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By D. B. Kappagoda
The historic Bodhisatva image at Dambegoda was broken by the vandals into more than 100 pieces. This was the work of treasure hunters. When the image was found, it had fallen on its face and was slightly tilted to its left.
Dambegoda Bodhisatva ImageThe image remained hidden by the thick jungle cover. It was in 1990 that the Department of Archaeology restored it without using any sophisticated equipment. The image itself was carved out of crystalline limestone. The site of the image can be reached from Colombo by travelling roughly a distance of 250 kilometres as it is located on the border of the Yala sanctuary.
After the image was finally restored it stood more than 33 feet high, surrounded by the thickly wooded jungle where wild elephants roam freely. In this virgin forest there are many valuable trees such as black ebony, yellow satin and red tamarind, providing cover for the illicit gem miners to dig the soil in search of precious stones.
In the vicinity there are caves with Brahmi inscriptions cut on their dripledges, dating back to pre-Christian times. Here Buddhist monks lived in keeping with the teachings of this Master. In the past there had been a route linking the two ancient capitals - Anuradhapura in the north and Tissamaharama in the south-east.
The tallest Maligawila Buddha image belonging to the 8th century stands a kilometre from the Dambegoda image. The other Buddhist sites are Dematamal Vihara, Panchavasa with a stupa, Yudaganawa with a stupa, Budarangala with seven colossal Mahayana Buddha images.
Dambegoda and Maligavela belong to one monastery complex with residential units between them. These monasteries were similar to the monasteries of Anuradhapura, with a courtyard surrounded by high walls and containing five residential units.
In the central unit the chief monk resided. It was also used for teaching other monks. The storey above was the library. The few sided and storied dwelling could have accommodated six pupil monks or a total group of 24 monks.
At that time people worshipped Avalokitesvara the most important deity of the Mahayana Buddhists. He was considered as the lord of compassion and the most powerful manifestation of Amitabha, the celestial Buddha, who presides over the present age as the symbol of universal Buddhahood and salvation.
He is the saviour of mankind, looking after the world. The Amitabha image had a crown on its head. It is believed that this saviour through his compassion and grace could cure illnesses. With his powerful knowledge he sees troubles, sorrows and worries of the people and acts as a sorrow of gods and men.
Prof. Senarat Paranavitana believed that king Aggabodhi (607-685 A.D.) built hospitals for the blind and sick. He built a large image house the Patima Vihara, in Kanagama (blind men's village) now identified as Maligavila-Dambegoda.
Therefore the shrine was dedicated to Boddhisatva Avalokitesvara, the heavenly guardian of the sick and infirm. So much so, even today blind people visit the Dambegoda shrine in the middle of the jungle to make their offerings to the image of Avalokitesvara and seek his blessings to get well.
Two manuscripts written in Nepal in the 11th century mention Bodhisatva Avalokitesvara as the lord of hospitals in Sri Lanka. The Kustaraja statue at Weligama, identified as Avalokitesvara displays the magical healing power. In the 9th and 10th centuries Mahayana Buddhism became the most popular form of worship.
It is for this reason the rulers built shrines in the country for Avalokitesvara as the deity who protects the destitute and infirm. This was done to prevent Avalokitesvara taking the place of the Buddha. As a result, the cult of Avalokitesvara as the divine healer was worshipped in a more harmonious and tolerant way.
On the other hand in Cambodia in the early 13th century, this cult shifted from the spiritual cave of the Buddha to the supreme protection of Avalokitesvara. The miniatur Buddha on the crown of the Dambegoda image proves this identification of the Bodhisatva as Avalokitesvara, the lord of compassion and the divine healer in Mahayana Buddhism.
The Bodhisatva image stands erect showing the posture Sambhanga, and reflecting the majestic dignity, the steadfastness, strength and power. His hands are raised in the posture Katakahasta, a symbolic pose of holding a flower which suggests benevolence.
The hand thus displayed indicates the presence of the red lotus as his main attribute for purification and spiritual awakening. The use of the double Katakahasta may be a development of the images of Avalokitesvara and this is rare among the images of Avalokitesvara.
