Photo courtesy of my old student pal Piyasiri Wickramasekara ….more details below
White Storks in Portugal and Pelicans in Romania
“White Storks in Southern Portugal” ….. What a Wonderful Picture! …. An Elegant Couple in a Striking Setting
“Did you know? Legend has it that in the old days in Portugal, it was considered very bad luck to kill a stork. The punishment, so the story goes, is that an offender had his hand chopped off. Now that really is bad luck. Ancient Thessaly, a region found in modern Greece, originally implemented the death penalty for anybody killing a stork; even worse luck.
For many years the stork has been a protected species worldwide. In Portugal they are almost revered. Unfortunately, these beautiful creatures migrate from southern Europe to the Near East and Africa where, despite still being protected under law, many countries do not enforce the law, or they implement very light penalties, that do little to deter hunters. Much illegal killing of storks and other protected species still takes place when these birds migrate” — https://meravista.com/en/algarve/information/fun-stuff/storks-in-the-algarve
World Travellers and Sri Lanka: Mapping, Trading, Incursions, Et Cetera
KD Paranavitana, “Then they came in search of the finest island,” in http://www.lankanisle.lk/then-they-came-in-search-of-the-finest-island/ …. with highlighting imposed by The Editor, Thuppahi
Sri Lanka has long been the dream island of many travelers from the West who engaged in intrepid voyages looking for treasures in the East. Good many of them were lured by the aroma of spices, particularly found in the island. Tales of the Arabians are fraught with the wonders of ‘Serendib’ and the mariners of the Persian Gulf have left a record of their delight in reaching the calm haven, the island of Sri Lanka.
Filed under accountability, arab regimes
KD Paranavitana’s Felicitation Volume: A Treasure Trove
Filed under accountability, ancient civilisations, architects & architecture, art & allure bewitching, authoritarian regimes, British imperialism, centre-periphery relations, cultural transmission, economic processes, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, military strategy, paintings, power politics, sri lankan society, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, world events & processes
Historical Revaluations: The Boundary Books of the Matale District
Gananath Obeyesekere: Historical Revaluations: the Boundary Books of the Matale district[1], being Chapter 19 in Professor KD Paranavitana Felicitation Volume, edited by Vinie Vitharana & Prasad Fonseka, Colombo, Godage & Bros (pvt ltd) …. ISBN 978-955-30-9035-5
Professor K. D. Paranavitana has not only written an important work on the edition by Vinnie Vitharane Dutch Period in Sri Lanka that has influenced my own writing, but he also has been also associated with the National Archives. These archives, as well as those in Europe, such as the British Library, are replete with popular Sinhala texts that constitute an enormous resource for understanding the pasts of our nation. The term vitti pot or “books of events” is a useful term to broadly characterize this genre of literature. Among these vitti pot are various boundary books (kaḍaim pot), some dealing with the boundaries of the nation, some with specific regions and some on family genealogies (banḍāravaliya).
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.
Filed under accountability, architects & architecture, centre-periphery relations, charitable outreach, communal relations, cultural transmission, ethnicity, heritage, historical interpretation, landscape wondrous, life stories, performance, pilgrimages, Rajapaksa regime, religiosity, self-reflexivity, Sinhala-Tamil Relations, slanted reportage, sri lankan society, Tamil civilians, the imaginary and the real, tolerance, transport and communications, travelogue, unusual people, welfare & philanthophy, world events & processes
Order of the Rising Sun for Professor Purnendra Jain in Adelaide
ADELAIDE UNIVERSITY New Item
Emeritus Professor Purnendra Jain (School of Social Sciences) was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays With Neck Ribbon by the Consul-General of Japan, Mr. Junji Shimada , in a ceremony on 26 March 2021.
