Category Archives: sri lankan society

Fighting Over Ancient Monuments: Sri Lanka’s New Ethnic Flashpoint

Thannamurippu, in The Economist, 23 November 2023 where the title runs thus: “Asian Monuments.  What’s mine, what’s yours?Disputed monuments are Sri Lanka’s new ethnic flashpoint”

 On a wooded hill edged by rice fields in Sri Lanka’s northern Mullaitivu district sit the ruins of an ancient Buddhist mon­astery. Members of the country’s Sinhalese majority call it “Kurundi Viharaya”. For Tamils, who are mostly Hindus and con­sider the war-battered north their home­land, it is “Kurunthoor Malai”. Since 2018, when the state archaeological department began excavating the site, Tamil and Sinha­lese nationalists have rowed over which community has a greater claim to it.

    Kurundi Dagaba

 

 

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Another Time, Another World: Social Science in Postwar Sri Lanka

Uditha Devapriya & Uthpala Wijesuriya, … with highlights imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

Background:  In Sri Lanka, social science research witnessed an expansion in the 1950s. Various scholars, including Stanley Tambiah and Gananath Obeyesekere, found their calling in anthropology, and went on to introduce and popularise the subject in local universities. This period also witnessed an increasing interest in Sri Lankan and specifically Sinhala society from Western scholars, including Edmund Leach, James Brow, and Richard Gombrich. While many local scholars active in that period have commented on how social science research evolved at Sri Lankan universities, no proper study of this has been done yet.

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Introducing Uditha Devapriya: Researcher, Writer, Activist

Michael Roberts

During a recent visit to Sri Lanka, I was visited by Uditha Devapriya on a specific research quest. Readers of Sri Lankan newspapers will be aware of his writings on several political topics. But it is only this month that I became fully aware of his weighty background in scholarly affairs and the full range of his attainments in the past 10-13 years.

I am delighted to tell the world that Uditha has teamed up with Uthpala Wijesuriya, a  bright young man from Royal College in Colombo, to embark on a research project entitled “Another Time, Another World. A Voyage Down Memory Lane.

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Wellawatte In The Olden Days: Life In The ‘Sandy Garden’ Of The Fifties, Sixties And Seventies,

Asif Hussain,  2 May 2018 **  

Wellawatte in the southernmost limit of Colombo, is such a hive of activity today that it is hard to believe it was a sparsely populated place a little over a century ago. Its Sinhala meaning, ‘sandy garden’, itself suggests a rather deserted area.

It was then dominated by a few Burgher families of European origin. In fact, much of the land on the seaside is said to have been a vast coconut estate owned by a Burgher gentleman named Charlemont Jonathan Gauder, after whom and whose relatives many of the roads such as Charlemont, Frederica, Collingwood, Alexandra, and Frances are named. Today, however, it is referred to as ‘Little Jaffna’ after its large Tamil population.

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Pictorial Colombo in its Prime: Hodi-Heleyi Helleyi-aaahhhh

An Advertisement …. with highlights imposed by Thuppahi

The Great Days of Colombo is by far the most comprehensive work on the City of Colombo. This profusely illustrated work running to over 800 pages tells the story of how Colombo originated from very humble beginnings as a simple Moorish port to become what it is today, a bustling city full of life and colour.

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Hilda Muriel Kularatne, Theosophist & Educationist in Ceylon

Rehan Kularatne, presenting an original essay which has received its title and had highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi

My grandmother Hilda Muriel Westbrook was born in Dulwich on 28 November 1895. She was the daughter of Walter Francis Westbrook, later Chief Registrar of the Colonial Office, and Jessie Duncan, a Scottish poet and scholar, the sister of noted (and absolutely dreadful) Celtic Revival painter John Duncan RSA. Jessie Duncan Westbrook was to publish a number of verse renditions of Persian, Sufi and Hindu poetry in the 1910s. She and my great-grandfather, being Theosophists, were both extremely interested in ‘Eastern’ religions.

Hilda was educated at the progressive James Allen’s Girls’ School (JAGS) in Dulwich. Having excelled in modern languages (French and German) as well as in team sports like hockey (in addition to having Gustav Holst as her music master), she went on to Newnham in Cambridge to do a degree in Modern Languages in 1914, just after WWI broke out. (Though she completed the degree in 1917, she had to wait 30 years to be actually awarded her MA, as Cambridge was the last university in England to accept female graduates.)

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“Success” ….. The Buddhist Path

“SUCCESS” derives from the PROCESS not the results of Endeavour

An Erudite Buddhist Priest clarifies what the Path of Success is.

  • “The goal of life is trying your best” = among the sayings on Karma Yoga in the Bhagavat Gita  …………. An impressive address in concise speech from a Sri Lankan monk

NB : this item was circulated to friends on 7 December 2023 by Lorenz Pereira  of Royal College, the city of Colombo and that of Melbourne; and I can confidently state that Professor EOE Pereira, an epitome of wisdom, will be mighty pleased by this act of wise dissemination.

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St Lucia’s Cathedral at Kotahena, Colombo: History….. & ….. Facets

Sent by Vernon Davidson via Keith Bennett

St. Lucy of Sicily whose feast falls on December 13 is venerated the world over as the protectress against eye trouble. Legend has it that she had the most beautiful pair of eyes and that she pulled them out to present them to an unwelcome suitor who was enamoured by their beauty. However, her eyes were miraculously restored to her more beautiful than before. Named after this virgin and martyr saint is St. Lucia’s Cathedral of Kotahena, the oldest and largest parish cathedral in Sri Lanka and the seat of the Archbishop of [Colombo].

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Hai Hoyi Christmas in Sri Lanka

Sent by CHARLES SCHOKMAN  …. holidaying now in Sri Lanka … early December 2023

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The Gift of Healing and Teaching: Dr Ariyananda’s Lifework

Dr Sarath Gamani De Silva, reviewing Healing and Teaching. Gift of a Lifetime, by Pilane Liyanage Ariyananda, Colombo, A Vijitha Yapa Publication, 2023, .…..  224 pp LKR 2,000/2,000/=

Galle, one of the largest cities in Sri Lanka, had been labeled a sleepy old town by many.  However, there has been a remarkable awakening in the past few decades due to several reasons. The Dutch Fort has been recognised by the UNESCO as a world heritage site. This has resulted in a total overhaul of the Fort area making it one of the main attractions for local and foreign tourists. The International Cricket Stadium is praised by cricket commentators and fans worldwide as one of the most picturesque in the world. The devastation caused by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami brought the attention of the international community to the city of Galle.

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