The Bodhisatva image at Dambegoda has a rich attire with many ornaments. There is a long Yajnopavita, the sacred thread indicating his high social status. The elaborate crown and the full set of armaments underline the Bodhisatva's regal and divine nature. The ascetic and priest-like traits form another facet of his personality; and this has been reduced to a display of stylized hairlocks barely visible among the ornaments. The Kustaraja statue at Weligama and a few bronzes found in Tiriyaya depict Avalokitesvara in such a regal manner.
In his depiction as a deity this is unusual. In most of the images he is sculpted as wearing a simple and priest-like attire. The Dambegoda Bodhisatva image belonged to 9th or 10th centuries. This was the time when the cult of Avalokitesvara in Sri Lanka reached the peak of its popularity. The images at Buduruvegala, Weligama, and Tiriyaya belong to the same period as Dambegoda images. But the Dambegoda Avalokitesvara image surpasses all other images not merely by its size but in other features like finely-conceived proportions, majestic pose and the remarkable sublime facial expressions that make the Dambegoda image aesthetically superior to the others.
The image reflects the talent of the ancient stone carvers of Sri Lanka. The image was modelled to give it a rounded form. It is the most impressive figure of Bodhisatva Avalokitesvara image identified, depicting religious and spiritual aspects showing the skill of our sculptors in the past.
Source: (The 'story of the Logo' taken from ICOMOS information 1990).
By Joe Segera
The might and power of a private sector monopoly has paved the way for underworld kasippu dealers to sound the death knell of arrack from which the state makes millions to fill its depleted coffers. In the not too distant past, it was the Gazette that increased the price of arrack following increases announced in the national budget, now the day has sadly come when one of richest firms in the private sector, calling itself the Distilleries Corporation has arbitrarily jacked up the popular brands of arrack. This firm which is a virtual monopoly making huge profits even after taxation has arbitrarily shot up the prices of its fast selling products. Owned by this country's richest man who is one of our very few billionaires is the old State Distilleries Corporation which a few years ago went the way of the now much-flaunted private sector basking under the sun of the unregulated Open Economy.By calling the Corporation a monopoly, we might stand to correction because there are also a few other private sector firms in the liquor business not excluding the Pelwatte Sugar Corporation, but the fact is that they are lengths behind this giant Corporation which has been built up to its present state by successive governments. This is precisely the reason for its arrogance in just doing what it wants despite government agencies and departments which are meant to oversee the operations of the private sector. In the sphere of liquor there is the Excise Department while there is a Fair Trading Commission without whose permission prices cannot be increased or revised. But as admitted by one of its own officials recently, it is today a commission without any teeth. The powers it once had have vanished following the advent of the open economy and the repeal of the price control laws.
In an society in any country there are so-called do-gooders who like those old Bible preachers shout aloud that drinking and smoking cause dreaded diseases like cancer and that taken even in moderation both are vices that should be treated like crimes and banned. Mention should not even be made of them in newspaper advertisements or Television lest they corrupt the young. There are also those holier than thou members of 'Alcoholics anonymous', among whom are some hardened old drinkers whose livers have packed up and just cannot take any more and others with international connections whose rantings against arrack and liquor win them occasional trips to foreign climes.
On the subject of arrack about whose evils they blandly talk about loud and hoarse especially when budget day approaches, is that they are strangely silent about the menace of kasippu and illicit liquor manufactured and distilled under the most unhygienic conditions using raw materials such as battery acid, stale plantains and even certain acids and chemicals which not only damage the liver, but cause slow death and blindness. This is a thriving tax-free industry which poor people, especially workers are forced to patronise because of the sky-rocketing prices of licensed arrack. The irony of all this is that by raising the duty on arrack by the state and now by an established private sector manufacturer they are driving and encouraging liquor drinkers to take to kasippu.
The kasippu trade has reached such heights that the kasippu mudalali these days is fast becoming an influential figure in the village. He is so powerful that he is much sought - after by politicians when elections come around. There are of course raids by the Police on kasippu dens, but these raids have become a big joke.
