Sights of Mahiyangana, Sri Lanka.

Please click on the web-link below:-

https://www.facebook.com/philip.veerasingam/posts/2653451578000446

 

The battle of Randeniya – 1630 August

While serving in Koslanda as the District Medical Officer in the year 1966 to 1967, I was in the habit of seeking out and visiting historic sights. Wellawaya  was an un-policed  area in the early 1950s but there was a police station in 1966. Mr. Werapitiya who retired as Deputy Inspector General of Police recalled in his later years, how he had to go from his post at Haputhalle as Inspector of Police and Officer in Charge, to conduct a murder inquiry  at Wellawaya.

          I had heard about a historic battle at a place called Randeniya, a few miles into a jungle track from Wellawaya  town, where a Portuguese army had been routed and its commander Constantine De Saa killed.

The expedition to Uva was made in 1630 by Constantine de Sa de Noronha, Captain-General of Ceylon

‘Constantine de Saa, the governor, stimulated by the reproaches of the viceroy at Goa, at this state of affairs, who inquired whether De Saa was playing  merchant or soldier, imprudently marched into the Oovah country with all the troops he could collect, 1,800 Portuguese and 9,000 low country Sinhalese’. After invading Badulla and burning the town he had withdrawn to go most probably to Balangoda where a detachment of Portuguese soldiers were present. Quite a few of the Sinhalese lascarins under his command deserted on a fiercely rainy day, while camped near a river, the waters of which were rapidly rising.

‘Kxox says that Constantine de Saa, rather than fall by the enemy, " called his black boy to give him water to drink, and snatching the knife from his side, stabbed himself."

Thus ended the life of Constantine de Saa, who was venerated by his compatriots. The Sinhalese poet of that time, Alagiyavanna Mukaveti,  composed the poem ‘Kustatinu Hatana’, celebrating the life of de Saa.

It is related that Prince Rajasinghe – later to become King Rajasinghe II - who was commanding the Kandyan forces, was bathing in a brook nearby, when they brought the severed head of de Saa to him. The head was placed in a drum and taken to the capital Kandy to be shown to Prince Rajasinghe's father, King Senarath. The King is supposed to have addressed, the severed head and said ‘How many times have I told you not to harass my Kingdom?’

In 1966 the tracing for the proposed highway from Ella to Wellawaya was being done. A young engineer called Mr. Wijedoru was in charge. He told me that the tracing had to go close to the Ravanella falls, on the instructions of the Minister in charge of the Public Works Department, at that time..

Farm produce was brought by ‘Pack Bulls’ from the hills in the 1960s, to the ‘Pola’ in Wellawaya.

Now there is an ill tended memorial of the site of battle at Randeniya, bordering the highway from Wellawaya to Ella. Well-tended paddy fields surround the area of the historic battle.

Click on the web-page below to get more details :-
 http://www.island.lk/2004/09/01/midweek3.html

Nearer my God to Thee, Titanic, Naeva gillath ban chune',

This sinking of the luxury liner 'Titanic' in 1912 was published full page, in the newspapers of Ceylon of that time. Even when the ship was sinking the ship's band was playing. This was the origin of the Sinhalese saying – “Nava gillath ban chune”. This phrase in Sinhalese, can be used to refer to a situation, where there was a celebration going on when disaster was in the making. It can also mean a dedication to carry on one’s duty in the face of disaster.

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912 after the ship struck an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it one of modern history's deadliest peacetime commercial marine disasters. RMS Titanic was the largest ship afloat at the time she entered service and was the second of three Olympic-class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line. She was built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Thomas Andrews, chief naval architect of the shipyard at the time, died in the disaster.(Wikipedia)

Wallace Henry Hartley (2 June 1878 – 15 April 1912) was an English violinist and bandleader on the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage. He became famous for leading the eight member band as the ship sank on 15 April 1912. He died in the sinking. After the Titanic hit an iceberg and began to sink, Hartley and his fellow band members started playing music to help keep the passengers calm as the crew loaded the lifeboats. Many of the survivors said that he and the band continued to play until the very end. None of the band members survived the sinking, and the story of them playing to the end became a popular legend.

