A research work born out of much dedication

Reviewed by Padma EDIRISINGHE

The expanded title of this rather massive academic compilation is "A critical examination of Secretarial Records of the Kandyan administration" which does it more justice and even specifies the content. It is an outcome of a four year research by one of our foremost academia who has put out a wide range of books after meticulous research. Perhaps this can be dubbed as his crowning work since a research on Lekam miti which was as important as Kada Im Poth had not been hitherto attempted for a scientific study.

His texts in English and Sinhala on Kada Im Poth (Boundaries of Lanka) are well-known. Keeping secretarial records in streamlined order is a very necessary requirement for good governance. To many of those who subscribe to the view that all advanced aspects of civilization seeped into the East from the West and hence are naturally subject to the delusion that the streamlined collection of data regarding people and property and territorial divisions and such like, all matter basic to good administration, too began after the advent of the Whites, this book would no doubt come as a surprise. Such records had been maintained by our administrative hierarchy on a regular basis even in times of acute warfare and internal dissension.

In fact Maha Lekam of the Kandyan administration who was responsible for the compilation, revision and updating of these documents, according to the book, has been the second highest officer in the official rungs earning pride of place in the ceremonies even of The Mahanuwara Esala pageant.

Of the four types of Lekam identified in this study the Maha Lekam was directly responsible to the king in the compilation of Kathal and Hi Lekam miti used for revenue administration. Other Lekam miti such as Dunukara Lekam miti, Disa Lekam miti and Maha Lekam miti were compiled to meet the needs in the administration and were kept with the respective territorial divisions under the four Maha Disawas eight Disawas and nine Ratemahattayas.

All this information is presented in 18 chapters. The two appendixes are equally valuable, the first containing the actual text of Lekam miti, indeed a copious task. Reading through the pages it is clear that the book has not been a mere desk - work produced in the comfort of an AC room in an affluent part of Colombo. The author had traversed the length and breadth of the Kandyan terrain, visiting temples up on rugged mountains or down in deep valleys and interviewing colleagues like late Kapila Vimaladharma and accumulating information to fill in gaps. Despite age, he has played the role of the true and genuine researcher digging much valuable data that otherwise would have been long buried in the silence of cemeteries.

In that respect the nation really is in debt to the author, who also has made generous use of the Archives, Colombo Museum library and Royal Asiatic Society library.

The book is profusely replete with maps, flags of divisions and line drawings augmenting the research visually. The many top State posts the author has held and the multitude of academic assignments no doubt facilitated the accumulation of the required content over the years. Appendix Part II comprises a set of historical documents which though not immediately connected to the topic are vibrant pieces of information. Some of them are the Kandavuru Siritha that gives the daily ritual of a king of bygone times i.e. Panditha Parakramabahu, the Sannasa bestowed by King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe on Palingupana Rajaruna Rajapakse of Matara, the 1766 Treaty between the Dutch and King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe, a sample of Portuguese Thombu and Dutch Thombu and the First Census Ordinance and the list of officers in the Kandyan kingdom as listed by John Doyly. The Matara Sannasa reveals the dichotomy of position held by Matara, both as a vassal state of Kandyan Kings and that of Westerners.

Re-produced verbatim after hunting them down, these documents further give interesting peeps into the nature of the Sinhala language used in contemporary times. The Lekam miti, it is almost superflous to state are significant in the field of nomenclature too since they disclose the personal names used in the Kandyan period. Some of the families included, the reviewer, notes go on to modern times. After all it is a matter of 3 to 4 centuries in the incredibly long voyage of Time. An interesting observation is that many areas now bracketed into the Western province were attached to Hatara Korale and no doubt belonged to King's Land during Portuguese and Dutch times. Such is the passage of history which is a non-articulated message this compilation delivers.

The book too focuses on the pooja paid to writers in Sri Lanka from ancient times, be they writers of Lekam miti or general writers. Right from the beginning this tradition had persisted. As early as 3rd Century BC King Devanam Piya Tissa had conferred the title of Lakdiva Jaya Maha Lenawo (the celebrated chief Lekam of Lanka) to Prince Bodhigupta who had come over here in the retinue carrying the Bo sapling. This post of Jaya Maha Lenawo had retained its predominance right along. The author has taken pains to sieve out details regarding the recognition of writers throughout the ancient and medieval periods of Sri Lanka listing also the categories of Lekam. Extensive quotes have been used from the works of Ralph Peiris and John Doyly and many other sources to substantiate facts.

It is once again reiterated that on the whole the book is a rare research work born out of much dedication and labour filling a much needed void in academic compilation in this field.

Jigsaw :

A bit out of life

Reviewed by Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

Extremely unassuming in tone, Deirdre Jonklaas Cadiramen paints a portrait of Sri Lankan life in her latest anthology of short stories 'Jigsaw'. Her stories are peopled with characters from diverse strata of society intermingled with vivid memories and life experience that she underwent at the early part of the 21st century. The stories are as vivid as their subject matter. The themes are often drawn from her own milieu. Yet they are candid and simple in diction bereft of Ceylonism. The book is marked for its insightful recreations of incidents of the past particularly referring to the communal riots, archetype attitudes of villagers on women and the authentic depiction of village life.

The very first short story of the anthology, 'The bride wore black', though was about a commonplace experiences, the story has been depicted with sensitivity and discipline which is a rarity among contemporary Sri Lankan writers in English.

'Ruth was an only child. Lonely, she overcame solitude, daydreaming of siblings and good times they'd share. Transparent were her white lies, ending unfinished games with children of the neighbourhood in unvarying pretext. She would look at her watch, re-tie her shoelaces, arrange her plaits on either side of her face, shake creases from her skirt, and announce: "Got to go feed my baby brother, and check my little sister's.

The start of the story is, perhaps, most effective and suited to the plot of the story and the ending is dramatic. One of the significant aspects of writing is that the sharp eye for details yet told in unambiguous terms, sparingly using metaphors and idioms. However, there are expressions such as 'Ruth was an only child' instead of Ruth was the only child which betrays the influence of language other than English on the writer. Most of the stories in the anthology are narrated from a third person narrative style or from the perspective of an unseen person. It should be stated here that this technique which the author employs, has been successful on most of the occasions. In 'The bride wore black', the story is told by daydreaming Ruth which gives a sense whether the account of Aunt Cornelia's wedding is part of Ruth's dreaming or something which Ruth dreamed and happened in reality.

'Attitude' is, perhaps, one of the most effective short stories which highlights on some of the erroneous prototype attitudes and perceptions on a section of the population through incident of child loss in a supermarket. Although the incident is simple, the author has effectively brought out attitudes of diverse personalities representing gamut of socio- cultural traits.

'An angry woman came running as if from nowhere. Put her down this instance, before I call the cops... Sorry I mistook.. I know your type. Weirdo! Stealing other people's children. Although it is a mistake, the child's mother, refuses to believe grieving mother of the child who is lost among the crowd.

'It began all with the birds' is a story which deals with belated diagnoses of an strange disease which causes an untimely death. This is one of the instances where the author has effectively used third person narrative. The prolonged illness of Carol, who is the lead character of the story and is an ardent bird lover, has been depicted in realistic manner.

'A Quirk of Fate' is a story of an entrepreneur woman whose life was completely changed following an accident. What is important in the story is not the plot but the way the author arrives at it; the author has in fact, described not only the idyllic beauty in the village of Deiyyandara but also common traits that the village community shares with the rest of the country.

Within such close-knit community, relationships fostered, each referring to other as aachchi or seeya, nanda or maama, akka or nangi, aiyya or malli; reserving amma and thaatha for their biological parents. Involvement in one another's affairs was accepted. In this unsophisticated setting of home-births, funerals in family burial-grounds, unrecorded births and deaths, romantic liaisons replaced matrimony. Infidelity was alien; caste consciousness zero- percent.

Administrators representing authorities arrived infrequently and unannounced; to regularise de facto relationships by mass marriages, register births and deaths, conduct census; compile statistics. Inhabitants of Deiyyandara were no different in attitude to the rest of Sri Lanka, believing women lived in the shadow of men, confined to home, childbearing, child-rearing, tending aged relatives, bullied by in-laws. Having the world's first democratically elected woman Prime Minister altered this notion somewhat.

Here the author insightfully, portrays the cultural landscape, perceptions and attitudes in general on the part of the community and on women in particular. Women's role, albeit changed according to class and social status, has, by and large, confined to childbearing, childrearing and being in the shadow of men.

'Black Friday' is a story about an incident occurred during the riots in Colombo. Here the author has successful in vividly realising the mob violence of the day which resulted in the death innocents at the hands of the lunatics.

Although the author was able to recreate the atmosphere of the day, the last couple of sentences sound statements rather than part of the story. However, what the author expressed at the end of story has already been eloquently expressed in the story albeit through an incident.

