Audience Hall Kandy – location of a historic event By Arundathie Abeysinghe Located between Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic) and Royal Palace of Kandy, the Audience Hall also known as Magul Maduwa (in Sinhala) or Assembly Hall, the place where the Kandyan Kings had held courts during the Kandyan Kingdom (where Kandyan Kings met their ministers). The Audience Hall had also been used for cultural as well as religious purposes during the Kandyan Kingdom. The Hall was also known as “Maha Naduwa” or Royal Court by locals as the building was used by the King as the courts. During the Kandyan Kingdom, the King had met Ambassadors from different countries in this hall for official purposes, exchanged official documents (between *Ceylon and foreign countries), gifts as well as discussions had been held between the King, his Senior Officers and Ambassadors. Many key events had taken place at this ...
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Charles Stanley Braine (1874-1944) – the Rajah of Mawatte By George Braine The e-mail, with the question “Are you a Ceylon Braine?”, arrived out of the blue when I lived in Hong Kong. The writer – I’ll call her Susan – had found me on the Internet. She went onto detail some family history, and claimed that, because she and I shared great, great grandparents, we were third cousins. Family history had been an interest since she was 10 years old. She had inherited a collection of family documents and a photo album, and also found family documents from research in the UK. She mentioned that both my great, great grandfather and great grandfather had been planters in Ceylon. This came as a huge surprise. Not having delved into family history, I was under the impression that my grandfather was the first Braine to arrive in Ceylon. Instead, from ...
Royal College 57 GROUP MEMBER – NALIN GUNASEKERA – Introducing LNG to Sri Lanka’s energy mix Source:-imarest First lecture presentation for the Year 2016/2017 of the IMarEST Sri Lanka Branch was held at the Organisation of Professionals Association (OPA) Auditorium on 28th March 2017. The presentation on “Introducing LNG to Sri Lanka’s energy mix” was resourced by Mr Nalin Gunasekara. Mr Nalin Gunasekera Graduated in Engineering at University of Ceylon ,and at University College London as a post graduate Colombo Plan Scholar. He is a Chartered Engineer and an Independent Energy Consultant, previously worked with Royal Dutch/ Shell Group Upstream Exploration and Production project development. Synopsis of the presentation Mr Nalin Gunasekera explained the impact of global energy mixes as forecast up to 2035, the reasons for LNG being the game changer, process of securing these floating system units, the rewards and the high risks associated with these units ...
Fort Frederick in Trincomalee – emblazoned with colonial insignia By Arundathie Abeysinghe Situated about four kilometers from Trincomalee town center, Fort Frederic also known as Trincomalee Fort or Fort Triquillimale is a fort built by the Portuguese. The Fort was built in 1624 CE on Swami Rock Konamamali from the debris of world renowned ancient Hindu Temple, Koneswaram Temple (Temple of Thousand Pillars). The Temple was destroyed by *Constantino de Sá de Noronha under Phillip II. Fort Triquillimale was dismantled and rebuilt by the Dutch in 1665 and renamed it as Fort Frederick. Later, the Temple was rebuilt. Originally, Fort Triquillimale has been a triangular shape. The triangular fort had been outfitted with artillery bastions with the objective defending against British invaders. In 1795, during the British Colonial Era, the British took over Fort Frederick and added artillery to the Fort. The gateway of the Fort which pierces the ...
Galway’s Land National Park – montane ecosystem in Nuwara Eliya By Arundathie Abeysinghe Situated about two kilometers from Nuwara Eliya on the outskirts of the town, Galway’s Land National Park is one of the smallest national parks in Sri Lanka with an extent of 29 hectares. Located towards east of Nuwara Eliya town, the Park is popular among people of all walks of life, yet not an overcrowded place ideal for a leisurely stroll while admiring the breathtaking scenery of the surroundings. Galway’s Land National Park was initially declared as a wildlife sanctuary on May 27, 1938 and was declared as a national park on May 18, 2006 to conserve the montane ecosystem within the Park. Galway’s Land National Park is named after Colonel Galway, a British Army Officer who arrived in *Ceylon in the 19th century. He was presented with the land of the Park by the British ...
