Ancient stupa with links to Buddha’s own lifetime
The Mahiyangane stupa rises against the blue ring of the Uva hills. Here in the lap of the eddying Mahaweli, stands a timeless shrine. Also called Bintenne and Alut Nuwara, this shrine according to legend goes back to the Sixth Century BCE and its oldest known reference is connected to the Mahavamsa legend of the [...]
Blazing a trail with little noticed ingredients
It is the ultimate test of their innovative efforts and labours – will those giving eye and ear to their offerings, embrace them for further development so that the world would be Sri Lanka’s oyster for the humble jakfruit and gotukola and the hardly-noticed seaweed? There is much activity on Friday morning at the ‘Genesis [...]
Celebrating Vesak then and now
The key events of Prince Siddhartha Gautama’s life were on a Vesak Full Moon in May — His birth, attainment of supreme enlightenment and passing away (mahaparinibbhana). The thrice blessed day is commemorated by Buddhists as a religious and cultural event. Buddhists pay homage to the Buddha by performing amisa pooja (ritualistic offerings) and pratipatthi [...]
Letters to the Editor
Time to fill coffers of EPF at the Central Bank with IMF loan With the IMF giving a loan to Sri Lanka to tide over the difficult times we are only somewhat beginning to recover from the bleak future. It is also time for the government to take some of this money and fill the [...]
APPRECIATIONS
His interests went beyond medicine DR. MAITHRIE RAJAPAKSE Dr Maithrie Rajapakse had his primary and secondary education at Dharmaraja College and St Sylvester’s College Kandy, Sri Lanka. He obtained his MBBS degree in 1969 from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ceylon, Peradeniya. After working for a period as University Medical Officer, he began training [...]
A school like no other
Have you ever taken the time to think of how dependent you are on sensory information? Think of the time you woke up in the middle of the night and bumped into the table as you tried to make your way to the washroom. Or that time you played ‘pin the tail on the elephant’ [...]
Taking Tilli to the classroom
“This is a scary situation Having 7 and 8-year-olds coming in to the world with excessive cases of early childhood trauma creates a generation of adults who are withdrawn, depressed, sad and unable to reach their full developmental potential,” says Kavindya Thennakoon, co-founder of the game-based, Social-Emotional Learning tool, ‘Tilli’. Funded by UNICEF and created [...]
A mix of the light and the dark, the subtle and the transparent
Lalitha Wirasinghe’s maiden collection of poetry with 47 poems strikes a note of hope with its title. Written in simple English which make them transparently clear, the poems cover a wide range of themes and issues – contemporary and thought provoking. They touch on the everyday, homely events as well as the natural landscape – [...]
Commons, everyone’s cosy hangout turns 18
The Commons coffee house, that has made a name for itself as a cosy hangout for all ages, setting the coffee house culture in the city, celebrates its 18th anniversary this week, and is offering a special 18% discount on May 4and 5 for the occasion. “While celebrating the 18-year journey of the Commons, it also [...]
New coffee shop at Courtyard by Marriott Colombo
The recently launched Courtyard by Marriott Colombo, opened its coffee shop Tito’s at the lower level of the hotel where it offers both indoor and outdoor seating. Open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., the friendly baristas create delicious teas, coffees and fresh juices, while the culinary team at Tito’s works behind the [...]