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BEYOND THE GRAVE – By Bernard VanCuylenburg The subject of this article are two ghost stories which deal with the question of life after death. Often ghost stories are hard to believe even if one has an inclination to believe in ghosts. There are two opposing forces which confront ghost stories. One is an attitude of total scepticism and the other, one of total acceptance. Whether one disbelieves or believes, there are certain concepts that both schools of thought can accept. We are born and we die. During that space of time we observe, we communicate, we feel and we think. It is almost axiomatic that there is knowledge beyond our own perception, which has been proved by history. Our knowledge has grown over the years . The poet Carl Sandburg once wrote that death is a part of life, and thus a legitimate area to explore, even though a difficult ...

Apr 3, 2018 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged BEYOND THE GRAVE - By Bernard VanCuylenburg Comments 0

THE UNSUNG HEROES by Bernard VanCuylenburg THE UNSUNG HEROES (Part 1). To the point, beautifully written, Bernard brings to us all the poignant story of these very people, “The Unsung Heroes”, part one & two, and Bernard, I have recorded these two songs myself, BUT, nothing but the BEST, to provide the musical background for your BEST, regarding the BEST of the “Unsung Heroes” of ancient Sri Lanka. Here he is, Ladies & Gentlemen, the BEST “Country” Singers, singing two beautiful songs, relevant to the superb article by Bernard VanCuylenberg. Please listen to the lyrics & the way he sings every song he has ever recorded. They might be love-songs, but, to me, he is singing of everyone we have chosen to forget. Pardon me, but this is for all our “Unsung Heroes” Desmond Kelly. Star of eLanka. (Editor-in-Chief) When Wilhem Geiger translated The Mahavamsa and The ...

Mar 22, 2018 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged ANCIENT CEYLON THROUGH ROMAN EYES, King Dhatusena, King Parakramabahu, Minneriya tank, Parakrama Samudra, Pliny the Elder the Roman author, Taprobane, THE UNSUNG HEROES by Bernard VanCuylenburg Comments 0

THE DARKEST HOUR – by Bernard VanCuylenburg Nuwaraeliya in the hill country is a masterpiece of mother nature, its geography offering extraordinary natural diversity – lush woods, winding mountain roads, carpets of green tea, and in the evenings the mists roll down to merge with the landscape in a fleecy embrace. It is one of the finest tea growing districts in the island. Some of the best tea estates are found in the area, one of which is Oliphant estate. When I was twelve years old, my younger brother and I spent a holiday in the home of a cousin who was then the Assistant Superintendent on Oliphant. His bungalow nestled high in the hills. To get there one passed the factory, the Superintendent’s bungalow, and from there the road wound uphill all the way to his bungalow. The scenery was therapeutic with fresh mountain air, flowing mountain streams, and ...

Mar 17, 2018 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged THE DARKEST HOUR - by Bernard VanCuylenburg Comments 0

MARKED FOR MURDER by Bernard VanCuylenburg The author of “above” has given us a “new name”, one that I accept with pride. ” The A team” consists of, a) the writer of “Marked for murder”himself. The name Bernard VanCuylenberg, whose “Sigiriya-Sagas” have already been read, and thoroughly enjoyed by more than 20,000 members, plus many others, I suppose, of eLanka, the “Premier” Website for Lankan/Aussies, in particular, owned and “operated” in Sydney, Aust. by b) Neil Jayasekera, whose “Internet- expertise” is amply obvious, &, in addition, runs a “tight Ship” with c) “Yours truly”, taking on the role of 1st Lieutenant, 58 years after leaving the Royal Ceylon Navy, to come to Australia, just to join another “Force” The “A” Team. From “reports” we have been getting, Bernard’s “Sigiriya Saga’s” have been read and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who has taken the trouble to ingest what I would term “superb writing”. ...

Mar 13, 2018 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged Andrew Murray, Bishop Reginald Heber, MARKED FOR MURDER by Bernard VanCuylenburg, Mr. Bruce Whitehouse, Mr.Ludowyke, the Superintendent of Galboda Comments 0

THE KING THE CHARIOTEER AND THE GATEKEEPER (Part 1) by Bernard VanCuylenburg “Not to know what happened before we were born ” wrote the Roman poet Cicero, (106 – 43 BC.) “is to remain perpetually a child. For what is the worth of a human life unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history ?” Thus in my writings I have endeavoured to peel back the layers of time to give an honoured place to ancient Lanka which emphasizes so greatly the importance of her history and traditions which have left a deep footprint on the worlds stage. An alternate title I had in mind for this article was A DAY IN THE YEAR 478 AD. It was a day which saw tremendous political upheaval and instability in the land, and the end of a dynasty. Before I get into the detail of this article, a ...

Mar 6, 2018 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged THE KING THE CHARIOTEER AND THE GATEKEEPER Comments 0

The Sigiriya Sagas by Bernard VanCuylenburg Intro to the “Sigiriya-Sagas by Des Kelly For any Lankan/Australian, in fact, for any Lankan, period, who has not visited this “Rock-Fortress”, in our Country, let me just say that you have missed seeing only ONE of Sri Lankas multitude of historical wonders. At the same time, I hasten to add that you have possibly missed the BEST. I can say, that from personal experience, I have not only visited the site, but climbed “our answer to “Ayers Rock” in Australia”, which is many times larger, broader & longer than Sigiriya, and “Uluru”is also well-known as a “sacred-site”to the Aborigines/First Australians, after “Mungo-Man”,(an entirely different story),so let us now stick to our “Lion-Rock”. Yes, folks, I did “climb” Sigiriya”, once, in the company of the most beautiful girl in Ceylon, at the time, whose name was Maureen Hingert, or Neliya, my first “puppy-love”. ...

Feb 25, 2018 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg, Home Tagged The Sigiriya Sagas by Bernard VanCuylenburg Comments 0

THE UDARATA MENIKE – THE MAID OF THE MISTS by Bernard VanCuylenburg. Source: By Kalpabas at the English language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18876727 My Dad was on Carolina Group, Watawala for 28 years, and before he retired, he planted in Bandarawela for four years. Carolina was a huge estate of 2330 acres. By a topographical twist of fate, the railway line from Colombo to Badulla ran through one of the divisions of Carolina Group called Mt.Jean. In fact the Watawala railway station was located on Mt.Jean division, and on land which was owned by the Carolina Tea Company Limited. ...

Jan 23, 2018 Posted by admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg Tagged THE UDARATA MENIKE - THE MAID OF THE MISTS Comments 0

HITTING THE RIGHT NOTE – A MUSICAL ODYSSEY by Bernard VanCuylenburg Dear members & readers of eLanka, I have been extremely fortunate to meet, and, in turn, introduce all of you to Bernard VanCuylenberg, another good Dutch Burgher from Lanka, who, in my opinion, is a “Superb writer of Stories”, in poetic vein, “Bernard Van, is a man, who certainly can”. There are not too many “writers” who are perfectionists. Bernard is one of them and his expertise can now be shared by all of us. Every “story” coming in from Bernard will, of course, bear his name, as the writer. We are indeed lucky to have him write for us. Desmond Kelly. HITTING THE RIGHT NOTE – A MUSICAL ODYSSEY by Bernard VanCuylenburg In contrast to the lyrical title of this article, I am compelled to refer to the writings of Celaleddin Rumi one of the world’s greatest mystic philosophers ...

Jan 13, 2018 Posted by eLanka admin In Articles, Bernard VanCuylenburg, DESMOND KELLY Tagged Bernard VanCuylenburg, HITTING THE RIGHT NOTE - A MUSICAL ODYSSEY by Bernard VanCuylenburg Comments 0