Adisham Bungalow – wrapped in serenity of misty hills By Arundathie Abeysinghe Situated about four kilometers from Haputale and designed in Tudor and Jacobean style, similar to Leeds Castle in Kent with solid granite walls as well as long narrow windows and chimneys, Adisham Bungalow is situated in a spectacular environment with undulating mountain ranges and breathtaking valleys. The well-maintained charming gardens with blooming flowers of the Bungalow have the allure of English Gardens. The terraced well-manicured lawns, flowerbeds as well as the orchards are etched on the skyline to take the shape of an outline known as “Sleeping Warrior”. Visitors to Adisham are enchanted by the melodious chirpings of green barbets, paradise flycatchers, blue magpies, horn bills as well as some endemic birds which frequent the area. The railway line between Haputale and *Idalgashinna Railway Stations is situated below the Bungalow. Situated in the verdant mountains of ...
Charles Joseph Braine (1814-1890) – Patriarch of the Braines in Ceylon By George Braine C.J. Braine was born in Middlesex, England, in 1814. He began working for Dent & Co. in China and moved to Hong Kong in 1941, when the island was occupied by the British. In Hong Kong, he was listed as a partner of Dent & Co., a Justice of the Peace and a member of the Asiatic Society. Hong Kong In Hong Kong, Braine was best known as the owner of Green Bank, a large, luxuriant garden. A vivid description of the garden can be found in A Journey to the Tea Countries of China by Robert Fortune (1852). Fortune wrote that rugged mountains were seen to one side of Green Bank, contrasting with the lush vegetation of the garden. He lists the shrubs and fruit trees, such as Chinese banyan, India rubber, Indian neem, ...
Family sagas and a peek at Victorian Ceylon’s westernised bourgeoisie – By Yomal Senerath-Yapa Source: Sunday Times Few voices of the early 19th Century bourgeois Ceylonese have survived straight from the horse’s mouth to-date. Who were this new elite? What were those first English-educated generations like? How did Macaulay’s “class of people who can act as intermediaries between us and the millions we govern- English in taste, in opinions, in morals, and intellect” fit in? Many answers are woven into this book. It shows how Hannadige Jeronis Pieris and his clansmen from Moratuwa, canny and blessed with the Midas touch, burst out as compradors; how they flourished in baroque neo-walawwas in Colombo to rival English stately homes where, as that old saying goes, they ‘fed British royalty on gold plate’. It would seem apt that author, historian Michael Roberts, would have chosen personal letters by Jeronis (also uncle and mentor ...
“P.M.G’s OFFICE, COLOMBO FORT” – By Des Kelly Yet another wonderful article to be shared with all of you, who are members of eLanka. This superb building in the very heart of Colombo Fort, holds special memories for “your’s truly”, as well, because it was here that the girl of my dreams worked as a Stenographer in the 1950’s. It was from one of those windows (upstairs), that she first saw the Queen of England, Elizabeth ll, making her way into Queen’s House (where else ?), which was practically opposite the P,M,G’s building. Her Majesty was in a magnificent car of course, with her husband, but they were deliberately being driven very slowly, so the adoring crowds could catch a glimpse of them. Cynthia Georgesz, one of my girlfriends at the time, told me that she was very lucky indeed to be able to see our Monarch quite clearly, ...
“ROYAL CEYLON NAVY, THEN, SRI LANKAN NAVY, NOW” – By Des Kelly 1953, in Ceylon, I had just turned 17 years of age, still living with my family at No.38 Lorensz Road, Bambalapitiya, jobless, after just having toured the Island with an English Circus Troupe whose owners wanted to “adopt” me, then take me around the World with them. I was more than happy to go along simply because there is NOTHING more showbizzy than “Circus”, & I had enjoyed every single minute of my time with them, but although Dad was willing to let me go, Mum refused point blank, to sign the necessary papers, so there it was, her decision was always the final one in our family, but here I WAS,, a grown man, looking for a job, impossible to get, as I wasn’t an University graduate or anything even close to that. This was ...
