Home  ⁄  Tag Archives: Anagarika Dharmapala

Hulugalle’s Appreciation of Revd Senior’s Career in Old Ceylon-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis FROM the recent ISLAND article …. 3-3-2024 …. by HAJ HULUGALLE on Revd SENIOR of Trinity and Ceylon” .… with highlighting emphasis added by The Editor, Thuppahi “Robert Crossette Thambiah and I, devoted old pupils of his, published these short poems in a slim volume called “Vita Magistra.” The centenary of the birth of W. S. Senior falls on Friday, May 10. Some of my younger readers may well ask, who he was and why any notice should be taken of his hundredth birthday. Walter Stanley Senior came to Ceylon in 1906 and, when I first met him in 1910, he was Vice-Principal of Trinity College, Kandy. He was a fine classical scholar, a great teacher, a social worker and, although a Yorkshireman, Sri Lanka’s best poet. ...

Mar 6, 2024 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged , , ,
Read More →

Why Thuppahi-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Because I am quintessentially thuppahi, that is, of mixed ethnic-stock, thus low, inferior, mongrel, pariah in the Asian scheme of things. Moreover, by stressing this dimension of my bloodlines as well as my socio-political background I can confront, challenge and undermine the thinking of those who are attached to notions of caste distinction and/or “racial” superiority. As I have shown in People Inbetween (1989, Sarvodaya), in British Ceylon imported racial theories of a supposedly scientific kind fused with locally prevalent caste theories against admixture to set up exclusivist lines of differentiation. In adopting this label here I am inspired by American example: remember that Black Americans started undermining the disparaging vocabulary of the Whites when they began to refer to themselves as “Niggers” [while yet confronting those Others who directed the term pejoratively at them]. ...

May 14, 2022 Posted by In Articles Tagged , ,
Read More →

SIR DON BARON JAYATILAKA: THE EPOCH MAKER-by Sudeep Perera Sir Don Baron Jayatilaka was born on February 13, 1868 in Waragoda, a village in Kelaniya. Source:Dailynews He was the eldest son of Don Daniel and Elisa Jayatilaka (nee Weerasinghe), the former being from Paththalagedara in Veyangoda. Daniel Jayatilaka was a contractor in the construction of roads and a founder member of the Vidyalankara Pirivena in Kelaniya. Mrs. Elisa Jayatilaka (nee Weerasinghe) devoted Buddhist, a descendent of the highly respected, wealthy Weerasinghe family of Waragoda. Initial education was at Vidyalankara Pirivena where he learnt Sinhalese, Pali, Sanscrit and Buddhist Literature under the patronage of scholars such as Ven. Rathmalane Sri Dharmaloka and Ven. Rathmalane Sri Dharmarama. Elementary education in the English medium was commenced at a Baptist school in Kelaniya. Secondary education was received at Wesley Collage Colombo. His siblings were Muhandiram Don Simon Jayatilaka and Mudliyar Don Abraham Jayatilaka. Marriage ...

Feb 14, 2022 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Read More →

An untold history of Sri Lanka’s Independence-By Uditha Devapriya Source:Island In Sri Lank, as in every other colonial outpost, resistance to foreign domination predated Western intervention by well more than two centuries. Surviving numerous onslaughts of South Indian conquest, the Anuradhapura kingdom gave way to the Polonnaruwa kingdom in the 11th century AD. The latter’s demise 200 years later led to a shift from the country’s north to the north-west, and from there to the south-west. It was in the south-west that the Sinhalese first confronted European colonialism, a confrontation that pushed the Kotte and the Sitava kingdoms to the last bastion of Sinhalese rule, Kandy. The shift to Kandy coincided with the commencement of Portuguese rule in the island. Both Portuguese and Dutch officials emphasised, and sharpened, the line between the Maritime Provinces and the kanda uda rata. The Sitavaka rulers, in particular Rajasinghe I, had fought both Portuguese suzerainty ...

Feb 6, 2022 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , ,
Read More →

Amunugama’s book on Anagarika captures international review interest Source:Island SARATH AMUNUGAMA: The Lion’s Roar: Anagarika Dharmapala and the Making of Modern Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019; pp. ix + 556. Sarath Amunugama’s The Lion’s Roar: Anagarika Dharmapala and the Making of Modern Buddhism offers a comprehensive yet very readable account of the life and influence of Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933). In Sri Lanka, Dharmapala is revered for reviving Sinhalese Buddhism and for restoring Sri Lankan pride during a period of colonial domination. He is also admired for his lifelong struggle to establish Buddhist management of Buddhist sacred sites in India. Scholars of religion have tended to identify Dharmapala as the founder of “Protestant Buddhism,” that is to say, of a form of Buddhism heavily influenced by “Protestant” thinking in its doctrines and forms and thus rendered acceptable to the modern mentality. ...

Apr 6, 2021 Posted by In Articles Tagged ,
Read More →

Spread of Buddhist Education in Sri Lanka; the role played by Col. Olcott and Theosophists-by Dr D Chandraratna The Olcott Oration delivered to the Old Boys Association of Ananda College (November 2020, Perth, Western Australia) Source:Island It can be gauged from the Buddhist publications in and around 1880s that the ordinary Sinhalese were experiencing an acute sense of despair and disquiet that colonialism had brought about a social degeneration evidenced by increased consumption of liquor and associated problems of family violence, cattle stealing, gambling, and crime. Even the colonial civil servants from numerous districts complained to the Governor that social disorganization was affecting administration, revenue collection and policing. The Sinhalese Buddhist revivalist movement and a proper assessment of Col Olcott’s contribution must be understood in this context of the rising tide of Sinhala nationalism, Buddhist confrontation with Colonialism, Christian missionary activity and increasing westernization. The elite Buddhists including those culturally ...

Jan 1, 2021 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , , , ,
Read More →