T

Kadupul Flower

2009-10-12T04:37:00.000-07:00

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ELECTIONS – 2009 South Provience

2009-10-10T23:57:00.000-07:00

POLITICAL PARTY/ INDEPENDENT GROUP VOTES
United People's Freedom Alliance 804,071
United National Party 297,180
People's Liberation Front 72,379
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress 6,553
United National Alliance 871
United Socialist Party 805
Jathika Sangwardena Peramuna 468 0
Eksath Lanka Podujana Pakshaya 274
Janasetha Peramuna 239
Eksath Lanka Maha Sabha 110
Socialist Equality Party 95
Left Front 92
Sinhalaye Mahasammatha Bhoomiputra Pakshaya 91
Sri Lanka Progressive Front 86
Democratic Unity Alliance 61
Ruhunu Janatha Party 52 -
Nationals Peoples Party 49 -
Patriotic National Front 43 -

Valid Votes 1,184,511
Rejected Votes 35,531
Total Polled 1,220,042
Regis. Electors 1,761,859

Sri Lanka has potential to capture global construction market

2009-10-10T23:52:00.001-07:00

The country has the potential to capture the global construction market and international exposure is necessary to compete with other countries, Chief Executive Officer/Secretary General, Chamber of Construction Industry Dakshitha Thalgodapitiya told Daily News Business.
“What our construction industrialists lack is the experience in handling mega scale global construction projects. They should be encouraged to secure sub-contracts to gain experience to become the main contractors”, he said.
The Chamber pioneered the first trade delegation to Qatar in 2007 followed by another delegation to the UAE in 2008. There are many opportunities for Sri Lankan construction industry professionals in the fields of architecture, quantity surveying and engineering. There are several local professionals working in Dubai, Qatar and Oman at present, he said.
The Chamber’s efforts to promote the country’s construction industry internationally should be supported by the Government together with private sector participation. To meet international demand, careful planning and reasonable time is necessary to establish linkages, he said.
There is a drop in the demand in the Gulf region due to the global recession. We need to wait till the Gulf economy picks up. There would be a positive impact on the local construction industry with the recession slowing down and we could expect a demand for our industrialists in the near future, he said.
Excon 2009 - Exposition for the Construction Industry will be the first international construction exhibition with over 300 trade stalls to be held from October 30 - November 1 at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre organized by the Chamber of Construction Industry. “Over 60 foreign industrialists have confirmed participation.
The exhibition would focus on property developers to resurrect abandoned properties and development projects to facilitate the sale of completed apartments. It also intends to attract direct foreign investors, local financial institutions and potential buyers under one roof”, he said.
The accredited representative of the domestic construction industry has designed “Excon 2009”, the sixth in the series of trade fairs presented by the Chamber to enhance the capabilities and competitiveness of construction industrialists.
The exhibition will showcase and introduce cost effective, environment friendly and alternative construction technologies and materials, building linkages between the SME sector and regional contractors with major constituents and overseas contractors. It will promote the export of construction related professional services and contracting capacities and facilitate foreign direct investments in infrastructure development, urban regeneration and other construction related projects.
Source By:Daily News

You Need

2009-10-10T23:41:00.000-07:00

Long Time

2009-08-20T02:09:00.000-07:00

Long Time ......................

What have I got to do to make you love meWhat have I got to do to make you careWhat do I do when lightning strikes meAnd I wake to find that you're not there
What do I do to make you want meWhat have I got to do to be heardWhat do I say when it's all overAnd sorry seems to be the hardest word
It's sad, so sadIt's a sad, sad situationAnd it's getting more and more absurdIt's sad, so sadWhy can't we talk it overOh it seems to meThat sorry seems to be the hardest word
What do I do to make you love meWhat have I got to do to be heardWhat do I do when lightning strikes meWhat have I got to doWhat have I got to doWhen sorry seems to be the hardest word
Elton John

Southern Expressway

2009-04-17T23:37:00.001-07:00

Southern Expressway ready by 2011

The first stage of the Colombo - Matara Expressway (up to Galle) will be completed in July 2010 and the total project would be ready by 2011.

Total length of the expressway would be 126 kilometres, which is 34 kms less than the existing Colombo - Matara highway.

The expressway costing Rs. 84 billion is Sri Lanka's biggest development project in history and is also the first access controlled expressway (EW) in the country.

Design speed of the project starting from Kottawa on Highlevel road and ending at Godagama in Matara is 120 kilometres per hour.

"One of the biggest advantages of the project is that a motorist would be able to reach Matara in just one hour and twenty minutes and Galle in one hour," said Project Director, Southern Transport Development Project (STDP), S. Meihandan.

The EW is a four lane dual carriageway with eleven interchanges with toll gates and one rest area in Bentota with a 1.5m wide centre median with a cable barrier.

The access to the expressway would be from Kottawa on High Level road and from Kahathuduwa, Gelanigama, Dodangoda, Welipenna, Kurundugahahetekma, Nayapamula, Pinnaduwa, Deegoda, Weligama and Godagama on Matara Akuressa road.

There would be 153 underpasses and 27 overpasses as well. The EW would also be linked to the Colombo - Katunayake EW and the proposed Colombo - Kandy EW.

He said the EW was originally planned to be a two lane expressway and it was converted to a four lane anticipating the future demand. "We estimate that the Southern expressway would be sufficient to meet the demand for another 25 years.

There is provision for two additional lanes for the future," he added.

Two Special ambulances and a fire brigade would be assigned for the Expressway in case of an emergency.

Commenting on the proposed 'toll' (TM) he said that the STDP, hopes to charge a toll of Rs. 3 per kilometer from Cars, Rs. 6 from Vans, Rs. 9 from Buses and Lorries and Rs. 12 from Container Trucks.

A toll card is also planned for regular users. No motor bikes or three wheelers would be allowed in the EW.

Japan International Co-operation Agency, (JICA) Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government would fund the project.

The main objective of the project is to assist the development of economic activities of the Southern Province by encouraging growth in industries such as tourism, fisheries and agriculture.

Another advantage would be the reduction of fatal and non-fatal accidents (Most of the present victims are pedestrians and cyclists) in the A2 highway. Security against potential tsunami impacts between North and South on the Western Coast has also been considered. Land acquisition and resettlement has been substantially completed. Post resettlement activities such as income restoration, home gardening development and environmental monitoring are in progress.

He said that nearly 1340 families were displaced and Rs. 4.57 Billion had been paid as compensation so far.

