NILGALA FRONTIER – by Ranil Bibile NILGALA, where Raja Singha, Lord of the Tûn Sinhalé, vanquished the man-eating crocodile, was a dead end. ONCE, many years ago, whilst exploring this roadless terrain on foot, I came across the remnants of an ancient hewn-stone fortress. It was situated on a rocky rising rib of land between the roaring river and the brooding peaks of Ulhela and Berayahela, and lay half buried amidst the tumbling boulders and man-high mana grass of this place. I had just begun to investigate the crumbling battlements when a herd of elephants approached me, forcing me to retreat towards the waterspread of the Senanayake Samudraya. Though I longed for years afterwards to return to this remote ruin, to touch the stones once again and feel them come alive with the history they must have known; it was not to be. As the years went by, I passed ...
The Bibiles of Bibile: A Sinhalese-Wedda Aristocratic Family – Ranil Bibile RACIAL HISTORY OF A SINHALESE-WEDDA ARISTOCRATIC FAMILY From the papers of Baron Egon Freiherr von Eickstedt Who visited Ceylon, Bibile, and the Bibile Walauwa in 1927 And obtained the family history from The Rate Mahattaya of Welassa Charles William Bibile English Translation of Bibile materials (Eickstedt)1: „Rassengeschichte einer singhalesisch- weddaischen Adelsfamilie“ von Dr. Egon Frhrn. v. Eickstedt, München (Aus den Ergebnissen der Indien‐Expedi on des Staatlichen Forschungsins tuts für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig) English Translation of Bibile materials (Eickstedt)1: „Rassengeschichte einer singhalesisch- weddaischen Adelsfamilie“ von Dr. Egon Frhrn. v. Eickstedt, München (Aus den Ergebnissen der Indien-Expedition des Staatlichen Forschungsinstituts für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig) Download the PDF file . Racial history of a Sinhalese-Wedda Aristocratic Family If two populations live close to or even mix up with each other for a longer period of time, mixed marriages are inevitable ...
Aug 2, 2024
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Articles, Ranil Bibile
Tagged Bibile family history, Ceylon historical families, Ceylonese genealogy research, Ceylonese nobility, Ceylonese royal service, Cultural history of Sri Lanka, Eastern Ceylon aristocratic families, Egon Freiherr von Eickstedt, Historical family trees of Sri Lanka, Mixed-race heritage in Sri Lanka, Rate Mahattaya of Welassa, Sinhalese aristocracy, Sinhalese cultural integration, Sinhalese genealogy, Sinhalese-Wedda Aristocratic Family, Sri Lankan aristocracy, The Bibiles of Bibile: A Sinhalese-Wedda Aristocratic Family, Uva district Ceylon, Wedda anthropological study, Wedda heritage, Wedda influence in Ceylon
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AFTER ROGERS: 1845 – 1995 – By Ranil Bibile The villagers cower in fear in the darkness of their mud and wattle huts. The slightest sound outside their walls makes them quake. They have seen too many people killed by the towering terror that smashes through the flimsy walls of their huts, to trample men, women and children into pulp. The flickering light of the chulu* and the bottle-lamp are useless. The electric torch only further enrages and provokes the monstrous creatures. Firecrackers no longer frighten them. Eking out an existence is almost impossible. The crops are devastated by the marauders. Whether one survives the night or not depends on one’s karma*. It is akin to a game of Russian Roulette. We are just a few hundred metres from the village, lost and apprehensive in the midst of all this terror. Locked inside our vehicle ...
Jul 11, 2024
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Articles, Ranil Bibile
Tagged Ranil Bibile, the blue mountains of Lower Uva, villagers cower
A MEETING OF CULTURES: THE UNIQUE VERNACULAR CHAPEL AT TRINITY COLLEGE KANDY, SRI LANKA – By Ranil Bibile K A N D Y ! The very name is redolent of history, culture, festivals, dances, caparisoned elephants, and historic rituals. Ancient temples nestle in remote corners of this Cande Udarata – the old Kandyan Kingdom. The architecture, hipped roofs, frescoes, wood carvings and antiquities of these places of worship provide a veritable feast for the eyes, vying for attention with the surrounding vistas of cloud-capped mountains, rivers, waterfalls and verdant plateaus. Kandyan architecture has a sublime beauty all its own, adroitly captured into words by the savant Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy when in 1905 he wrote his famous ‘Open Letter to the Kandyan Chiefs’, telling them that; “Architecture needs for its complete expression, the reasonable intelligent co–operation of all the arts; and in the days I speak of it did not lack ...
Pioneering days of the Trinity College Chapel; 1920 and after. – By Ranil Bibile ( Epilogue to main article on the TCK Chapel by RB ) (with photographs from the TCK Library Archives) From the seed of an inspiration to a monument built for eternity” Polonnaruwa: The inspiration from circa 1100 AD Kandy; circa 1920 AD Putting pen to paper: the inspiration germinates into a plan The plan develops into general perspectives The finished belfry, completed in the 1980s, is similar to the one in the above rendering Detailed renderings of the interior as envisaged by Rev. Gaster: This rendering envisages a ceiling and galleries with a pair of upper frescoes. These were not in the final ‘as built’ design. The rest were built as shown A forest of stone pillars, fifty-four in number, each sixteen feet high and two feet square “…to the sunset glow on ...
THE HINTERLAND – By RANIL BIBILE Download the PDF file . Click here to receive your free copy of the eLanka Newsletter twice a week delivered directly to your inbox! ...
Jun 26, 2024
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Articles, Ranil Bibile
Tagged Back of Beyond, Ceylon, Ceylon Traveller, Handbook for the Ceylon Traveller, Kotmale, Mahaweli Project, Randenigala, Ranil Bibile, Rantambe, Victoria
IN THE VALLEY OF THE VEDDAS – By Ranil Bibile Download the PDF file . Click here to receive your free copy of the eLanka Newsletter twice a week delivered directly to your inbox! ...
Jun 26, 2024
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Articles, Ranil Bibile
Tagged Punchi kiriamma galge, Ranil Bibile, Th e Veddas, Veddas of Henebedde Valley lay
Return of the Ancestors – Sharing an Intangible Heritage – By Kavinda Bibile, Carola Krebs & Maria Schetelich Source: journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de Photo source: Return of the Ancestors – Sharing an Intangible Heritage – by Kavinda Bibile, Carola Krebs & Maria Schetelich – the PDF below Download the PDF file . Download the PDF file . Download the PDF file . Download the PDF file . Click here to receive your free copy of the eLanka Newsletter twice a week delivered directly to your inbox! ...
Jun 25, 2024
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Articles, Ranil Bibile
Tagged Bibile, Carola Krebs, Egon von Eickstedt, History of Sri Lanka, Intangible Heritage, Kavinda Bibile, Maria Schetelich, Veddah
