200 years ago a green haven began to grow
The Royal Botanic Gardens Peradeniya, beloved to Lankans and known simply as the Peradeniya Gardens celebrates a rare milestone on February 21 – its bicentenary. Founded by the British as a premier research institution for agriculture and plantation crops in the country, it was brought under the purview of the Department of Agriculture and in [...]
Weaving surreal urban landscapes into corrugated cardboard
In Dreamscape, her first solo exhibition with the Saskia Fernando Gallery, artist Chathurika Jayani presents surreal landscapes on corrugated cardboard in her exploration of urban development and socialisation. Born in 1984 in Colombo, she completed her Bachelors in Fine Arts from the University of Visual and Performing Arts and has exhibited locally as well as [...]
Letters to the Editor
Sense and statesmanship: Sri Lanka’s path to independence Further to your editorial Feb 4: A day to honour patriots of the past (The Sunday Times, Jan. 30), it is interesting to compare Sri Lanka’s and India’s paths to independence. The Sri Lankan independence leaders (Ponnambalam Arunachalam, W.A. de Silva, D.B. Jayatilaka and D.S. Senanayake) are [...]
Appreciations
He never lost that Pera touch Dr. Athula Kahandaliyanage We were batch-mates in the Faculty of Medicine, Peradeniya. Our 1973 batch comprised a very diverse group of young people – some from elite schools, others from rural areas, some fluent in English, others not so, some shy and reticent, Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims, – and [...]
If you really want to get to know Bawa, ‘It is Essential to be There’
The Stables at the Park Street Mews will from February till April have a timeless, serenity – graced with the intimate personal touch of Geoffrey Bawa – the soul of the man and the architect. Yellowed plans, old letters, photos snatched while on his journeys (or rather pilgrimages) to Europe where he imbibed much from [...]
Lankan-Royal tie sealed with a gift; a star tortoise
Our story last Sunday of the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester who represented the British monarch King George VI at Ceylon’s Independence in February 1948 and the star tortoise from Ceylon that was gifted to their son Prince William (the recalcitrant reptile that ate up all the exotic orchids gifted to the [...]
Hitting the right note to bring back music to the Wendt
Music has long been missing from the halls of the Lionel Wendt and baritone Gehan Cooray will bring it back with some popular favourites as he takes the stage next Thursday (February 10) accompanied by Menaka de Fonseka Sahabandu. ‘Classical and Cool’ will be both Gehan’s first concert in Sri Lanka since the pandemic and [...]