The mudalalis pay the fines or even get some of their henchmen to serve prison sentences for a consideration. In any case the 'distilleries' that are raided are those of the small operators. These Police raids remain us of those raids on illicit horse racing joints in the old days where the frontline operators and the big men were 'not touched'. Talking about kasippu, we might be faulted for not mentioning the Stuff distilled from coconut today which is available in the Negombo-Kachchikade, Wennappuwa and Dankotuwa areas. Called 'Dankotuwa Special' it is better tastier and even cleaner than the arrack produced by our licensed distilleries. This variety of arrack is a virtual cottage industry. It is time the state took a decision in giving some legal semblance to this industry. It could be argued that if the government recognises horse racing and bookies, not to mention the casinos, it could also stretch its legal arm on this cottage industry which produces 'Dankotuwa Special'.
Many an MP from the Negombo and Chilaw district, it is known, are in favour of the government to taking a closer look on this illicit cottage industry in their areas and taking a decision to regularise it. Some years ago a junior minister in a previous SLFP government from Wennappuwa proposed its legalisation at a government group meeting, but no decision was taken for fear if the anti-liquor lobby in the spiritual and temporal sector. Even in the present Parliament some senior MPs from the Negombo and Chilaw districts are known to be in favour legalising the business.
If only we could bring a smile
To light up the face
Of an orphaned child
This Christmas tide
And share the bounty
God has given
We'd be the tail star
Up in heaven.
Shedding light
shining bright.
If we could reach out this day
To the poor, the forsaken, the waif.
To whom Christmas quite rightly belongs
For Christ was born
In a stable forlorn
What a gift to the Christ child
That would be
'Whatever you do
To the least of my brothers
That you do unto me'
If we could bring a sparkle
To those eyes
Now dull with age
Eking the last years of their lives
In a Home for the Aged.
Rejected by their loved ones
Now that their duty's done.
'Twould be a gift of love
To the Christ child born
On Christmas morn
If we could place ourselves this day
In a desolate refugee camp
Experience the bitterness of their stay
Understand their sorrow's stamp
If we could contribute our mite
To end
The bitter strife
The Christ child's message
Of goodwill
Will echo still.
- By Jeannette Cabraal
It is said
In warfare modern
There will be
No victor or vanquished
But only death and destruction.
It is unfortunate
Political parties of Mother Lanka
Are still at loggerheads
In arriving at a common consensus
To end the senseless war in our country.
It is time
Our politicians rose
Above party politics, power and prestige
And arrived at a common consensus
With the backing of the people
And invited the LTTE to the negotiating table.
It is time
Every one of us
Accepted Sri Lanka-a tiny island
As a multi-ethnic, multi-religious
And a multi-lingual country.
- By M. Nazim,
Badulla.
When an Archbishop banned the finest passion play
by Joe Segera
Now that there is a sudden interest in the Catholic church's passion plays, evinced by the Cultural Affairs Ministry and the Tower Hall Foundation, it is meet to hark back to the days when the country's most famous passion play the Boralessa Passion Play was banned by the Archbishop of Colombo.The exalted personage who did it was Sri Lanka's last non-Sri Lankan Archbishop of Colombo, the Most Reverend Dr. J. M. Masson, a Frenchman. It happened in an era long before the Second Vatican Council when the church was upholding the most conservative of traditions with dimming shades of its notorious Inquisition. To be precise Archbishop Masson imposed the ban on this drama of the passion in the year 1939, the year when Germany declared war on Britain and her allies. The reason given by His Grace for banning the play was that its Director, Mr. K. Lawrence Perera had for the first time given acting roles for women.
The origin of the Boralessa Passion Play could be traced to the year 1912 when K. Lawrence Perera, a gifted dramatist in the tradition of John de Silva and Charles Dias, set out to produce a passion play on the lines of the world famous Passion Play at Oberammergau in the German Province of Bavaria. Lawrence Perera did not go to Bavaria, but he obtained the text of the Oberammergau masterpiece from its organisers and went about the task of writing a script based on it in Sinhala. The Sridhara Passion Play as it was known was first performed at Boralessa, in the year 1923. Boralessa a small village in the Wennappuwa area supplied the entire cast of the play which included carters, sawyers, masons, carpenters, cultivators and others. The roles of women were played by men.