Commenting on new technology the project director said that application of Compact Vacuum Consolidation and heavy tamping methods to treat soft soil areas were introduced. (source: Sunday Observer)

Historically Significant Earthquakes

2009-04-17T23:32:00.001-07:00

	*Historically Significant Earthquakes*
Year	Location	Magnitude	Deaths (Estimated)
1201	Upper Egypt or Syria	unknown	1,000,000
1556	Shaanxi Province, China	unknown	830,000
1693	Sicily; Naples, Italy	unknown	160,000
1703	Jeddo, Japan	unknown	200,000
1755	Lisbon, Portugal; Spain; Morocco; Persia	unknown	100,000
1797	Ecuador; Peru	unknown	41,000
1811-1812	New Madrid, MO, U.S. (3 quakes)	unknown	few deaths
1883	Java	unknown	100,000
1905	India	8.6	20,000
1906	San Francisco, CA, U.S.	8.3	700
1906	Valparaíso, Chile	8.6	20,000
1920	Gansu Province, China	8.6	200,000
1923	Tokyo; Yokohama, Japan	8.3	130,000
1927	Nan Shan, China	8.3	200,000
1939	Concepción, Chile	8.3	30,000
1939	Erzincan, Turkey	8.0	30,000
1949	Tadzhik S.S.R	7.5	120,000
1960	Puerto Montt, Valdivia, Chile	8.3	6,000
1964	Prince William Sound, AK, U.S.	9.2	130
1970	Northern Peru	7.7	66,800
1976	Guatemala	7.5	23,000
1976	Tangshan, China	8.0	240,000
1978	Northeastern Iran	7.7	25,000
1985	Mexico City	8.1	4,200
1988	Armenian S.S.R	6.9	30,000
1990	Northwestern Iran	7.7	60,000
1993	India	6.5	30,000
1995	Japan	7.2	6,400
1995	Russia	7.5	2,100
1997	Northeastern Iran	7.1	1,560
1998	Northwestern Afghanistan	6.1	4,000
1998	Northern Afghanistan	7.1	5,000
1999	Western Turkey	7.4	15,000
1999	Taiwan	7.6	2,400

2009-04-17T23:28:00.001-07:00

From the Dhammapada

The
Dhammapada is a collection of 423 Buddhist aphorisms or teachings intended to provide ethical guidance. The poetic and sometimes profound sayings of the
Dhammapada, which can be translated as "Way of Truth," are attributed to Buddha, who founded Buddhism in India in the 6th century BC. These writings, part of the sacred Sutra Pitaka, illustrate the Buddhist dhamma, or moral system. The following excerpt deals with the human mind and the consequences of immoral actions.

From the
Dhammapada

The Mind

33 The mind is wavering and restless, difficult to guard and restrain: let the wise man straighten his mind as a maker of arrows makes his arrows straight.

34 Like a fish which is thrown on dry land, taken from his home in the waters, the mind strives and struggles to get free from the power of Death.

35 The mind is fickle and flighty, it flies after fancies wherever it likes: it is difficult indeed to restrain. But it is a great good to control the mind; a mind self-controlled is a source of great joy.

36 Invisible and subtle is the mind, and it flies after fancies wherever it likes; but let the wise man guard well his mind, for a mind well guarded is a source of great joy.

37 Hidden in the mystery of consciousness, the mind, incorporeal, flies alone far away. Those who set their mind in harmony become free from the bonds of death.

38 He whose mind is unsteady, who knows not the path of Truth, whose faith and peace are ever wavering, he shall never reach fullness of wisdom.

39 But he whose mind in calm self-control is free from the lust of desires, who has risen above good and evil, he is awake and has no fear.

40 Considering that this body is frail like a jar, make your mind strong like a fortress and fight the great fight against MARA, all evil temptations. After victory guard well your conquests, and ever for ever watch.

41 For before long, how sad! this body will lifeless lie on the earth, cast aside like a useless log.

42 An enemy can hurt an enemy, and a man who hates can harm another man; but a man's own mind, if wrongly directed, can do him a far greater harm.

43 A father or a mother, or a relative, can indeed do good to a man; but his own right-directed mind can do to him a far greater good.

Good and Evil

116 Make haste and do what is good; keep your mind away from evil. If a man is slow in doing good, his mind finds pleasure in evil.

117 If a man does something wrong, let him not do it again and again. Let him not find pleasure in his sin. Painful is the accumulation of wrongdoings.

118 If a man does something good, let him do it again and again. Let him find joy in his good work. Joyful is the accumulation of good work.

119 A man may find pleasure in evil as long as his evil has not given fruit; but when the fruit of evil comes then that man finds evil indeed.

120 A man may find pain in doing good as long as his good has not given fruit; but when the fruit of good comes then that man finds good indeed.

121 Hold not a sin of little worth, thinking 'this is little to me'. The falling of drops of water will in time fill a water-jar. Even so the foolish man becomes full of evil, although he gather it little by little.

122 Hold not a deed of little worth, thinking 'this is little to me'. The falling of drops of water will in time fill a water-jar. Even so the wise man becomes full of good, although he gather it little by little.

123 Let a man avoid the dangers of evil even as a merchant carrying much wealth, but with a small escort, avoids the dangers of the road, or as a man who loves his life avoids the drinking of poison.

124 As a man who has no wound on his hand cannot be hurt by the poison he may carry in his hand, since poison hurts not where there is no wound, the man who has no evil cannot be hurt by evil.

125 The fool who does evil to a man who is good, to a man who is pure and free from sin, the evil returns to him like the dust thrown against the wind.

126 Some people are born on this earth; those who do evil are reborn in hell; the righteous go to heaven; but those who are pure reach NIRVANA.

127 Neither in the sky, nor deep in the ocean, nor in a mountain-cave, nor anywhere, can a man be free from the evil he has done.

128 Neither in the sky, nor deep in the ocean, nor in a mountain-cave, nor anywhere, can a man be free from the power of death.

Source: The Dhammapada. Translated by Mascaro, Juan. Penguin Books.

