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| Sunday, 7 March 2004 |
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Tomorrow's 'Test' venue once a cattle - ground by Karel Roberts Ratnaweera When the First 'Test' between Australia and Sri Lanka starts tomorrow at the Galle Esplanade which is now an international stadium, few will know that a couple of hundred years ago it was a marshy jungle like most of the rest of the place-where cattle rested the nights and bullock carts were parked thus the Sinhala word 'gala', (place for animals) which is somehow tied up with the Roman cock (gallo) referred to later. Nothing wrong with this really-that is, it being a place for cattle and carts; Trent Bridge was no better and Oxford cricket ground would probably have had oxen driven across its ford in the Middle Ages. But one thing is certain-had the Australians arrived during the time of King Rajasinghe the First of Sri Lanka, he would probably have sent an army down South because it is said he hated foreigners and especially those who came to live off the fat of the land. When the name Galle is mentioned it is always the European invaders who are remembered, there didn't seem to be a Galle before that. Women tourists in bikinis and bare-bodied men is the picture now, living in paradise they are now buying in chunks. In a 'Tale of a City' by the well-known writer Padma Edirisinghe, which tells the story of Galle for children, she refers to the first printing press owned by the Sinhalese. At that time the colonial rulers were Christians who were spreading their religion, a monk by the name of Bulathgama Dhammalankara Thera countered conversion by setting up this press to disseminate the Dhamma. The Ven. Dhammalankara made friends with the king of Siam at this time and told the king of the existing situation. Siam-today's Thailand which is a Buddhist country-showed its generosity. The king gifted the money to Bulathgama Thera to buy the printing press which was imported from Europe. The writer says that the press was first installed in the Fort of Galle in 1860 and the first Buddhist Sinhala newspaper 'Lankaloka' came off the new press on September 10 of the same year. How Galle got its name is another story. To the South of Galle is Magalla which many translate as the Big Rock or Maha Gala.There are also other stories about the name , one being that it originated from the word 'Gallo',the Portuguese word for cock which is obviously why the cock symbol adorns old Portuguese buildings which their successors the Dutch and the British allowed to remain in place although they did not crow too much over them. |
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