Matters spiritual aren’t really, as they say, my ‘thing’. (In all honesty, I’m none too hot on the temporal, either). But recently, what with a local recital under discussion, surprise correspondence from an erstwhile colleague at Hampton Court, and then, of course, The Wedding (watched grudgingly, I hasten to add, though I stood for the anthem), the sacred realm – musically, at least – has been more than usually on my mind.

This week, a friend speaking to me on the phone, paused when I remarked that it took ordinary workers to teach this administration, its most telling lesson since it was returned to power post war, while the intelligentsia cowered under their beds, (metaporically speaking), except for some rare exceptions.

Late Anuradhapura period which refers to the latter part of when ancient Sinhala kings ruled from Anuradhapura, was a somewhat chaotic period with repeated South Indian invasions and internal revolts. The administration was naturally weak with such problems. Yet whenever there was peace in between, arts and crafts, architecture and irrigation flourished.