2009-04-17T00:18:00.001-07:00

IPL Teams & Players

Bangalore Royal Challengers - Coach: Venkatesh Prasad
Player	Age	Country	Cost (USD)
Rahul Dravid (c)	35	India	$1,035,000
Jacques Kallis	32	South Africa	$900,000
Anil Kumble	37	India	$500,000
Cameron White	24	Australia	$500,000
Zaheer Khan	29	India	$450,000
Mark Boucher	31	South Africa	$450,000
Nathan Bracken	30	Australia	$325,000
Dale Steyn	24	South Africa	$325,000
Praveen Kumar	22	India	$300,000
Shivnarine Chanderpaul	33	Guyana	$200,000
Wasim Jaffer	30	India	$150,000
Misbah-ul-Haq	33	Pakistan	$125,000
Ross Taylor	24	New Zealand	$100,000
Abdur Razzak	25	Bangladesh	$50,000
Balachandra Akhil	30	India	$30,000
KP Appanna	19	India	$30,000
Jagadeesh Arunkumar	33	India	$50,000
Sunil Joshi	37	India	$50,000
Virat Kohli	19	India	$30,000
Devraj Patil	23	India	$105,000
Bharat Chipli	25	India	$30,000
Shreevats Goswami	18	India	$30,000
Vinay Kumar	24	India	$30,000
Total purchase price			$5,795,000
Chennai Super Kings - Coach: Kepler Wessels
Player	Age	Country	Cost (USD)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c)	26	India	$1,500,000
Jacob Oram	28	New Zealand	$675,000
Suresh Raina	21	India	$650,000
Albie Morkel	28	South Africa	$675,000
Muttiah Muralitharan	35	Sri Lanka	$600,000
Matthew Hayden	36	Australia	$375,000
Michael Hussey	32	Australia	$350,000
Stephen Fleming	35	New Zealand	$350,000
Parthiv Patel	22	India	$325,000
Joginder Sharma	24	India	$225,000
Makhaya Ntini	30	South Africa	$200,000
Sudeep Tyagi	20	India	$100,000
Srikkanth Anirudha	20	India	$15,000
R Ashwin	21	India	$30,000
Subramaniam Badrinath	27	India	$30,000
Napoleon Einstein	18	India	$30,000
Shadab Jakati	27	India	$30,000
Abhinav Mukund	18	India	$30,000
Lakshmipathy Balaji	26	India	$35,000
Total purchase price			$6,225,000
Delhi DareDevils - Coach: Greg Shipperd
Player	Age	Country	Cost (USD)
Virender Sehwag (c)	29	India	$833,750
Gautam Gambhir	26	India	$725,000
Manoj Tiwary	22	India	$675,000
Mohammad Asif	25	Pakistan	$650,000
Daniel Vettori	29	New Zealand	$625,000
Dinesh Karthik	22	India	$525,000
Shoaib Malik	26	Pakistan	$500,000
Glenn McGrath	38	Australia	$350,000
AB de Villiers	24	South Africa	$300,000
Tillakaratne Dilshan	31	Sri Lanka	$250,000
Farveez Maharoof	23	Sri Lanka	$225,000
Rajat Bhatia	28	India	$200,000
Shikhar Dhawan	22	India	$150,000
Brett Geeves	25	Australia	$50,000
Yo Mahesh	20	India	$50,000
Mithun Manhas	28	India	$200,000
Pradeep Sangwan	17	India	$50,000
Mayank Tehlan	21	India	$50,000
Total purchase price			$6,372,500
Deccan Chargers - Coach: Robin Singh
Player	Age	Country	Cost (USD)
Andrew Symonds	32	Australia	$1,350,000
R. P. Singh	22	India	$875,000
Rohit Sharma	20	India	$750,000
Adam Gilchrist	36	Australia	$700,000
Shahid Afridi	27	Pakistan	$675,000
Herschelle Gibbs	34	South Africa	$575,000
V. V. S. Laxman (c)	33	India	$375,000
Chaminda Vaas	34	Sri Lanka	$200,000
Scott Styris	32	New Zealand	$175,000
Nuwan Zoysa	29	Sri Lanka	$110,000
Chamara Silva	28	Sri Lanka	$100,000
Halhadar Das	21	India	$30,000
Doddapaneni Kalyankrishna	24	India	$15,000
Pragyan Ojha	21	India	$20,000
Dwaraka Ravi Teja	20	India	$15,000
Venugopal Rao	26	India	$25,000
Paidikalva Vijaykumar	21	India	$10,000
Arjun Yadav	26	India	$5,000
Total purchase price			$6,105,000
Rajasthan Royals - Coach: Shane Warne
Player	Age	Country	Cost (USD)
Shane Warne (c)	38	Australia	$450,000
Yusuf Pathan	25	India	$475,000
Graeme Smith	27	South Africa	$475,000
Mohammad Kaif	27	India	$675,000
Munaf Patel	24	India	$275,000
Younis Khan	30	Pakistan	$225,000
Justin Langer	37	Australia	$200,000
Kamran Akmal	26	Pakistan	$150,000
Shane Watson	27	Australia	$125,000
Dimitri Mascarenhas	30	England	$100,000
Morne Morkel	23	South Africa	$60,000
Ravindra Jadeja	19	India	105,000
Taruwar Kohli	19	India	105,000
Pankaj Singh	22	India	100,000
Anup Revandkar	20	India	30,000
Sohail Tanvir	23	Pakistan	60,000
Total purchase price			$3,610,000
Kolkata Knight Riders - Coach: John Buchanan
Player	Age	Country	Cost (USD)
Sourav Ganguly (c)	35	India	$1,092,500
Ishant Sharma	19	India	$950,000
Chris Gayle	28	Jamaica	$800,000
Brendon McCullum	26	New Zealand	$700,000
David Hussey	30	Australia	$625,000
Shoaib Akhtar	32	Pakistan	$425,000
Murali Kartik	31	India	$425,000
Ricky Ponting	33	Australia	$400,000
Ajit Agarkar	30	India	$330,000
Umar Gul	23	Pakistan	$150,000
Tatenda Taibu	24	Zimbabwe	$125,000
Siddarth Kaul	17	India	$100,000
Iqbal Abdulla	18	India	$30,000
Mohammad Hafeez	27	Pakistan	$50,000
Salman Butt	23	Pakistan	$20,000
Total purchase price			$6,222,500
Kings XI Punjab - Coach: Tom Moody
Player	Age	Country	Cost (USD)
Yuvraj Singh (c)	26	India	$1,063,750
Irfan Pathan	23	India	$925,000
Brett Lee	31	Australia	$900,000
Kumar Sangakkara	30	Sri Lanka	$700,000
Sreesanth	25	India	$625,000
Mahela Jayawardene	30	Sri Lanka	$475,000
Piyush Chawla	19	India	$400,000
Ramnaresh Sarwan	27	Guyana	$225,000
Simon Katich	32	Australia	$200,000
Ramesh Powar	29	India	$170,000
James Hopes	29	Australia	$324,000
Luke Pomersbach	23	Australia	$50,000
Ajitesh Argal	19	India	$15,000
Karan Goel	21	India	$50,000
Uday Kaul	20	India	$50,000
Kyle Mills	28	New Zealand	$150,000
VRV Singh	23	India	$200,000
Tanmay Srivastava	18	India	$105,000
Total purchase price			$6,503,750
Mumbai Indians - Coach: Lalchand Rajput
Player	Age	Country	Cost (USD)
Sachin Tendulkar (c)	34	India	$1,121,250
Sanath Jayasuriya	38	Sri Lanka	$975,000
Harbhajan Singh	27	India	$850,000
Robin Uthappa	22	India	$800,000
Shaun Pollock	34	South Africa	$550,000
Lasith Malinga	24	Sri Lanka	$350,000
Loots Bosman	30	South Africa	$175,000
Ashwell Prince	30	South Africa	$175,000
Dilhara Fernando	28	Sri Lanka	$150,000
Abhishek Nayar	24	India	$15,000
Manish Pandey	18	India	$15,000
Ajinkya Rahane	19	India	$30,000
Pinal Shah	20	India	$15,000
Yogesh Vijay Takawale	23	India	$5,000
Saurabh Tiwary	18	India	$105,000
Ashish Nehra	29	India	$115,000
Luke Ronchi	26	Australia	$50,000
Total purchase price			$5,496,250

