‘A Fresh Dawn’ makes him the best book designer
A seasoned graphic artist who had been in the field for at least four decades gained recognition recently. Somachandra (better known as Ruwan) Peiris won the award for the Best Design at the recent State Literary Awards for his layout and design in ‘A Fresh Dawn – Sri Lanka’s rich Buddhist Heritage’ .
The winning cover design, the award and right, Somachandra (Ruwan) Peiris
The book was done by the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress for distribution among over 400 foreign delegates who attended the 60th anniversary of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in Colombo and as a commemorative publication for the Sambuddhatva Jayanthi.
The publication was a team effort with renowned photographer Sarath Perera handling the photography and this columnist conceptualising and writing the text. Our initial brief was to do a publication on the history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka but since the scope of such a theme was too vast, it was decided to confine it to the salient features of Buddhist heritage in Sri Lanka.
Ruwan accompanied Sarath on his photographic journeys and the three of us visited places of Buddhist worship and spent time in planning the creative presentations.
Our visit to the Na Uyana forest monastery was an interesting one. A strict code of discipline is maintained at this hermitage. We moved around making the least possible noise so as not to disturb meditating monks. We had to obtain special permission since visitors are allowed to roam about the place only during a specified period. Our aim was to capture the mood in a forest hermitage as well as to pick suitable pictures for a chapter on how Westerners find peace and solace in a jungle environment.
The monks who spend their time amidst lonely surroundings amidst trees and streams come for their alms once a day. They walk down from their ‘kuti’ (cottages) spread across the vast acreage of the woods and meet at a point to come in single file according to their seniority through the well laid out path. The mix of monks from several nationalities suited our theme very well. The midday meal is served as they come on ‘pindapatha’. After serving is over, one monk remains to deliver a short sermon while the others retire to a hall a little away from the serving hall and silently partake of the alms and walk back to 
their ‘kuti’.
Na Uyana monastery is close to Kurunegala and the setting is ideal for meditation amidst the greenery and the waterways. It is maintained by the Kalyana Yogashrama Sansthava which also administers several meditation monasteries in different parts of the country. We could not meet the head monk, Ven. Na Uyane Ariyadhamma Nayaka Thera since he was observing ‘vas’ and would not meet any one during the three-month period.
We tried to make the book interesting to the foreign reader who was our target reader. The photographs had to be eye- catching and the page layouts arresting to the readers. Sarath and Ruwan achieved this. Ruwan cleverly used Buddhist symbols to fill in gaps and to add to the overall look of the book.
Ruwan has been an active team member at leading advertising agencies. His last assignment was as Art Director of Thompson Associates. He has been freelancing after his retirement to keep himself busy and has worked on several books, in recent months designing the 700-page official publication of the Government of Sri Lanka – ‘2600 Years of Sambuddhatva – Global Journey of Awakening’ released by the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs.
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