“LION ROCK” – BY Des Kelly  Very few tourists who have visited Sri Lanka over the past many years have missed seeing this Monolith. Quite a few have climbed Sigiriya as well, marvelling at the wall of ancient frescoes along the way to the apex, then fascinated by the beautiful views from atop this giant rock, which could well have been, in my opinion anyway, the eighth wonder of the ancient World, a fortress built by a former King of the little Island that we called Ceylon, although this teardrop of India did possess several other names in bygone eras before finally arriving at the name of Sri Lanka.           To make a long story short, this King, mentioned above, whose name was Kasyappa was actually a King by default, in that he had “stolen” the throne from his Father, the King, at the time, ...

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SRI LANKA – THE CHINESE CONNECTION – By Bernard VanCuylenburg   Sri Lanka’s cultural ties with China go back about 2000 years, and it is a matter of regret that the compilers of the Mahavamsa and the Culavamsa  – except for some passing references – mention very little about ancient Ceylon’s relations with China.  Historians have had to rely on Chinese records to obtain information regarding trade delegations, and cultural and diplomatic visits between both countries. Some of these Chinese visitors lived in the island , and kept records of their sojourn and the political conditions prevailing at the time. Perhaps the most famous Chinese visitor to Ceylon was Fa-Hsien who came to Ceylon in the year 411 AD. during the reign of King Mahanama. He spent two years in the island and in his writings gives us a marvellous account of the city of Anuradhapura in which he refers to ...

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