(Source:www.iplbet.com)

Forces push LTTE further

2009-03-24T06:41:00.000-07:00

Cornering the LTTE further in to Puthukuduirippu area the 5 and 7 Gemunu Watch battalions of the 53 Division secured approximately 1.5 kilometres of the A35 road by yesterday morning hours operating from the south of the road, military reports from the battle ground stated.
The 53 Division commanded by Major Gen. Kamal Gunaratne, 58 Division commanded by Brig. Shavendra Silva and Task Force 8 commanded by Col.G.V. Ravipriya are pushing the LTTE to a corner and gaining more of the uncleared land. According to the ground information troops are withstanding heavy resistance from the depressed enemy.
“The spearhead of the 55 Division is approximately 2 kilometres close to the `No Fire Zone’ from the Puthumathalan North while the 58 Division operates on the immediate West of Nanthikandal lagoon,” Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.
The Army 55 Division commanded by Brig. Prasanna de Silva operates from the North of Puthumathalan while the 59 Division commanded by Major General Nandana Udawatte is marching forward from Mullaitivu, few kilometres south of the `No Fire Zone’.
Troops of 58 Division have shrunk LTTE hiding areas while consolidating defences in newly gained ground at the Mullaitivu battlefront last Friday, defence sources said. Army snipers deployed in Puthukudiyirippu West and Iranapalai areas have gunned down 20 LTTE terrorists ahead of the own defence line, military reports indicate.
(source:sundayobserver)

Final Countdown

2009-01-21T09:31:00.001-08:00

Sri Lanka Armed Forces have reached the final stage of their counter terrorist operation fought against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for more than two and half decades . The mission of our armed forces is to free our nation from clutches of terrorism and to make it a country where all Sri Lankans can live in peace and harmony.
The ongoing phase of the battle commenced in August 2006 when terrorists closed down the Mavil Aru sluice gates denying water for more than 30,000 civilians. The terrorists initially had their domination over an area of 15000 square kilometers in the Northern and the Eastern Provinces. The LTTE terrorism was eradicated from the Eastern Province by August 2007.
Land operations were commenced in the Northern Province in March 2007 with the induction of the Army's 57 Division to the Vavuniya area. The second offensive division Task Force 1 was inducted to the battlefield from Mannar in September 2007. Army opened its 3rd battlefront from Welioya with the induction of the 59 Division in January 2008.
At present, the army has engaged 5 offensive Divisions and 3 Task Forces at remaining LTTE hiding areas in Wanni. LTTE terrorists are boxed in to a triangular shape land marked by A-9 road from the West, A-34 road from South and the Northeastern coast from the East. However, this area has been reduced to 562 square kilometers as the Army offensive divisions have already dominated this land mass on several frontiers.
Sourse : http://www.defence.lk/

21/01/2009

2008-12-30T21:08:00.000-08:00

HISTORY OF SRI LANKA

Island of the Sinhalese

The large island off the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent is occupied by hunter-gatherers until the arrival, in the 6th century BC, of the Sinhalese - a tribal group of Indo-Europeans which has moved south through India. These people give the island the name by which it has been known throughout most of history: Sinhaladwipa, meaning 'island of the Sinhalese', which becomes Ceylon in English. The name of the country is changed to Sri Lanka ('beautiful island') when it becomes a republic in 1972.

Theravada Buddhism: from the 3rd century BC
The most formative event in Sri Lanka's long history is the arrival of Buddhism in the 3rd century BC. This island is the furthest outpost and the most lasting achievement of the missionary efforts of the emperor Asoka. The Sinhalese of Sri Lanka have remained faithful to Asoka's religion - the only people of the subcontinent to do so. They are still adherents of Theravada, the first and simpler form of Buddhism. In the sacred temple at Kandy there is no crowd of sculpted demigods to distract the pilgrim. The only holy thing here is a tooth. But it is, so they say, the tooth of Buddha himself, smuggled to Sri Lanka from India in the 4th century AD, hidden in the folds of the long dark hair of a princess.

Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa: 3rd c. BC - 13th c. AD

At the time of the conversion of the ruling family to Buddhism, in the 3rd century BC, the capital city is Anuradhapura in the north of the island. This becomes the first Buddhist centre of Sri Lanka, characterized by the massive dome-shaped stupas (also known as dagobas) which are built to contain sacred relics. The monks here tend a sacred pipal tree, believed to be grown from a branch of the very tree under which Buddha found enlightenment. The branch of Buddha's tree, they say, was sent by Asoka himself as a precious gift to Sri Lanka.

The main threat to the Buddhist kingdoms of Sri Lanka is raids across the sea from the Tamil rulers of south India. The intruders differ from the inhabitants of Sri Lanka in two respects - in language (Tamil is Dravidian, Sinhalese is Indo-European) and in religion (the Tamils are Hindu). In the first millennium of the Christian era the raiders are successfully resisted. But the pressures causes Anuradhapura to be progressively abandoned, from the 8th century, in favour of Polonnaruwa further to the south. At Polonnaruwa (itself deserted in the 13th century) a glorious past is revealed in the gigantic stone Buddhas seated or reclining in the jungle, carved from solid outcrops of rock.

Kandy and Kotte: 12th - 16th century

In the 12th century Tamil rulers finally establish a permanent Hindu presence in the north of the island. Buddhist Sri Lanka shrinks further south again. By the 15th century there are two related Buddhist kingdoms: one is based in Kandy in the hilly centre of the island; the other occupies a new palace at Kotte, a place surrounded by swampy lagoons a little inland from Colombo, by now a thriving harbour used by Arab traders. This is the situation when a new wave of intruders makes a first appearance in the early 16th century. In 1505 Portuguese ships anchor off Colombo.

