Category Archives: travelogue

Marvels of Sigiriya Rock Fortress in Sri Lanka

Lois L. Kersey, a “History Enthusiast” … whose choice of title ran thus: “Sigiriya: Views ofa Foreign History Enthusiast” …. see  https://www.quora.com/ (Post by Lois L. Kersey

You are looking at one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world called Sigiriya which is believed to be one of the palaces of Ravana. This amazing place located in Sri Lanka is like nothing in the world, that is why it is also called the 8th wonder of the world. Now you must be thinking that what is so special about this site. It’s actually a huge monolithic rock, about 660 feet tall, and you can see it has a flat top, as if someone cut it with a giant knife. At the top are incredible ruins that are extremely mysterious.

Continue reading

4 Comments

Filed under ancient civilisations, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, cultural transmission, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, photography, sri lankan society, travelogue

Anglican Archbishop Kanishka Raffel

Jordan Baker Charming and unapologetic: Sydney’s Anglican archbishop isn’t afraid to be out of step with the times”

Kanishka Raffel’s election as Archbishop of Sydney broke the mould. His predecessors are all of European descent; his heritage is Sri Lankan. Many of those who went before him were sons of Sydney’s Anglican dynasties, and attended its sandstone schools; he moved to Australia as a boy and went to Carlingford High.
 Anglican Archbishop Kanishka Raffel was born a Buddhist. CREDIT:LOUIE DOUVIS

Continue reading

3 Comments

Filed under accountability, Australian culture, australian media, Buddhism, cultural transmission, education, ethnicity, heritage, life stories, meditations, performance, pilgrimages, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, social justice, tolerance, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

Defections from Lanka: Commonwealth Games Athletes and SL Navymen in USA

Item in Sunday Times, 7 August 2022 …/ taken from AFP and sent to me by Jayantha Somasundaram of Canbera

It is no secret that these days Sri Lankans are trying all sorts of ways to leave the country whether legally or illegally as the economic crisis drags on. The latest is a group of nine Navy sailors who reportedly jumped ship in the US.

The 50-member crew was to join the world’s largest international naval exercise — RIMPAC 2022. Following the exercise, they were scheduled to organise return passage home in a new Sri Lankan Navy vessel, the former USCGC Douglas Munro, which was recently decommissioned and transferred to Sri Lanka under a foreign military aid agreement.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, centre-periphery relations, immigration, island economy, legal issues, life stories, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

Asylum Seeker Boats: Australia Aids SL Navy’s ‘Arrests’

Ben Packham in The Australian, Monday  8 August 2022, where the title reads “Secret Sri Lankan Fuel Deal keeps Patrol Boats on Water” .. . with highlighting emphasia being the work of The Editor, Thuppahi

Sri Lankan patrol boats are back on the water deterring would-be people smuggling voyages following a secret deal with Australia to supply the country’s navy with tens of millions of dollars worth of fuel.

 

The Republic of Sri Lanka Navy Ship “Oshadi”

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, australian media, centre-periphery relations, economic processes, governance, historical interpretation, island economy, legal issues, life stories, people smugglers, politIcal discourse, security, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, transport and communications, trauma, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

The Maisel Twins: Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust reach Their 100th Birthday

Cameron Stewart in  Weekend Australian,  6-7 August 2022, where the title runs thus  Holocaust twins turning 100 are living proof miracles happen” …

Phillip Maisel says he has enjoyed two miracles in his life. The first was during the war when both he and his twin sister Bella survived the Nazi extermination camps of the Holocaust. The second was in Melbourne this week, when they both turned 100.

The twins as children in Poland before the war…. and now …The secret is staying positive’ … twins and Nazi extermination camp survivors Bella Hirshorn and Phillip Maisel get to celebrate their 100th birthday twice in Melbourne. Picture: Aaron Francis

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, anti-racism, atrocities, authoritarian regimes, communal relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, heritage, historical interpretation, Hitler, landscape wondrous, life stories, politIcal discourse, power politics, racism, refugees, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, trauma, travelogue, unusual people, war reportage, world events & processes

Merril Fernando and Dilmah Tea: What A Stirring Story!

Tea mogul Merrill J. Fernando: ‘I owe everything to Australian consumers’.”  …. SEE “Straight Lefs from the Dilmah Tea Missionary” by Benjamin Law, in The Age, 13 June 2020, https://thuppahis.com/2020/06/17/straight-lefts-from-the-dilmah-tea-missionary-merrill-fernando/

ALSO

ALSO   Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, centre-periphery relations, commoditification, cultural transmission, economic processes, heritage, historical interpretation, island economy, landscape wondrous, life stories, patriotism, performance, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

An Indelible Achievement by Yupun Abeykoon at Commonwealth Games in Birmingham

 Estelle Vasudevan, in Papare, 3 August 2022, where the title differs

Sprinter Yupun Abeykoon ended more than two decades of a wait to witness a track and field medal for Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Games as he clocked 10.14 seconds to clinch bronze in the men’s 100 metres final in Birmingham on Wednesday. It was the first track and field medal at the Commonwealth Games for Sri Lanka since Sugath Thilakaratne (bronze) and Sriyani Kulawansa (silver) won medals at the Kula Lumpur Games in 1998. Olympic medallist, Susanthika Jayasinghe’s highest achievement at the Games was a fourth-place finish.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under art & allure bewitching, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, life stories, performance, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, travelogue, unusual people

Busts outdo Bums in the Paddy fields of Asia!

A ‘Byway’ and Productive Thought from Sanath Jayatilaka in Lanka !@#!!

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, energy resources, landscape wondrous, life stories, nature's wonders, performance, pulling the leg, self-reflexivity, the imaginary and the real, travelogue, welfare & philanthophy, wild life, world affairs

It’s Time to Join the Queue ….. Sri Lanka Today

Capt Elmo Jayawardena

President gets ousted, Prime Minister gives a ‘walk over’ and Ministers join the soul-selling market to hang in there. Where? Of course, in Diyawanna Oya.** Though my senses overflow with the desire to write these stories, I, being a coward, feel ‘discretion is the better part of valor’ and will leave politics and politicians alone. What to write anyway? Things change so fast that by the time I get published the whole fairytale may change.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under accountability, art & allure bewitching, disparagement, economic processes, governance, island economy, life stories, meditations, performance, politIcal discourse, self-reflexivity, sri lankan society, taking the piss, transport and communications, trauma, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes

The Force of Migrants in Australia Today: Figures & Insights

Bernard Salt in THE AUSTRALIAN,  30/31 July 2022  where the title reads “Celebrating Our Migration Nation”

It is a single demographic metric that encapsulates modern Australia. It is often the subject of heated debate. It rises and falls over time, but generally over the longer term it has kept an upward trajectory. It is the proportion of the locally based population born overseas. It includes immigrants but it also includes foreign students, backpackers and so-called guest workers based here for 12 months or more.

Asian migrant children tuck into vegemite sandwiches.

Australian Sudanese Peter Bol of Team Australia competes in the Men’s 800m Final on day nine of the World Athletics Championships in Oregon this month. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images for World Athletic

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under Australian culture, communal relations, cultural transmission, demography, economic processes, ethnicity, evolution of languages(s), governance, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, language policies, life stories, modernity & modernization, patriotism, politIcal discourse, power politics, refugees, self-reflexivity, tolerance, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes