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| Sunday, 23 October 2005 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Pelene Vajiragnana Maha Thera : The great and pious Mahanayake
As a preacher and a person who explained the Dhamma, he was without par(unmatched).With his winsome (attractive) smile and soft persuasive voice, he could hold an audience spellbound for an hour. His sermons were never more than an hour. When the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Service (SLBC) decided to have a weekly sermon on the Dhamma - a bana, the authorities invited Pelene Vajiragnana Maha Thera, not any other Mahanayake, to give the inaugural sermon. Such was his reputation as a preacher, and the esteem in which he was held island-wide. A recording of that first sermon on April 21, 1928 has been replayed by the SLBC on many occasions like his birth and death anniversaries. Vajiragnana Maha Thera was born on November 25, 1878 in Pelena, a coastal village in the Matara district. His parents were Muhandiram Don Andries Tudawe Pundita Gunawardana and Dona Gimara Serasinghe. His father died when he was only 12 years. A four line verse which he had composed (and preserved) shows the loneliness and helplessness he felt when he was left fatherless. This may have awakened a dormant(inactive) desire to give up this worldly life with all its cares and sorrows. Three years after his father's death, in 1890, at the age of 15, he became a novice monk - a Samanera. Living in the Devasiri Vihara in Kamburugamuwa, he studied the Dhamma and oriental languages - Sinhala, Pali, Sanskrit. His teacher was the renowned Nayaka Thera Weragampita Sri Rahula. In 1896 he came to Colombo and joined the Vidyodaya Pirivena and studied the Dhamma further, under Hikkaduwe Sumangala Maha Thera, the head of the Pirivena. At the final examination in 1900, he came first and won that year's Syama Raja Prize, awarded by the King of Siam. A year later, on April 20, 1901 he received his higher ordination - upasampada. The monk was now residing at Suvisuddharama, off Havelock Road between Pamankada junction and the old spinning and weaving mills, when a group of Buddhists invited him to reside in the little temple in Bambalapitiya, which was known as plain 'Dharmasala.' Ven. Vajiragnana accepted their invitation and took up residence there. The year was 1901. Soon an image-house - Budu Ge - was constructed, a bo sapling was planted and it became a full-fledged temple. The Dharmasala which was the nucleus of the now famous Vajirarama is still preserved - a plain building with half walls and rooms at one end. The temple was named after the thera and soon the road on which the temple stood was named Vajira Road. This was at a time when Colombo's roads were named after British governors and administrators, engineers or doctors. This is unmistakable evidence of the esteem in which the monk was held even by the British government. Vajirarama soon became a seat of learning, from which emerged monks who became famous as their teacher, Vajiragnana Maha Thera. Among them were Narada Thera, Piyadassi Thera, Madihe Pannaseeha Maha Thera, Bambalapitiya Kassapa Thera (Dr. Cassius Pereira) and Soma Thera. They are all dead now and their names may be unfamiliar to you. But your parents would have known them even by name, if they had not met them and listened to their sermons. Vajiragnana Thera started Dhamma classes for children many, many years before they mushroomed(developed rapidly) island-wide, to teach the children the Dhamma and guide them to follow the Buddhist way of life. Among the early students of this Dhamma School were the former Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake and MP for Colombo South, Minister and a stalwart(a loyal comrade) of the LSSP, Bernard Soysa. Ven. Vajiragnana also started two magazines for children - Bauddha Lamaya in Sinhala and Bosath in English. These were some of the first magazines for children published in Sri Lanka. Some of the verses composed by the thera and published in Bauddha Lamaya are even now sung in pre-schools. Ven. Vagiragnana was appointed Mahanayake of the Sri Dharmarakkhita Chapter of the Amarapura Nikaya in 1918. He passed away on September 21, 1955 and his mortal remains were cremated on September 25 at Independence Square. This was the second cremation at Independence Square; The first was of D. S. Senanayaka, the first prime minister of Sri Lanka. The Sri Vajiragnana Dharmayatana at Maharagama is a memorial to this great and pious thera. - Sumana Saparamadu. Spinning tales of mystery and murder - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
His detective stories were considered a major step forward in the field of crime fiction. His other works include science fiction, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction. Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh and was sent to Jesuit Preparatory School at the age of nine. From 1876 to 1881 he studied medicine at Edinburgh University. Following his term at university, he served as a ship's doctor on a voyage to the West African coast, and then, in 1882, he set up a practice in Plymouth. His medical practice was unsuccessful; while waiting for patients he began writing stories. He then moved his practice to Southsea and it was afterwards that he began to take part more extensively in literature. His first significant work was A Study in Scarlet which appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 and featured the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes. In 1885 he married Louise Hawkins, who suffered from tuberculosis and eventually died in 1906. He married Jean Leckie in 1907. Doyle had five children, two with his first wife (Mary and Kingsley), and three with his second wife (Jean, Denis, and Adrian). In 1890 Doyle started studying the human eye in Vienna and in 1891, moved to London to set up a practice as an ocularist (eye specialist). This also gave him more time for writing. Holmes eventually appeared in 56 short stories and four of Doyle's novels (he has since appeared in many novels and stories by other authors as well). Doyle's close friend Dr. Mohammed Ebrahim Sufi of Lucknow, a British Indian Muslim suggested to him that the invention of an additional character as Sherlock Holmes' colleague and personal assistant would spice his stories up. Doyle welcomed Dr Sufi's idea and instantly created the character of Dr. Watson. Doyle was honoured with knightship and was appointed as Deputy-Lieutenant of Surrey in 1902. During the early years of the twentieth century, Sir Arthur twice ran for Parliament, but although he received a respectable vote, he was not elected. Doyle's work helped to establish a way to correct miscarriages of justice. During World War I, his son died. This was a tragedy for Doyle and affected him deeply. As a result, he dedicated the rest of his life to spiritual causes. His last book, a collection of short stories known as The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes was published in 1927. Doyle died of heart disease on July 7, 1930. Arthur Conan Doyle is
buried in the Church Yard at Minstead in the New Forest, Hampshire,
England. |
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| Politics | Produced by Lake House |
A month ago (September 21), we commemorated the 50th death anniversary
of one of the most erudite (learned) and saintly Buddhist monks of the
last century. The Venerable Pelene Vajiragnana Maha Thera was an
outstanding scholar, a dedicated teacher, a prolific writer and above all
one who practised the Dhamma to the letter. 
Detective stories are popular among both young and adult readers. There
are several authors who are famous for detective fiction. One such author
is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This British author is best known for his
stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes. 