Portuguese and Dutch: AD 1505-1795

On their first visit, in 1505, the Portuguese make a treaty with the king of Kandy enabling them to trade in the island's crop of cinammon. Soon they win permission to build a fort to protect their trade. From this first fort they steadily encroach upon Sinhalese territory until the entire southern part is under their control - restricting the kingdom of Kandy to the highlands.Jesuits and friars follow the armed traders and convert many of the population. Southern Sri Lanka becomes in effect a Portuguese colony. Towards the end of the 16th century it is formally annexed in the name of the king of Portugal.

The Sinhalese lack the strength to dispute this claim, but in the early 17th century other Europeans in these eastern waters have their own interests in the region's trade. The Dutch enter negotiations with the king of Kandy, offering to help him drive out the intruders. He is unaware that he is merely exchanging one set of Europeans for another.The Dutch finally get the better of the Portuguese in 1656, when they capture Colombo after a six-month siege. For the next century and more they are able to corner the trade in cinammon, controlling most of the coastal areas of the island under governors sent from the capital of the Dutch East Indies at Batavia.

The Sinhalese royal house in Kandy retains a measure of independence, protected by the impenetrable combination of mountain landscape and tropical climate. Both Portuguese and Dutch forces reach Kandy on occasion but are unable to hold it.As in so many other places, the next transfer of power in Sri Lanka is a result of the French Revolutionary wars. A British fleet arrives in 1795 and captures the island from the Dutch.

(Sourec: History World)

2008-12-17T09:10:00.000-08:00

Dalada Maligawa

The temple of the Tooth or Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy is one of the most important and sacred tooth sites for Buddhists in Sri Lanka.it house the sacred tooth relic of the lord Buddha. The sacred tooth is housed in a gold casket six other smaller and smaller caskets are said to be inside this to protect the relic.
The tooth is said to have been retrieved from Buddha’s funeral pyre by a priest named Khema Thera. It was smuggled to Sri Lanka by prince Dantha and princess Hemamala , hidden in the latter’s hair during the fourth century AD when Sri Lanka was ruled by king Kithsiri Mewan. It was initially taken to Anuradhapura where it remained for hundreds of years. As the kingdoms changed ,it was moved to Polonnaruwa,Dambadeniya,Kurunagala,Gampola and Kotte before finally ending up at Kanday.
The present temple ,surrounded by a deep moat,was constructed mainly under kandyan kings from 1687 to 1707 and 1747 to 1782. The octagonal tower was built by Sri Wikrama Rajasighe,the last king of Sri Lanka. The gilded roof over the relic chamber is more recent addition.

The temple of the tooth is one of the most visited sites in the country among pilgrims and tourists both foreign and local. There is a museum behind the shrine in the main building which display many artifacts and gifts to the temple.
The stuffed remains of Raja,the maligawa Tussker wich used to carry the tooth relic at the Esala Perahara, and which died in 1988,are also displayed here.
The administration and operation of the temple and the tooth relic are now entrusted with the Diyawadana Nilame with advise and guidance from the priests of the Malwatte and Asgiri Viharas.
(Source: Observer)

2008-12-17T09:01:00.000-08:00

Sri Lanka Nature

2008-11-05T09:22:00.000-08:00

For the Dhammapada

2008-10-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

Good begets good

Manopubbangama Dhamma – Manosettha Manomaya
Manasa ce Pasannena – Bashati va Karoti va
Tato nam Sukhamanveti – Chaya va Anapayini.

The mind is the forerunner of all good states. The mind is chief. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows, just as one’s shadow never leaves.

This Gatha was recited by the Buddha with regard to Mattakundali, the only son of a rich but stingy man. Mattakundali was seriously ill and was on his death bed, but his father wouldn’t consult a doctor as he was too stingly to pay the doctor’s fee. The Buddha saw the plight of the boy with his Divine Eye and appeared before him. Mattakundali was pleased to see the Buddha in his last stages. He died with a pure heart overflowing with faith in the Buddha , and was reborn in a heavenly state.

LTTE bid to attack food ships foiled

2008-10-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 23 October 2008

An LTTE attempt to attack two merchant ships carrying essential relief items to people affected by the conflict in the Northern Peninsula was foiled by Security Forces in the northern sea last morning.
Two of the three LTTE suicide boats were exploded near two freight ships carrying humanitarian aid to civilians from Colombo to Kankesanthurai.
“The LTTE suicide attack was launched in the northern sea off Mailadi in Mullaitivu yesterday around 5.00 a.m. targeting the two merchant ships,” Navy spokesman Commander D.P.K. Dassanayake said.
Security Forces providing safe voyage to the two freighters Nimalawa and Ruhunu foiled the LTTE attempt to breach the area and fired towards the LTTE suicide boats approaching the ships.
“Two LTTE boats were completely destroyed and another was captured by the Navy. At least six Sea Tigers were killed,” he added.“The LTTE is aiming to interrupt Government efforts to provide humanitarian assistance and supplies to people in the conflict areas. This demonstrates that the LTTE is a terrorist outfit which has no mercy for humanity,” Commander Dassanayaka told the Daily News.
He said a Tiger boat was exploded close to the Nimalawa merchant ship and caused minor damages to the ship.
“However, both ships are sailing without any casualties. They are carrying 3,500 Metric Ton of cement and 2,500 MT of food items”, he added.
The merchants ships and captured LTTE suicide boats were towed to the Mailady shores and Ruhunu and Nimalawa freighters to be taken with the security of the Navy. Sailors are conducting a search operation in the area.
(Source: Daily News)

The Pride Of Sri Lanka

2008-10-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

On February 04,1948 the Sri Lanka celebrated its first independence day with people across the country hoisting the2000 years old. Lion flag ,considered to be one of the oldest national flags in the world. The flag is a symbol of unity, harmony and friendship among the different communities of Sri Lanka.

The thousands of people who thronged independent square, where the official calibrations were held witnessed the colorful ceremony of the lion flag as it went up ,filling the hearts of all Sri Lankans with pride , at the birth of a new and independent nation.

The lion holding a sword upright with its right paw stands for justice, righteousness, heroism, strength and discipline of the nations. The lion’s eye – watches the ruler’s statements should be honest and truthful, head and tail- equality between ruler and citizens, hair body- strength, sword – is an indication that the country should be ruled righteously, meting out justice to all.

The four bo leaves at the four corners of the rectangle bordering the lion symbolize Metta-compassion , Karuna – kindness , Mudita – joy in others prosperity , Upeksha – equanimity called the four Brahma Viyarana or the highest standards of harmonious living. The lion is yellow in colour, denoting righteousness and a peaceful way of life. The red in the background denotes immortality and the defeating of the evil forces of opperession.

It is said that the birth of the Sinhala race began with the planting of the lion flag for the first time on Lankan soil. Prince Vijaya, after landing in the island ,hoisted a flag that he had with him, a flag with a lion symbol. In later years it was used by King Dutugemanu, the lion flag of king Dutugemanu is illustrated in a cave of the Golden Rock Temple of Dambulla, the Rangiri Dambulla Viharaya. This is believed to be the oldest flag found in Sri Lanka.

It was adopted by the later day kings and queens and is thought to have been used as the national flag during the Kotte and Kandy ears. It was also used by Sri Lanka’s last king , Sri Wickrama Rajasighe as his royal standard. This is believed to have fallen into the hands of the British after a battle with the king. The king fled after being defeated ,dropping his royal standard on the way. After taking over Sri Lanka, the British took this royal standard to England and kept in London. E.W Perera , a member of the Legislative Council and later the State Council, was instrumental in bringing the flag back to the country.
With the dawn of independence , all communities accepted the lion flag and decided to retain it as the national flag of Sri Lanka, with the additional of two vertical stripes of saffron and green to represent the Tamil and Muslim communities. Thus the lion flag came to be accepted of Sri Lanka and has been hoisted by the people on all important occasions.

Soma Himi

2008-10-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

WE ARE DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER

2008-10-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

Though We Are Different from Each Other,All That Matters to MeIs That We Love Each Other
I often wonder whatmade us fall in lovewith each otherWe are so differentfrom each otherOur strengthsand weaknessesare so differentOur waysof approaching thingsare so differentOur personalitiesare so differentYet our lovecontinues to grow and growPerhaps the differenceswe have add to theexcitement of our relationshipand I know that both of usas a team are strongerthan either of us aloneWe are basically different fromeach otherbut we have so manyfeelings and emotions in commonAnd it really doesn't matterwhy we fellin loveAll that matters to meis that we continueto respect and loveeach other
-Poem by Susan Polis Schutz

2008-10-20T09:19:00.000-07:00

THOUGHT AT A GLANCE FOR HEALTHY MIND

2008-10-20T09:01:00.000-07:00

THOUGHT AT A GLANCE FOR HEALTHY MIND
&
ENTHUSIASTIC LIFE

What was the future happens now, what happens now becomes the past so why worry.
If you miss a opportunity, do not cloud your eyes with tears, keep your vision clear so that you will not miss the next one.
An honest individual is satisfied with himself as much as others are satisfied with him.
Your thought, speech and action will bear a seal of full confidence if you are sincere in all your tasks.
Silence gives rest to the mind and this means giving rest to the body. Sometimes rest is the only medicine needed
If wealth is lost, nothing is lost. If health is lost, something is lost, if character is lost, all is lost.
If man cannot find peace within himself, can there be peace in this world?
Anger makes you mad, why not be sensible?
The less you speak, the more you are listened to.
Always wear the costumes of humility and you will receive the love and co-operation of others.
The only way to gain respect is firstly to give it.
One word spoken with love can soothe the sorrowful hearts of many.
There are two things-action and the impact behind the action. Even if the action is ordinary, the impact must be posittive,productive and creative.
When there is faith and victory in the mind, success can be gained. If the thoughts are weak, there is defeat.
Now is the time to act and solve all problems and not to succumb to lame excuses.
To have fear means that i am danger to myself as well as to others.
We all must face problems, but it is how you face them that counts.
What i experience now is a result of the past, what i experience in the future depends on what i do now.
Unless i develop self-respect ,i will remain under someone else’s foot.
Even thought you cannot change time, release it is time to change.
If you have the habit of minding other people’s business, your own business will become bankrupt.
An honest man never fears the eyes of strangers.
It only takes an ounce of courage to remove a ton of distress.
The one who truly understands himself is able to stand by himself.
The lazy man is always occupied with his laziness.
When your associates change their minds, make sure your don’t change your mood.
Any one can learn to be a good speaker, but how many live in a manner that others can learn from.
The weak and idle mind cannot create powerful thoughts.
When an obstacle comes in your way, stop crying and start trying.
Never lose hope. Hope is a rope that swings you though life.
To use punctuation makes on paper is easy but can you put a full stop to waste thoughts?
Mistakes are caused by lack of attention, then there is tension.
It is good for a person to earn money for his needs. It is the hunger for wealth that is bad.
Don’t be puzzled by problems, whatever they may be ,always face them as if they are examinations you have to pass.
The four things that have spoiled your life are ,”I” and “mine” “you” and “yours” forget them.
Time is life, wasting time is wasting one’s life.

To understand something’s you need knowledge, but to feel it you need experience.
The price of freedom is always responsibility.
Good, clean competition is healthy but jealousy is a fatal illness.
It is greater to give a handful of rice with love and honesty than to give a thousand dollars with the desire for name and fame.
The lie you tell today, will force you to lie again tomorrow.
One should be simple, but not stupid.
Loneliness is often the result of one’s lack of ability to communicate.
To tolerate someone else’s mistake is one thing. To forgive them is even greater.
To give happiness to others is a great act of charity.
Freedom starts in mind, not by cutting ropes.
A smile can make short work of any difficulty.
Give a lot of time to the improvement of yourself, then there is no time to criticize others.
When you smile ,not only do you feel happy but you bring a ray of light into the lives of others.
Many people will want to quarrel and fight with you, realize that the only weapons you need are a smile and a loveful attitude.
Sometimes a smile can be like a drop of water in a desert.
If you want to advice in life, make sure that your wants don’t advice .
To forget your troubles remember god.
If you do everything with the feeling of happiness, there will be no task too difficult to perform.
Pin all your hopes in god, then you will not be pinned down man.
The more you understand yourself, the easier it into remain happy and peaceful.

REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE VERY SPECIAL.NO ONE CAN PLAY YOUR ROLE BRTTER THAN YOU.