In his monumental work, 'The Folk Drama Of Ceylon', Dr. Ediriweera Sarachchandra, our foremost authority on drama and the arts devotes a whole chapter to the Boralessa Drama.
In the course of this chapter, Dr. Sarachchandra says, ' The Boralessa Passion Play was very popular in the course of a few years, and people flocked to see it from distant parts of the Island. Audiences were carried to the spot by special trains. Encouraged by the warm reception given to his play, Lawrence Perera went on improving it every year with new stage devices. In 1939 he caused a sensation by announcing that the female roles will be played by women. By this he hoped to remove what he considered to be the only defect in his play, since the Oberammergau and Nancy plays as well as several passion plays in India had women in the cast. Hence he introduced four amateur actresses, trained from among the village folk, to play the female roles'.
About the banning of the Boralessa Play, Dr. Sarachchandra makes this observation, 'It appears however, that Lawrence Perera had not obtained the previous sanction of the Church before he did this and the Church disapproved of the innovation on the ground that it was contrary to the traditions of the people of this country'.
In those days when the Catholic Church's ruling were seldom questioned by laymen, Lawrence Perera who had spent a fortune on his play after sweating it out day and night, did not accept Archbishop Masson's ruling lying down.
And this is how Dr. Sarachchandra reports it in his book, 'Lawrence Perera pointed out that women were already taking part in the passion play at Duwa, and that in 1936, a woman had played the part of Veronica. However the Church believed that the introduction of women should tend to detract from the spirit of poverty and devotion with which a passion play should be staged. Hence the play was banned the same year by order of the Archbishop of Colombo.'
What is also interesting about the Boralessa Passion Play is that there was also a Roman Catholic Priest who played a major part behind the scenes. He was Rev. Father A. Yenveux, a Frenchman like Archbishop Masson who looked after most of the musical aspect of the Play. It was he who did the harmonisation.
And after the ban was imposed Lawrence Perera, the born dramatist made his way to the Tower Hall which was the centre and very fountain of Sinhala Drama during that period and tried his hand on producing secular plays. With his team known as the Sreedhara Players he produced a few Sinhala plays the best known of which, according to old-timers was 'Blind Love'.
By Malcolm Abayekoon
reviewed by Sharm de AlwisThe splendour of halcyon Ceylon before she became Sri Lanka is evocatively captured by Malcolm Abayekoon in his nostalgic trace of the footprints of time and events.
His flash-bulb memory is remarkable for accuracy of even the minutest details and he gets the reader skimming over the page with his rare sense of devastating humour. Bob Hope's 'Not much glory and no hope' on old Brit is matched by his own special wit and wry comments of a Nation after it took the wrong turn and sold its soul £or a fistful of tourist dollars. To use his own words, he is 'not economical with truth.'
He recalls fans in homesteads like his own of a bygone era, 'ancient enough to have come off Noah's Ark,' a treasured stove that 'should have gone down with the Titanic.'
We are reminded of lost breeds: of the Chinese textile pedlars 'who had huge bundles wrapped in khaki cloth, strapped to the pillion of their cycles,' of dhobies who were an essential part of domestic life before washing machines edged them out, of toilet coolies 'who came around with what were called six bucket carts into which human waste was tipped É their women were semi-topless and some had what it takes to make the centre page of girlie magazines.'
Only Turret Road had traffic lights. The canal banks had been things of beauty and the Beira Lake fit for gondolas.
Beggars had not all been Ceylonese during World War II. 'European women, dressed from head to heel in black had come begging, accompanied by scruffy children. They were apparently from Armenia.'
There is the pithy record of an episode when the Brits were lording over the country and we, the boomiputhras, were second class citizens. A motor vehicle collision on a narrow estate road had the pompous and cantankerous Brit yelling, 'You are in the middle of my road,' to be replied tersely, 'And you are in the middle of my country!' Not every Ceylonese cowered before tongue-wielding Brits.