The stories such as 'Wedding Gust', It happened in the Swinging 60's, 'Opportunity only knocks Once', 'A Friend in need', 'The gift', 'Signed', 'Sealed and Delivered', 'The visit' and 'Friendship, Flowers and a Funeral' explore diverse aspects of life. The author has gone beyond storytelling and is marked for her sharp insights into life of different segments of population. At times, the author's thorough grasp of rural reality in Sri Lanka is amazing.

In terms of language and use of metaphor, the author has cut an edge over the other writers in English. Her language is matter-of-fact with sparingly laced out metaphors and idioms from Sinhala. The book is published by Bay Owl publishers and is dedicated to the memory of TOFFEE (Female Lhasa Apso).

Opening new vistas for future scholars

Reviewed by C. A. Lenin DIVAKARA

Jananathapuram was the ancient name of present day Polonnaruwa as mentioned in chronicles and inscriptions. King Wijyabahu who defeated the Chola invaders was able to bring the whole island under one rule, similar to modern day unitary states. The Polonnaruwa era which lasted nearly two centuries, declined due to alien invasions but the marvels of economic development mainly engineering feats like giant reservoirs continue to irrigate the land of Rajarata and aesthetic masterpieces like sculptures at Galviharaya and Dagabos still foster spiritual values in the minds of people. But later, the jungle tide swallowed up the ancient kingdom (so colourfully described by John Still) depriving the nation of its material and spiritual wealth.

“Pulathisi Wamsaya” by Nihal P. Jayatunga

Polonnaruwa succeeds Anuradhapura as the capital of Sri Lanka in the 11th century and continued to be so for nearly two centuries. Under the reign of Kings Parakramabahu I, and Wijayabahu, Polonnaruwa Kingdom was noted for glorious achievements in the economy and culture, the economy having been stabilized with marvellous seats of engineering in the sphere of irrigation. Cultural development was prominent in the fields of arts, crafts and literature. The Sinhala literature attained tremendous heights and the art of sculpture developed as a fine art, ancient Sinhala sculpture having created masterpieces, most famous being the images of the Most Enlightened One and his disciples masterfully carved in stone.

The sculptor's genius in capturing the serenity of the great Teacher speaks volumes of their spiritual heights that blended with their superb craftsmanship parallel to the refined artistry of sculpture and paintings. The era of Polonnaruwa marked a turning point in the history of Sri Lanka, for the first time, the impact of Indian culture was deeply felt. It is debatable whether such impact led to an enrichment, a positive contribution to the indigenous culture.

The Sinhala chronicles which are considered unique in the world literature were written by erudite monk scholars whose unrivalled mastery of Sinhala. Pali, Sanskrit and Tamil helped them to delve deep into the past and compile information related to race, religion and statecraft. The monk scholars had their favourite monarchs and of course whom they detested. So, most chronicles are biased and mirrored the authors' prejudices. Nevertheless, these chronicles contained valuable information. Historians strongly recommend them as valuable sources. It is left to the discriminating reader to analyse them.

No chronicle has ever been written containing detailed information on history, geography and culture of the era of Polonnaruwa.

Thanks to the compilation of the "Pulathisi Wamsaya" the long felt need has been fulfilled. The untiring efforts of the editor, Nihal P. Jayathunga, the Media Consultant to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and National Heritage who undertook the task of compiling "Pulathisi Wamsaya" deserves public commendation.

Incidentally, the publication of "Pulathisi Wamsaya" was apparently the only project of the National Literary Arts Festival that won acclaim of the public and critics.

Significant role

Looking back at the history of Sinhala literature, chronicles played a significant role in disseminating information on political events, social system and cultural development of a historical period related to a Kingdom. As such, Poojawaliya, Daladasiritha, Thupawamsaya, Chula Wamsaya, Bodhi Wamsaya, and Attanagalu Wamsaya were written by erudite monk scholars of repute depicting the significance of the events in the political and social context. The most famous of the chronicles is "Maha Wamsaya" which is the most comprehensive source of the history of Sri Lanka.

These valuable contributions to the history of a nation and a country are rare in the world literature and are infact creditable achievements. They are an ample testimony to the erudition and dedication of the authors of yore.

