him immortal. The two parts became Rahu and Kethu, which are significant planets in the Hindu astrological system. In order to propitiate his sin, Kethu (Fig. 1) wandered from place to place and ultimately reached the shores of Lanka. He performed severe penances and he was ultimately blessed with the Lord’s vision and the place where this occurred was named Thiru-Kethu-Iswaram or Thiruketheeswaram.
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Sinhalaness in Pre-British Ceylon: Issues and Pathways
A Review Essay by Alan Strathern** dissecting a Book by Michael Roberts published in 2004
This item was located by Thuppahi in the web-site Colombo Telegraph on 26 December 2012 (see https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-royal-we-sinhala-identity-in-the-dynastic-state/). However, it appeared initially in 2005 in the prestigious journal Modern Asian Studies, 39: 1013–1026.
AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE by Michael Roberts, 7 August 2021
This item is a review essay not a standard review. Alan Strathern is an accomplished historian who happens to be the son of a leading social anthropologist, viz., Marilyn Strathern of ANU and Cambridge University. You will find that his prose is as refined and clear-cut as demanding. After some hesitation, I decided to adhere to my normal policy of highlighting some parts of the text with blue colour – for the benefit of readers facing the difficulties posed by complex issues in historical sociology. On occasions I have also imposed a break in extra-long paragraphs. The illustrations too are my impositions intended to promote reader interest.
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A Nine-Year Old Space Explorer –Megha Wijewardane of Adelaide
A Note from Christopher Duff-Tytler of Adelaide, 30 July 2021
Subject: Great ambition for:- A 9 year old SriLankan origin, NASA ambassador in Australia.
I Just found out that this boy with SL parents lives in Adelaide…..Chris
Vale: Appreciating Fr. Don Andrew Leonard Perera Abayasekara of Kandy
Nilantha Perera Palihawadana: “Remembering Rev Fr. Don Andrew Leonard Perera Abayasekara of Kandy (13th March 1903 to 4th March 1987)”
Beginnings: Don Andrew Leonard Perera Abayasekara was born on 13th March 1903 at ‘Kahavita Wallawa’, Cross Street Kandy, to Kahavita Don Jeronimus Perera Abayasekara Tillekeratna Mohandiram of Kandy and Magdalen Eliza Perera Wijesingha Samarasekera Abayasekara Lamaethane. He was baptised on 7th May 1905 by Rev Dr. D.B. Beekmeyer O.S.B, Bishop of Kandy at the family church the St. Anthony’s Cathedral.
Harry Solomons, FOG and Cricketing Philanthrophy Down South
Harry Solomons, FOG and Cricketing Philanthrophy Down South
An Exploration: Discerning How a Sinhalayā in Kandyan Times BECAME Sinhala
Michael Roberts, reproducing here an old draft that is entitled “Becoming Sinhala” ***
Preamble
The scene is somewhere early in 1984 and the location is the building housing the Social Scientists’ Association on the road to Nawala off Narahenpitiya in Colombo. The late Charlie Abeysekera and the late Newton Gunasinghe are reflecting gloomily on the pogrom of July 1983 that had victimised Tamils living in the capital and elsewhere in the south. Charlie is one of the founder members of MERGE and both are among the few personnel in Colombo who had taken an active stand in public forums against the atrocities that had occurred.* Now, in the gathering dusk, Charlie looks at Newton and asks: “what makes you think that you are a Sinhalese?” Newton immediately grasps the serious import and analytical purpose behind this question. He considers the issue gravely before venturing upon an answer.
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A Restrained but Reconciliatory Feast at St. Anthony’s in Kachchativu in 2021
The Jaffna Divisional Secretary informed the public, well in advance, that St. Anthony’s Feast in the Kachchativu island had been cancelled this year due to the Covid- 19 pandemic. The decision was well understood by devotees of both Sri Lanka and India.
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