The estate labourers in those palmy days were paid in coins for the fat cats in Britain to get the big pay-off. The ex-serviceman, down in the pits of life and wished to sell his war medals and was offered a pittance: 'My bloody life was only worth twenty five bucks.' Mihlar and Chandra Wijeratne had been too clever. They had gone to Britain, 'enlisted in the RAF and got posted to the base at Katunayake where they we paid overseas allowance in their own country.'
The characters who walk the pages could have come off Damon Runyon - Leather Ball, Bum Boat Harry, Gas Lamp, Whistling Guts, Jumping, Fowl Rogue Silva and many others. One had been a gate crasher at weddings and even at Queen's House parties! The virile masculines are portrayed by Eggie Tucker who could sing cowboy songs better than Conway Twitty, Dougie Roberts and Tough-as-nails Arthur Alvis.
They were equally at home in Bambalapitiya's Green Cabin, Pasgorasa, the Cosmopolitan as well as in Queen's House.
The grand old lady, Galle Face Hotel is written off in the reverence that the Brits had for her. 'Thousands of pukka sahibs had downed their chota pegs, seated on the terrace, being browned by the empire's sun and waited upon by the empire's sons.'
Illustrated profusely with also a picture of the blithe, young Sirimavo Bandaranaike as she was when she first assumed office as the world's first woman Prime Minister, SINHALA-BURGHER is a reader's delight and a collector's item. Available at outlets of Vijitha Yapa and Cargills and with the viewer (910180)
Life and times of Sir James Peiris
By Godwin Witane
Born on 20th, December 1856, son of Telge Martinus Peiris was named James after James de Alwis, outstanding scholar, politician and lawyer, his God Father at his Baptism at an early age, although his parents were practising Buddhists. James attended Grandpass Government School and later Colombo Academy, now known as Royal College. He built up distinctions in learning and in 1877 won a Scholarship to learn in an English University for four years and entered Cambridge University. In 1881 he passed First Class in Law Tripos and was called to the Bar in 1882. He was elected President of the Cambridge Union and in 1883 won the Science Tripos in the First Class. In 1883, he returned to Ceylon and settled down to a successful practice at the Ceylon Bar. In 1889 he married the daughter of Jacob de Mel, a rich businessman and a planter. He became a Law Lecturer and Examiner. He was elected the President of the National Association, a powerful body representative of all communities. He had four children, a daughter being the eldest.In 1984, he began to take part in public affairs and in 1908 he was elected the President of the Low-country Products Association after which he worked for the abolition of the Paddy Tax. In 1898 he became a member of the Colombo Municipal Council representing Slave Island. In 1902 he was the District Judge, Galle. In 1833 the population in Ceylon was a little over a million and in 1906 it was four million with 76496 persons able to read and write English. While the Colony had progressed rapidly in finances and administration, the Legislative Council alone remained stationary. Ceylon had no members directly representative of the people. Peiris advocated the abolition of representation but called for Elected Members as the number of Low Country representation was similar to those who represented each of the other races, including upcountry Sinhalese. Secretary of State for Colonies asked James Peiris to submit a Memorandum on reforms for Ceylon. This Memrandum has now become a historical Document that Dr. G. C. Mendis, historian and lecturer commenting on it spoke of the far-sightedness and wisdom of Mr. Peiris, in the light of history.
It was absurd to suppose that one member can make himself scquainted with the wants of nearly one and a half million of Low country Sinhalese with regard to disbursement of Government Funds equally to all areas. Therefore his request was to enable the people to elect their representatives to have a voice in the Government of their country. He was accessible to the poor throughout his life. No poor man was ever turned away from his office without being given a hearing.
He worked for the abolition of Poll Tx. In 1915 Mr. Peiris initiated an organisation called The Social Services League at Deen's Road, Maradana to serve the less priviledged class, who were steeped in squalor and poverty. In 1915, riots started in certain parts of the country between the Moors and some Sinhalese over a Buddhist procession at Gampola.