2008-10-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

Albert Einstein
INTRODUCTION Einstein, Albert (1879-1955), German-born American physicist and Nobel laureate, best known as the creator of the special and general theories of relativity and for his bold hypothesis concerning the particle nature of light. He is perhaps the most well-known scientist of the 20th century.
Einstein was born in Ulm on March 14, 1879, and spent his youth in Munich, where his family owned a small shop that manufactured electric machinery. He did not talk until the age of three, but even as a youth he showed a brilliant curiosity about nature and an ability to understand difficult mathematical concepts. At the age of 12 he taught himself Euclidean geometry.
Einstein hated the dull regimentation and unimaginative spirit of school in Munich. When repeated business failure led the family to leave Germany for Milan, Italy, Einstein, who was then 15 years old, used the opportunity to withdraw from the school. He spent a year with his parents in Milan, and when it became clear that he would have to make his own way in the world, he finished secondary school in Arrau, Switzerland, and entered the Swiss National Polytechnic in Zürich. Einstein did not enjoy the methods of instruction there. He often cut classes and used the time to study physics on his own or to play his beloved violin. He passed his examinations and graduated in 1900 by studying the notes of a classmate. His professors did not think highly of him and would not recommend him for a university position.
For two years Einstein worked as a tutor and substitute teacher. In 1902 he secured a position as an examiner in the Swiss patent office in Bern. In 1903 he married Mileva Mariæ, who had been his classmate at the polytechnic. They had two sons but eventually divorced. Einstein later remarried.
EARLY SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS In 1905 Einstein received his doctorate from the University of Zürich for a theoretical dissertation on the dimensions of molecules, and he also published three theoretical papers of central importance to the development of 20th-century physics. In the first of these papers, on Brownian motion, he made significant predictions about the motion of particles that are randomly distributed in a fluid. These predictions were later confirmed by experiment.
The second paper, on the photoelectric effect, contained a revolutionary hypothesis concerning the nature of light. Einstein not only proposed that under certain circumstances light can be considered as consisting of particles, but he also hypothesized that the energy carried by any light particle, called a photon, is proportional to the frequency of the radiation. The formula for this is E = hu, where E is the energy of the radiation, h is a universal constant known as Planck’s constant, and u is the frequency of the radiation. This proposal—that the energy contained within a light beam is transferred in individual units, or quanta—contradicted a hundred-year-old tradition of considering light energy a manifestation of continuous processes. Virtually no one accepted Einstein’s proposal. In fact, when the American physicist Robert Andrews Millikan experimentally confirmed the theory almost a decade later, he was surprised and somewhat disquieted by the outcome.
Einstein, whose prime concern was to understand the nature of electromagnetic radiation, subsequently urged the development of a theory that would be a fusion of the wave and particle models for light. Again, very few physicists understood or were sympathetic to these ideas.
EINSTEIN’S SPECIAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY Einstein’s third major paper in 1905, “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies,” contained what became known as the special theory of relativity. Since the time of the English mathematician and physicist Sir Isaac Newton, natural philosophers (as physicists and chemists were known) had been trying to understand the nature of matter and radiation, and how they interacted in some unified world picture. The position that mechanical laws are fundamental has become known as the mechanical world view, and the position that electrical laws are fundamental has become known as the electromagnetic world view. Neither approach, however, is capable of providing a consistent explanation for the way radiation (light, for example) and matter interact when viewed from different inertial frames of reference, that is, an interaction viewed simultaneously by an observer at rest and an observer moving at uniform speed.
In the spring of 1905, after considering these problems for ten years, Einstein realized that the crux of the problem lay not in a theory of matter but in a theory of measurement. At the heart of his special theory of relativity was the realization that all measurements of time and space depend on judgments as to whether two distant events occur simultaneously. This led him to develop a theory based on two postulates: the principle of relativity, that physical laws are the same in all inertial reference systems, and the principle of the invariance of the speed of light, that the speed of light in a vacuum is a universal constant. He was thus able to provide a consistent and correct description of physical events in different inertial frames of reference without making special assumptions about the nature of matter or radiation, or how they interact. Virtually no one understood Einstein’s argument.
EARLY REACTIONS TO EINSTEIN The difficulty that others had with Einstein’s work was not because it was too mathematically complex or technically obscure; the problem resulted, rather, from Einstein’s beliefs about the nature of good theories and the relationship between experiment and theory. Although he maintained that the only source of knowledge is experience, he also believed that scientific theories are the free creations of a finely tuned physical intuition and that the premises on which theories are based cannot be connected logically to experiment. A good theory, therefore, is one in which a minimum number of postulates is required to account for the physical evidence. This sparseness of postulates, a feature of all Einstein’s work, was what made his work so difficult for colleagues to comprehend, let alone support.
Einstein did have important supporters, however. His chief early patron was the German physicist Max Planck. Einstein remained at the patent office for four years after his star began to rise within the physics community. He then moved rapidly upward in the German-speaking academic world; his first academic appointment was in 1909 at the University of Zürich. In 1911 he moved to the German-speaking university at Prague, and in 1912 he returned to the Swiss National Polytechnic in Zürich. Finally, in 1914, he was appointed director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics in Berlin.
THE GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY
Even before he left the patent office in 1907, Einstein began work on extending and generalizing the theory of relativity to all coordinate systems. He began by enunciating the principle of equivalence, a postulate that gravitational fields are equivalent to accelerations of the frame of reference. For example, people in a moving elevator cannot, in principle, decide whether the force that acts on them is caused by gravitation or by a constant acceleration of the elevator. The full general theory of relativity was not published until 1916. In this theory the interactions of bodies, which heretofore had been ascribed to gravitational forces, are explained as the influence of bodies on the geometry of space-time (four-dimensional space, a mathematical abstraction, having the three dimensions from Euclidean space and time as the fourth dimension).
On the basis of the general theory of relativity, Einstein accounted for the previously unexplained variations in the orbital motion of the planets and predicted the bending of starlight in the vicinity of a massive body such as the sun. The confirmation of this latter phenomenon during an eclipse of the sun in 1919 became a media event, and Einstein’s fame spread worldwide.
For the rest of his life Einstein devoted considerable time to generalizing his theory even more. His last effort, the unified field theory, which was not entirely successful, was an attempt to understand all physical interactions—including electromagnetic interactions and weak and strong interactions—in terms of the modification of the geometry of space-time between interacting entities.
Most of Einstein’s colleagues felt that these efforts were misguided. Between 1915 and 1930 the mainstream of physics was in developing a new conception of the fundamental character of matter, known as quantum theory. This theory contained the feature of wave-particle duality (light exhibits the properties of a particle, as well as of a wave) that Einstein had earlier urged as necessary, as well as the uncertainty principle, which states that precision in measuring processes is limited. Additionally, it contained a novel rejection, at a fundamental level, of the notion of strict causality. Einstein, however, would not accept such notions and remained a critic of these developments until the end of his life. “God,” Einstein once said, “does not play dice with the world.”
WORLD CITIZEN After 1919, Einstein became internationally renowned. He accrued honors and awards, including the Nobel Prize in physics in 1921, from various world scientific societies. His visit to any part of the world became a national event; photographers and reporters followed him everywhere. While regretting his loss of privacy, Einstein capitalized on his fame to further his own political and social views.
The two social movements that received his full support were pacifism and Zionism. During World War I he was one of a handful of German academics willing to publicly decry Germany’s involvement in the war. After the war his continued public support of pacifist and Zionist goals made him the target of vicious attacks by anti-Semitic and right-wing elements in Germany. Even his scientific theories were publicly ridiculed, especially the theory of relativity.
When Hitler came to power, Einstein immediately decided to leave Germany for the United States. He took a position at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, New Jersey. While continuing his efforts on behalf of world Zionism, Einstein renounced his former pacifist stand in the face of the awesome threat to humankind posed by the Nazi regime in Germany.
In 1939 Einstein collaborated with several other physicists in writing a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, pointing out the possibility of making an atomic bomb and the likelihood that the German government was embarking on such a course. The letter, which bore only Einstein’s signature, helped lend urgency to efforts in the U.S. to build the atomic bomb, but Einstein himself played no role in the work and knew nothing about it at the time.
After the war, Einstein was active in the cause of international disarmament and world government. He continued his active support of Zionism but declined the offer made by leaders of the state of Israel to become president of that country. In the U.S. during the late 1940s and early ‘50s he spoke out on the need for the nation’s intellectuals to make any sacrifice necessary to preserve political freedom. Einstein died in Princeton on April 18, 1955.
Einstein’s efforts in behalf of social causes have sometimes been viewed as unrealistic. In fact, his proposals were always carefully thought out. Like his scientific theories, they were motivated by sound intuition based on a shrewd and careful assessment of evidence and observation. Although Einstein gave much of himself to political and social causes, science always came first, because, he often said, only the discovery of the nature of the universe would have lasting meaning. His writings include Relativity: The Special and General Theory (1916); About Zionism (1931); Builders of the Universe (1932); Why War? (1933), with Sigmund Freud; The World as I See It (1934); The Evolution of Physics (1938), with the Polish physicist Leopold Infeld; and Out of My Later Years (1950). Einstein’s collected papers are being published in a multivolume work, beginning in 1987.