Besides, the value of Sinhala chronicles as historical sources, they are unique as literary masterpieces as well. The sensitivity, sincerity and the artistry of the author are depicted in the chronicles. Moreover, the inner world of the personality of the author too is depicted in these chronicles. In contrast the modern chronicle, "Pulathisi Wamsaya" is a joint effort of a group of eminent scholars, specialized in each field of human activity and aspect of history. Unlike the ancient Sinhala chronicles, "Pulathisi Wamsaya" has the stamp of authority in that the contributors have earned recognition in their respective fields, sociology, archaeology, arts and crafts, literature, geography, folklore and sculpture. So the literary or artistic style of an individual author is not present in the modern chronicle but to compensate amply, the eager reader would have the opportunity to form his opinion on Polonnaruwa, its heyday, its decline and its contemporary state through well-balanced, scientific, authoritative, analytical, highly descriptive articles contained in "Pulathisi Wamsaya". In this sense, "Pulathisi Masaya", rivals only "Matara Wamsaya", also a publication of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and National Heritage, compiled by the same editor and published to mark the National Literary Arts Festival held in Matara last year. The flag of Thamankaduwa Disawani with the unusual design adorns the volume, meaningfully depicting the historic significance of the era of Polonnaruwa. The messages of the President, Prime Minister, the Minister of Cultural Affairs and National Heritage and the Minister of Agricultural Services and the Minister of Agricultural Development and Agrarian Services and the Secretary to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and National Heritage and the preface by the editor are immensely readable and informative and enlightening too. A glance at the contents reveals the wide variety of areas covered by articles contributed by the experts in the respective fields. The galaxy of academics who contributed articles shed ample light on the unexplored areas of the history of Polonnaruwa through their research.

Illustrations, photographs, charts, tables and diagrams elucidate the information and the comprehensive bibliography and footnotes help the reader to seek valuable sources to gather knowledge.

Besides the value as a source of information on the history and the literature of the Polonnaruwa era, several articles in the volume provide information on the natural wealth of the district, its wild life forests, national parks, eco system, bio-diversity etc.

New dimension

Pulathisi Wamsaya adds a new dimension to the art of compiling chronicles in that it covers the ancient medieval, colonial and post-colonial periods and also the geography in its all aspects. The chapters on the colonial and the post-colonial periods are enriched with information on colonization of the Polonnaruwa district which brought about catalystic economic social and cultural changes. The articles on the history in the "Pulathisi Wamsaya' analyse the achievements of the monarchs, Wijayabahu and Parakramabahu and assess their achievement without bias. They also analyse the causes for the decline of the Polonnaruwa Kingdom and the impact of the Indian invasion.

The contribution of the monarchs to the development of agriculture through the construction of giant irrigation works are highlighted. It is historically significant that even during the Anuradhapura era, Polonnaruwa had played a vital role in agriculture which indirectly strengthened the Anuradhapura kingdom by sustaining it with essential food supplies. However, the decline of the Anuradhapura kingdom paved the way for the emergence of the kingdom in neighbouring Polonnaruwa.

The compilation of the chronicles like Matara Wamsaya and Pulathisi Wamsaya is assessed as a part of the Sri Lankan cultural heritage. They will enlighten the common man's vision of the past which in turn will help him to understand the complexities of the present and equip him to face the challenges of the future. In this sense, Pulathisi Wamsaya and Matara Wamsaya are invaluable guides specially to the younger generation, the majority of whom, I believe, are not adequately knowledgeable in history. An understanding of world history and of one's motherland is a vital factor that broadens one's world outlook and deepens understanding of the humanity, in general and nation in particular. In this context the enrichment of cultural life of individuals in a community, in turn reinforces its sense of identity, that is, national identity which goes a long way in the task of nation-building. Because of this value of the publications of this nature, as promoters of national identity I strongly recommend that they should be introduced to libraries in every school. May I suggest that the educationists and educational authorities should take meaningful steps to make use of the new chronicles as a supplementary reading for students and instruct teachers to use them in instilling a sense of it in the pupils so that they may contribute to national resurgence as patriotic citizens with positive approach to life.

Pulathisi Wamsaya possesses an added value with several articles based on academic research and archaeological information gathered from recent excavations made in places such as Thopawewa Irrigation System. Nagalakanda, Buduruwayaya, Dimbulagala and Somawathie Chethiya which had revealed a period that had existed before the Polonnaruwa era. However, scholars may wonder why Thopawewa and Buduruwayaya have been given more prominence than the Galviharaya and Rankoth Viharaya.

I believe that the objective of the editor may be to make the reader aware of startling revelations made in recent excavations and the latest research should be made available for scholars to pursue their studies and arouse the interest of the present and future generations. In fact, the main objective of the compilation of the Pulathisi Wamsaya is to open new vistas for future scholars. However, every effort has been made to present Pulathisi Wamsaya in a lucid style to sustain the interest of the lay reader.

"Pulathisi Wamsaya" is a step forward towards the realization of the concepts related to national heritage as provided in for `Mahinda Chintanaya'. As such the author Nihal P. Jayatunga deserves commendation for his excellent work.