The British Officials imagining it to be an uprising against the Government like that which took place in 1848, took severe measures to repress it under Martial Law that they punished and executed many innocent persons such as Edward Henry Pedris, an officer of the Town Guard, son of a wealthy merchant, D. D. Pedris, as Sinhalese alone had been marked out as being guilty of the disturbances. After the withdrawal of Martial Law, a political meeting was held at the Colombo Town Hall with a gathering of nearly six thousand with Mr. James Peiris as Chairman. He asked for a Commission of Inquiry into the actions of the Government during Martial Law. It was at this meeting that Dr. Solomon Fernando collapsed while expressing his condemnation of the atrocities committed during Martial Law. Mr. E. W. Perera, an eminent lawyer left for England in 1916, braving the perils of the Meditterranean and the mines of the Atlantic, carrying with him a petition addressed to the British to inquire into the atrocities, this letter hidden in his shoe. Thereafter James Peiris sailed to England as a delegate in the course of justice for the fellow countrymen, to ask for reforms of the Constitution as a Crown Colony administration was unsuited as it hindered the development and progress of the people. Ceylon National Congress was formed in 1919, when it asked for a Council of fifty Members of which forty were to be territorially selected and the rest nominated. It asked further for an elected Speaker, full control of the Budget and wide franchise.
James Peiris, in his 64th year, enjoyed the confidence of the people of Ceylon, without difference of race and creed. In 1921, James Peiris was returned as a Member from Colombo in the Legislative Council unopposed. He took his seat in the New Legislative Council which consisted eleven Low Country Sinhalese, four Tamils, three Europeans, two Burghers, two Kandyans, one Muslim and one Indian. He objected to the existing Council as the elected representatives were in a distinct minority in it. He wanted that the views of the majority should not be obscured by the combined votes of the Government Officials and Minorities. He indicated that in future, Council would not pass advance votes on matters such as Defence, Law and Order and a number of other subjects which must necessarily be left to the Governor and the Executive. Mr. James Peiris, at a dinner given to him at the G.O.H. before his departure to England, to represent the political disabilities Ceylon was suffering, expressed that longer the British delayed a reasonable manner of Reforms to this Island, the more they are encouraging the extremists in this country, who are becoming more and more powerful. It was at the request of Mr. James Peiris that the Colonial Secretary sanctioned a sum of rupees three million from the surplus balance to found the buildings and equipment necessary for a Ceylon University. Profesor Marks, the first Head of the university College, declared that Jaffna claimed priority in the proposal for a university, with power to grant its own degrees, but James Peiris insisted on to confer all benefits which a University can offer on a nation with their heritage of an ancient culture. Mr. Peiris said that a university was essential and a vital necessity if Ceylon was not to stagnate at the level of a 19th. Century Colony.
He desired a university for its intellectual and moral fronts for the development of all the talents in his people. A New Council was formed in 1924, which included 49 Members and James Peiris was elected the Vice President. So it was 16 years his first Memorial on Reforms, in his 68th Year, that he was elected to preside over the Council of his country. In 1925, Mr. Peiris accepted a Knighthood from the King and it was administered by the Governor, Sir Hugh Clifford. In 1928, Sir James Peiris gave evidence before the Donoughmore Commission. During this year he established a Convalscent Home for children at Mt. lavinia, which was later converted into a Maternity Hospital in charge of the Dehiwala - Mt. Lavinia Urban Council. His son known as Deva Suriya Sena and daughter-in-law, Nelum Devi were exponents of Oriental Art, Music and Song. The father had the pleasure of hearing their performance in Colombo with fine music. In 1929, he celebrated his 40th Wedding Anniversary. He breathed his last at Haputale in his estate on 5th May 1930. His end came in the fullness of time and full of honour, full of dignity, leaving to his countrymen a priceless heritage, the memory of a life nobly spent in the country's service. The people of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, do long remember with gratitude his splendid labours in the course of education and above all they remember with pride, his culture, his scholarship, his high sense of honour and uprightness of life.
Dreams come true when in the pragmatic stage it is backed by knowledge and expertise. The evidence of such a stage lies in the heart of the deserts of Kuwait and in a 50-acre block of land called 'Woodland garden' in Long Island, New York.
In this case the dream was that of a nature loving Kuwaiti multi-millionaire. The expertise was that of a Sri Lankan. They have come together to make what could have stood as a mere dream.
