Colombo
May 21, 2022
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Heritage
Kerala’s unrecognized historical connection with Sri Lanka
By P. K. Balachandran
COLOMBO - While Sri Lanka’s connection with the Tamil country in South India is repeatedly mentioned in the island nation’s ancient chronicles, the Mahawamsa and the Deepawamsa, its connection with Kerala, which is…
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The many cults and religions in pre-Buddhist Sri Lanka
By P.K. Balachandran
COLOMBO - Before Sri Lanka became predominantly Buddhist following the conversion of the 3rd Century King Devanampiya Tissa (247 BC-207 BC), the island had an amazing assortment of religious cults, practices and…
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The Bengalis’ pioneering struggle for language rights
By P. K. Balachandran
COLOMBO - UNESCO has set February 21 as the International Mother Language Day to stress the importance of the mother tongue and and multilingualism for achieving Sustainable Development Goals without leaving any…
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Welcoming a New Year at an ancient festival in Pakistan
By Rebecca Conway
RUMBUR, Pakistan — In a remote valley in northern Pakistan, hemmed in by sheer rock walls and high pastures, members of a tiny community gathered.
The Kalash are a group of about 4,000 people who live in the mountains…
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What does history smell like?
By Sophie Haigney
Anxiety sweat. Horsehair. Wet grass and soil after a rain. Sulphuric compounds from gunpowder. Eau de cologne containing rosemary, bergamot and bitter orange. A touch of leather.
This might have been what Napoleon’s…
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Nostalgic for Ibn Battuta’s Sri Lanka
By P. K. Balachandran
When the famous Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta visited Sri Lanka between September and November 1344, the island was fabled for its wealth. It was a hub of international trade in the Indian Ocean, welcoming foreign…
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A historical neglect
By P.K. Balachandran
COLOMBO - When the British ruled Sri Lanka, peasant agriculture, with paddy as the main crop, was systematically destroyed to yield place to plantation-based commercial agriculture monopolized by them. Sri Lankan…
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Demystifying Tipu Sultan in the 21st century
By P. K. Balachandran
COLOMBO - Friday November 20, 2020 was the 270th birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan, South India’s greatest anti-British ruler and military leader who died fighting the British in Srirangapatnam near Mysore in…
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Righting the historical wrong
By P. K. Balachandran
COLOMBO - On Tuesday (13), Reuters reported from Amsterdam that a beautiful ornate cannon, painted in blue and gold, which had been taken away by the Dutch from Kandy in 1765 could be brought back to Sri Lanka, at…
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Berlin museum returns mummified Maori heads to New Zealand
BERLIN - Berlin's ethnological museum has returned two mummified Maori heads to New Zealand, marking the occasion with a ceremony and prayers in the German capital on Monday (12).
The move was "a signal of reconciliation to the societies…
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