A haven that opens doors to better lives, better jobs
Trundling through the village tracks of Bandaragama, Kalutara, we pull up at a coconut estate with a mirror lake… a green haven spread before us. It is a spacious campus where in some open white buildings, youths are being groomed and equipped for a bright future. The Avinya Academy in Bandaragama, the pilot project of [...]
SLDF 2024: All set for Innovation Island
The Sri Lanka Design Festival (SLDF) is set to take place on a grand scale this year marking 15 years of advancing innovation, creativity, and collaboration. Organised by the Academy of Design (AOD), one of Sri Lanka’s leading design education institutes, the festival underscores a profound appreciation of the role played by creative industries in [...]
Letters to the Editor
A Thought Tyre and Siddon, Biblical cities Cities shrouded By the mists of history Destroyed by upstarts From a hastily cobbled state Created by the need For historical expediency To satiate the guilt Of warring nations The ‘Burning Bush’ Conflagrates the land Alas, God’s voice remains unheard Premini Amerasinghe Nawala
APPRECIATIONS
He was sharp as a tack and smart as a whip Prof. Kumar David Kumar David was a household name among all electrical engineering students as well as of all practising electrical engineers of our time. We had heard from our colleagues at Pera about his in-depth knowledge in electrical machines, brilliance, jovial nature and [...]
A tribute to the little known Moor culture
Asiff Hussein’s latest book ‘A Ceylon Moor Pictorial With a Glimpse into the Moorish Life of Old’ tells the story of how the Moor community evolved over the years from humble origins as mariners, merchants, mercenaries and medicine men to become the thriving community they are today. This profusely illustrated coffee table book running to [...]
The stylistic evolution of Buddhist sculptures
Buddhist Sculpture of Sri Lanka – by Ulrich Von Shroeder. Reviewed by Ismeth Raheem ‘Buddha Sculptures of Sri Lanka’, Ulrich von Schroeder’s magnum opus is in many ways a beguilingly beautiful study with a wealth of sculptural forms representing the Buddha and the legends connected with him and describing the special details connected with his [...]
Unwrapping a fascinating tale through the ages
The Mahavamsa records that Kuveni was spinning thread when Vijaya arrived circa 543 B.C. It is detailed that their marriage ceremony was conducted in a tent with ceiling cloths (udaviyan), a tradition still practised today as seen in the uduviyan (canopy) that is placed above the relic casket during the annual Kandy perahera. In another [...]
An enduring spirit
It has been a hundred-year saga. Rockland the family-run distillery, as they look back on a long, rocky road, can take pride in their signature “resilience and grit” – an enduring spirit that carried them through the Great Depression, fire and the tsunami. The story begins not in 1924 really but millennia ago, ‘palm wine’ [...]
Trilingual treat by SOSL
It was a concert that promised to go beyond an ordinary orchestral experience, when the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka (SOSL) presented their very first trilingual concert, “Trilingual Extravaganza”, at the Bishop’s College Auditorium on October 20. And it certainly met the expectations of the full house present. The concert opened with ‘Superman Returns’, followed [...]
Reflect on the beauty of Bonsai
The Sri Lanka Bonsai Association will hold its annual exhibition of Bonsai “Reflections 2024 – Living Images” on November 9 and 10 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the J.D.A. Perera Gallery, Horton Place, Colombo 7. Demonstrations will be held at 3 p.m. on the 9th and 11 a.m. on the 10th. If you [...]