Standing on the Yellow Brick RoadSays those who have experienced the exquisite transformation of barren land into lush gardens: 'It is a pleasant, functional and personal environment.' Of the man who created it they add: 'Vimal Waidyasekera' is proud at being able to fulfil the aspirations of his boss.' In fact Vimal is proud of his achievements. For he has been able to create a lush Eden on the hottest part of the Gulf States where the summer solstice zooms to the 60s and the mercury reads two degrees in winter. That is Kuwait! But the Kuwaiti multi-millionaire's garden is replete with cascading waterfalls, limpid pools, meandering streams that wend their way peacefully through 'thick and bush' vegetation, extending through the 'picturesque lake teeming with colourful Japanese Koi, man made hills, ridges and valleys and a beautiful garden to sit and slumber.'
The placid late - seen from the patio - a qiet change from the dusty desertThis garden extends two and half acres. The multi-millionaire businessman from Kuwait with headquarters in New York who dreamt of a novel edifice to his name employed Vimal when he was working at the Water Resources Board in Colombo. And in Vimal, the businessman found the man who could transform his dreams into reality.
Vimal says his boss wanted him to create the finest garden in the Gulf to cover the arid sands of the desert. The result is the two and half acres of natural beauty set in the heart of Kuwait city.
Vimal apart from being a landscape curator has had a varied life in Sri Lanka. He was a movie actor and was with the celebrated G. D. L. Perera who made Sama. In addition he showed his talent as an actor in Dahasak Sithuwili with Henry Jayasena in the lead. Then again he acted in Romeo Juliet Kathawak. As Manager landscaping in the Water Resources Board, he designed the master plan for the landscaping of the Bandaranaike International Air Port, in Katunayake.
In New York, where he is now, designed and participated in the construction of 'Woodland Garden' for the Drake Corporation in Long Island. Having experienced the latest technology available in the US, Vimal says: 'Our methods of construction is rather obsolete, laborious and time consuming.'
A striking feature in the garden in Kuwait is the naming of the several locations. The 'Yellow Brick Pond' leads a visitor from the patio via the 'sanctuary' to the Banyon Rest under the 'heavy canopy of a focus Bengalansis (Banyon) then climb 'Bida Mountain' cross 'Bida Falls' over a bridge made of mangrove trunks for a panoramic view of 'Bida Lake'. As you descend back to the 'yellow brick road' you turn right towards 'Bida Pass' that takes you on the trek to the 'Lone tusker hill'.
On landscaping Vimal says: 'Understanding the life-style and the way of living of the homeowner is important'. He adds: 'It should create a pleasant, functional and personal environment.'
Needless to say fantasising on what kind of environment you would like to live in is insufficient. One should create the fantasy come true. In Kuwait and New York, Vimal's talent is being sought after for just that.
- Eriq
Selected poems of Gajaman Nona
You want me not, but for your lust
Prostitution is what you are known.
Such wicked behaviour of yours
Blame your mother for giving birth to you.
Having won the poets in the past
Hailing from famed Gajaman family
However much you compose poetry
Never belittle us and get disgraced.By chance if I delay in returning
Do not look at others with delight.
Like water on an Ala kolaya, never get friendly
Remain vigilant according to my advice.Aren't there women in villages you visit?
Delaying there without coming soon.
Oh! Husband, the advice you gave now
I accept and be patient, but not my desires.
Face shines like the moon
Body glitters with different colours.
In love I express my thoughts
Mind becomes tiresome by thinking of you.
With limitless prosperity of EnglandJohn D'Oyly, the powerful disawa of good qualities
I possess not pearls, gems, crops, lands
With the grace of god help me, I worship you.Little gem, little gem with little pot
Drew water and kept it on the well's wall
Hiding behind the tiny pot
It's Uncle Paththayame who fooled me.My father killed by the wicked elephant
He was silenced by his wicked act
Thinking of his closed eyes, I keep awake in grief
Recollecting my father I cry every day.Your unhappiness I shall dispel
Provide you with heavenly joy
Place you in a bed decorated with flowers
Take you away in the midst of people.To call me in the presence of people
Cover behind and to call for your lust
Throw away good qualities and bring ill luck
Away with people like you.
Translated to Sinhala
By D. B. Kappagoda.