Scientists Create Matter Out of Light
Physicists at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in California have succeeded in producing particles of matter from very energetic collisions of light. The team, which included researchers from Stanford University, the University of Rochester in New York, the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and Princeton University in New Jersey, published an account of their work in the September 1, 1997, issue of the journal Physical Review Letters.

Scientists have long known that matter can be converted to energy and, conversely, energy can be converted to matter. In 1905 physicist Albert Einstein quantified the relationship between matter and energy in his famous equation e=mc2, in which E is energy, m is mass, and c is the speed of light (300,000 km/sec [186,000 mi/sec]). In an atomic bomb blast, a very small amount of matter is converted to its equivalent in energy, creating an immense explosion.

Scientists have also created matter from energy by bombarding heavy atoms (atoms made up of many protons and neutrons) with high-energy radiation in the form of X rays. Collisions between the X-ray beam and the atoms created matter in the form of sets of electron and positron particles, a phenomenon known as pair production. Positrons are particles that have the same weight and amount of charge as electrons, but positrons are positively charged, while electrons are negatively charged.

In the recent experiments at SLAC, physicists accelerated a beam of electrons to nearly the speed of light. They then aimed a split-second pulse of high-energy laser light directly at the electron beam. Occasionally a photon (a tiny, discrete unit of light energy) collided with an electron. The photon then recoiled from the collision and rebounded into oncoming photons from the laser beam with such violence that the resulting energy was converted into an electron-positron pair. Over several months of such experiments, the physicists were able to produce more than 100 electron-positron pairs.
(Source: Encarta Yearbook)

SIGIRIYA ROCK

2008-10-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

SIGIRIYA ROCK

Standing tall over the surrounding plains, the Siririya rock offers a splended view for miles in all derection. Sigiriya Rock line on a steep mound that rises over the otherwise flat plains and the rock is sheer on all sides,and in many parts even overhangs the base.

From the top,it is elliptical in plan.its top is flat, and slopes gradually allong the elliptical axis.
Sigiriya was a monastery belonging 1-2 centuries B.C. with caves surrounding the rock caves with and without drip ledges belonging to the period are found close to Sigiriya rock. King Kassapa 1 (473-491 A.D )transferred the administrative centre from Anuradhapura to Sigiriya and ruled the island from Sigiriya. He built Sigiriya fortress with the palace, gardens and other royal buildings after the decades.

Of king Kassapa 1 his brother King Mugalan (495-512 A.D) donated Sigiriya to the Sangha. literary sources mention about Sigiriya during the reigns of king Dala Mugalan(535-555 A.D) and king Sangatissa 11 (618 A.D). according to the graffiti of the mirror wall Sigiriya was crowned by local visitors from 6 century A.D to 12 century A.D. paintings of Sigiriya are one of the most significant pieces of classical paintings of Sri Lanka. There is no argument the honour for constructions of the most impotent structures of Sigiriya as moats, parapet walls, gardens, palace and tanks goes to king Kassapa though buildings to 6th century A.D onwards found here. King Kassapa 1 ruled the island from Sigiriya as the Kuvera of Alakamandawa. This is an archaeological reserve.

The most significant feture of the rock would have been the Lion staircase leading to the place garden on the summit. Based on the ideas describe in some of the graffiti, this Lion staircase could be visualized as a gigantic cliff, facing north,bright coloured, and aweinspiring.

Through the open mouth of the Lion had led the covered staircase built of bricks and timber and a tiled roof. All that remains now are the two colossal paws and a mass of brick masonary that surround the ancient limestone steps and the cuts and groves on the rock face give an idea of the size and shape of the Lion Figure.

About halfway up the rocks is a sheltered gallery of frescoes painted on the sheer rock face. The ‘Heavenly maidens’ are similar in style to the paintings of Ajantha in India. Some of them are still in remarkably good condition. Flash photography is not allowed at thise site.

Beyond the fresco gallery,the pathway circles the sheer face of the rock. And is protected by a 3m high wall. This wall was coated with a mirror – smooth glaze,in wich visitors over 1000 yers ago noted their impression of the women in the gallery above. The graffiti was mostly inscribed between the 7th and 11th century AD.685 of them have been deciphered and published . the graffiti are a great source for the scholars to study the development of the Sinhala language and script.

The beautiful and elaborately landscaped water gardens,contain a complex network of underground water distribution system, wich provides water to the Royal barths, the many little moated island and fountains. Some fountains still work during the rainy season.

A cave with a drip-ledge and it takes the name from the seat inside. Carved out of the living rock. This has been made for the use of meditating monks when Sigiriya was a monastery before Kasyapa. Layer of painting belonging to several periods could be seen hare. A striking features is the presence among the paintings of a few graffiti belonging to the 8-9 centuries A.D.

Sri lanka TRUTH

2008-10-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

News
LTTE attacks Food Convoy
50 world food programme lorries carrying essential food items ,medicine and dry rations for wanni civilians were forced to return to vavuniya due to LTTE attacks.

Military spokemen Brigadear Udaya Nanayakkara said the convoy loaded with essential food items had crossed the Omanthai entry point. He said the food convoy had come under a barrage of LTTE artillery fire and a claymore mine attack and turned back to Vavuniya.