Category Archives: pilgrimages

September 30, 2020 · 10:51 pm

From Galle Across Oceans: The Talented Joseph Family

An Introductory Note from Michael Roberts, 30 September 2020

This ramified tale begins with the wedding photograph sent to me my old playmate Adrienne Ranasinghe nee Conderlag displaying the elegant couple and entourage in front of the All Saints Church in the fort of Galle. This spark has set Joe Simpson, a Galle lover who taught at Richmond College for a while and is back in Canada now, off-and-running. He saw that the best man at the wedding was Louis Joseph and sent me an old article he had composed on the Joseph family. This essay is now adorning the Thuppahi web site as well.

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September 11, 2020 · 1:10 pm

Myth-making Ridiculous: Raavana on Fire!

Grace Bains in  Scoopwhoop where the title is “A Demon For Us But A Hero For Sri Lankans, The Fascinating Story Of Ravana, According To Lanka” and Chandre Dharmawardena, in Island, 11 September 2020

As we celebrate Dussehra, we recount Ramayana and the lessons that come with it. For us, the Ramayana isn’t just a story of Lord Rama winning over Ravana and rescuing Sita. It is about good winning over evil despite the many obstacles. It is the story that gives Indians hope and motivation to keep fighting for what they know is right.

But we all know that every story has two sides.

Source: Daily Mirror

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July 3, 2020 · 2:10 pm

Amateur Excursions in and around Galle Fort in Recent Times

Michael Roberts and his “box camera” venture into his old domain

Slick Roof Renovation Work on a Typical House captured in 2008 …. tiles thrown up to a “Catcher’ on Roof  and Then ….

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June 18, 2020 · 5:42 am

An Underwater Museum at Galle initiated by the SL Navy

Darshana Sanjeeva Balasuriya, Daily Mirror, 17 June 2020, with this title

Following the opening of the Sri Lanka’s first underwater museum in Galle, the Navy is also planning to build two more underwater museums in Trincomalee and Tangalle.

Navy Commander Piyal de Silva declared open the first underwater museum in Sri Lanka in Galle on April 5.

Following the opening of the Sri Lanka’s first underwater museum in Galle, the Navy is also planning to build two more underwater museums in Trincomalee and Tangalle.

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June 1, 2020 · 4:19 am

A Sino-Tibetan Folded Book from 1410 predates the Gutenberg Bible

Colin Marshall in Open Culture, 15 May 2020, where the title is  “Breathtakingly-Detailed Tibetan Book Printed 40 Years Before the Gutenberg Bible”

The Gutenberg Bible went to press in the year 1454. We now see it as the first piece of mass media, printed as it was with the then-cutting-edge technology of metal movable type. But in the history of aesthetic achievements in book-printing, the Gutenberg Bible wasn’t without its precedents. To find truly impressive examples requires looking in lands far from Europe: take, for instance, this “Sino-Tibetan concertina-folded book, printed in Beijing in 1410, containing Sanskrit dhāranīs and illustrations of protective mantra-diagrams and deities, woodblock-printed in bright red ink on heavy white paper,” whose “breathtakingly detailed printing” predates Gutenberg by 40 years.

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Filed under ancient civilisations, Buddhism, China and Chinese influences, cultural transmission, evolution of languages(s), heritage, historical interpretation, Indian traditions, landscape wondrous, life stories, meditations, modernity & modernization, pilgrimages, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, unusual people, world events & processes

April 9, 2020 · 5:53 pm

Leading Buddhists in Ceylon in 1889: A Rare Photograph

Sent by Michael Roosmale-Cocq and Rex Kellar

from The Golden Book of the Theosophical Society (1925) … Col Olcott is the bearded gent seated mid-centre.

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November 23, 2019 · 10:12 am

The Aussie Jihadist Terrorist Mind Today

Rodger Shanahan,  in the Lowy Institute Website, mid-November 2019, = https://www.lowyinstitute.org/news-and-media/multimedia/audio/rodger-shanahan-australian-terrorists-views-world …. where the title is

In order to better understand what motivates Australian radical islamists to join or support a terrorist group it is first necessary to get a better understanding of who they are.  This working paper examines data sets from 173 Australian citizens and residents to paint a picture of our own cohort of radical Islamist terrorists, including how likely they are to be rehabilitated. For the accompanying infographic feature accompanying this report, click here.

Since 2012 several hundred Australians have travelled to Syria and Iraq to undertake jihad with Islamic State, al-Qaeda or other radical Islamist groups.[1]  Dozens more provided financial support to them or other jihadis, or planned, conducted or supported terrorist attacks in Australia on behalf of Islamic State.

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October 24, 2019 · 1:11 pm

From Melbourne with Sadness: A Requiem for Aubrey Kuruppu

Reaching Across the Indian Ocean, Ben Colby has said Goodbye in Christian fashion in recognition of the life and times and  of Aubrey Kuruppu in the cricket world

I’m so sad to read of Aubrey’s passing. I was always humbled by the time and kindness that Aubrey gave. A lovely man. I’m so sorry for your loss, and pray for his family. I visited a few Roman Catholic churches during the week and prayed for Aubrey there.” …. Ben Colby to Michael Roberts, 15 October 2019

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September 8, 2019 · 12:49 am

Google Wonderland: Bradman’s Bat and Other Treasures Restored

A range of priceless cricket memorabillia, including the first bat of Don Bradman have been digitally restored by Google Arts and Culture to bring the sport’s rich history to life in the wake of a rejuvination of the ‘gentlemen’s game’ in the public eye.  Its present continues to enthral spectators, with the heroics of Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer during the latest Ashes test and the World Cup final last month. The worldwide cricket audience was left stunned, mesmerised and borderline aghast at the majesty and audacity of the all-rounder as he struck a record-breaking 135* in the final innings to wrest victory from the imposing jaws of defeat.

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September 2, 2019 · 1:19 pm

The Archbishop of Canterbury reaches across the World: The Tree of Heaven planted at the Anglican Cathedral in Colombo

The Archbishop of Canterbury- Justin Welby, on his solidarity visit to Sri Lanka after the Easter Bombing of Churches, planted  a flowering tree, Amherstia nobilis commonly called The Tree of Heaven or The Pride of Burma, at the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour in Colombo on 31st August 2019 along with the [Anglican] Bishop of Colombo …. .https://images.app.goo.gl/C13MUXYeEpw1sKu59 guided by plant expert and enthusiast Dushy Perera.**

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