When ‘angelic voices’ herald Christmas in Kandy
In the hills of Kandy, the Christmas season seems inevitably to begin with the carols at Trinity College. The congregation returns expectantly, to hear the “angel voices” of the choir deliver a ritual reminder that a king was born and laid in a lowly stable. Traditional preparations for the carols would start in September after [...]
All I want for Christmas…
Christmas midst COVID. Dayadari asks me what I want for Christmas. Christmas in a Buddhist household? Yes, because “Christmas”, here, is not about religion: it’s is about my mother. And her Christmas lunch. As children of a mixed marriage (Sinhalese-Buddhist and Burgher-Christian) we were at home in both Buddhist and Christian festivals (and also, for [...]
Letters to the Editor
Thank you for highlighting a nuisance that most of us suffer in silence I wish to thank the Sunday Times and journalists Tharushi Weerasinghe and Renishka Fernando for highlighting an issue that affects numerous households in urbanized and residential areas - noise pollution, in the article, ‘It’s complicated: Sri Lanka’s relationship with loudspeakers’ published on [...]
Appreciations
Exemplary colleague, dear friend and confidante Prof. Preethika Angunawela I never thought that I would have to see my dearest friend Preethika depart this world before me, let alone pen an appreciation of her. Professor Preethika Angunawela was an exemplary academic in the University of Colombo. Always calm and collected with a charming smile and [...]
A window to Sri Lanka’s pioneer abstract artist George Claessen
George Claessen (1909-1999), the eminent Sri Lankan painter, sculptor and poet was a founding member of the ‘43 Group and exhibited in the collective’s inaugural exhibition in November 1943. Claessen held his first solo exhibition in 1948 at the Velasquez Gallery in Melbourne. He migrated to England in 1949 and worked as a draughtsman until [...]
Sanghamitta Theri and the dawn of a cultural revolution
Unduvap, the last full moon Poya for the year fell yesterday. This Poya is of great importance as many cultural changes occurred in Lanka with the arrival of Sanghamitta Theri on an Unduvap Poya. Women were ordained as bhikkhunis (nuns) in India during the time of the Buddha, six years after the Bhikkhu Sasana(order) was [...]
For the first time, Bawa’s work on exhibition here
‘Geoffrey Bawa: It is Essential to be There’ is the first major exhibition which draws from the archives to look at Bawa’s practice. Organised in four thematic sections, exploring relationships between ideas, drawings, buildings and places, the exhibition presents the different ways in which images were used in Bawa’s practice. Over 120 documents from the [...]
Bakers don’t see a bright Christmas
Without a doubt, rich cake a.k.a Christmas cake is one of Sri Lanka’s favourite treats. Made of varied dried fruits, cashews, semolina, butter, eggs, brandy, rose water and almond essence, it is famously served at weddings, engagement and homecoming parties, and also during the Christmas season, hence the moniker Christmas cake. Usually bakeries and home [...]
Kindness and Leading Light award for May
May Benjamin began working with the cancer support organisation Mithuruwela after she lost her younger sister to cancer. “The agony a family faces when a loved one has cancer” led her to continue her work, helping caregivers, family members and patients over many years at Shanthi Nivasa and Shanthi Sevana, the transit home and cancer [...]
Italian Embassy launches ‘Dolce Vita in Serendib’
The Italian Embassy last weekend launched the coffee table book ‘Dolce Vita in Serendib’ – a gastronomic journey of authentic Italian cuisine in Sri Lanka with over 60 recipes interwoven with accounts of Italy’s culinary history. Eight restaurants in Sri Lanka contributed recipes of their signature Italian dishes while both the Ambassador and Deputy Ambassador’s [...]
Rotary Club of Colombo West signs MOU to save children with heart ailments
The Rotary Club of Colombo West (RCCW) has signed an MOU with the Ministry of Health to send 75 children suffering from complicated heart ailments to India for surgery. The children will be accompanied by one of their parents, and the surgery will be performed at Amrita Hospital in Kochi. The agreement was signed after [...]
Colombo Club through the passage of time
One of Colombo’s venerable old clubs which has weathered many shifts and storms through the passage of time from its inception in the colonial era, celebrated an important milestone – its 150th anniversary with the launch of a coffee table book ‘Colombo Club- 150th Anniversary Commemorative Edition’. The book was launched at the Taj Samudra [...]
Ushering in the bold and the beautiful
The Mercedes Benz Fashion Week (MBFW) Sri Lanka 2021 took place over three days last weekend at the Colombo Innovation Tower under the theme of New Local with brands, local graduates of the Academy of Design (AOD), and New Gen designers giving prominence to Sri Lankan talent, craft and materials. “I think everybody knows that [...]