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Wallace Henry Hartley (2 June 1878 – 15 April 1912) was an English violinist and bandleader on the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage. He became famous for leading the eight member band as the ship sank on 15 April 1912. He died in the sinking. After the Titanic hit an iceberg and began to sink, Hartley and his fellow band members started playing music to help keep the passengers calm as the crew loaded the lifeboats. Many of the survivors said that he and the band continued to play until the very end. None of the band members survived the sinking, and the story of them playing to the end became a popular legend. One survivor who clambered aboard 'Collapsible A' claimed to have seen Hartley and his band standing on the boat deck, near the entrance to the grand staircase, near the base of the second funnel. He went on to say that he saw three of them washed off while the other five held on to the railing on top the Grand Staircase's deckhouse, only to be dragged down with the bow, as Hartley exclaimed, "Gentlemen, I bid you farewell!" A newspaper at the time reported "the part played by the orchestra on board the Titanic in her last dreadful moments will rank among the noblest in the annals of heroism at sea." Though the final song played by the band is unknown, "Nearer, My God, to Thee" has gained popular acceptance. Former bandmates claimed that Hartley had said he would play either "Nearer, My God, to Thee" or "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" if he were ever on a sinking ship, but Walter Lord's book A Night to Remember (1955) popularised wireless officer Harold Bride's account of hearing the song "Autumn". If it were "Nearer, My God, to Thee", it is uncertain which version Hartley used. His father used the "Propior Deo" version, by Arthur Sullivan, at church, and his family were certain that he would have used that version,[4] It is this tune's opening notes that appear on Hartley's memorial[5] and that were played at his funeral.[4] After the sinking Edit Hartley's body was recovered by the Mackay–Bennett almost two weeks after the sinking. Several press reports confirmed that Wallace was found "fully dressed with his music case strapped to his body".[6] He was transferred to the Arabic and returned to England. Hartley's father Albion met the ship at Liverpool and brought his son's body back to his home town of Colne, Lancashire. The funeral took place on 18 May 1912. One thousand people attended Hartley's funeral, while an estimated 30,000 - 40,000 lined the route of his funeral procession.[3] Hartley is buried in the Keighley Road cemetery, Colne, where a 10 feet (3.0 m) high headstone, containing a carved violin at its base, was erected in his honour. A memorial to Hartley, topped by his bust, was erected in 1915 outside what was then the town library. The memorial is inscribed: Wallace Hartley Bandmaster of the RMS Titanic who perished in the foundering of that vessel, April 15th 1912. Erected by voluntary contributions to commemorate the heroism of a native of this town. This was later moved slightly to make way for the World War One memorial. Hartley's large Victorian terraced house in West Park Street, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, bears a blue plaque to remind passers-by that this was the bandleader's home.[3] In 2001, Hartley's name was still being used when naming new streets and housing in the town of Colne. In 2008, the pub chain J D Wetherspoon named a newly opened pub, (the building having been the long-standing King's Head Hotel up until the mid-1990s),[7] in Colne after the bandleader.[8]

Please click on the web-link below to see a scene from the film 'Titanic'

https://youtu.be/U41txhi2nfY

Sarah Fuller Flower Adams (or Sally Adams^[1]) (1805 – 1848) was an English poet and hymn writer, who composed the words of the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee", at the request of her Pastor, who was to deliver a sermon, based on the bible text from - Genesis 28:11--12: "So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it..." This is the story of Jacob’s dream.

The hymn sung by a Mennonite Choir:-

Please click on the web-link below, with your speakers on :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwLl5nY5WPI

Queen Dona Catherina of Kandy, Sri Lanka.

Please click on each of the web-links below:-

1. https://www.facebook.com/philip.veerasingam/posts/2615668601778744 

With speakers on
2.  https://www.facebook.com/philip.veerasingam/posts/2615766958435575

 

A visit to the residence of a sect of Buddhist Forest Monks of Sri Lanka.

Please click on the web-link below:-

https://www.facebook.com/philip.veerasingam/posts/2610919168920354

‘Elephant Pass’, Sri Lanka.

‘There is a natural curiosity as to the origin of the name Elephant Pass, and the explanations given are plausible enough. Jaffna is a peninsula joined to the mainland by a long causeway, which at one time was a shallow ford. By this ford herds of wild elephants were in the habit of visiting Jaffna during July and August, the ripening season of the Palmyra fruit. Palmyra palms abound here, and the elephant is particularly fond of the fruit, which grows in luxuriant clusters, each of which is a good ‘cooly load’. If a sufficiency of fruit had not fallen from the mature trees the elephants would pull down the younger plants for the sake of their tender leaves. This is the theory adopted by Tennent, but it is equally reasonable to attribute the name to the use made of this ford by the natives in bringing elephants from the mainland to the fort as tribute to the Portuguese and Dutch, who shipped them to Indian markets. There is no railway station at Elephant Pass, but the train stops for passengers. There is a quaint and picturesque old building at the edge of the lagoon, facing the sea on one side and the lagoon on the other, which was once a Dutch fort. Formerly it was a rest-house in the days before the advent of the railway, but it is now closed to the public and converted to a "circuit bungalow" for the Government Agent of the Northern Province. By the courtesy of that officer it is at times lent for temporary occupation to those who desire a short residence in the vicinity and who are prepared to bring their own equipment, servants and provisions. Duck-shooting and fishing can be indulged in to any extent, and the salubrity of the place is beyond question’.

From - THE CEYLON GOVERNMENT RAILWAY  by H.W. Cave

Memories of long ago

“The gram sellers at Galle Face Green sold their 'kadala gottu' topped with 'isso wade' for twenty-five cents .
The movie goers at Savoy cinema came out; Couples went to Aleric's for ice cream and families miserly budgeted for Chinese fried rice at Golden Gate .
Gunawardena opened batting for the Tamil Union and Sunderalingam kept wickets for the Sinhalese Sports Club .
This was once nostalgic Sri Lanka on easy street sans the raging war and the terrible turmoil; 'The way it used to be' .
The 'Yal Devi' took the Madhu pilgrims and the 'Ruhunu Kumari' carried the Kataragama clan. Marawila fishermen fished at Mullativu with the monsoon change and Lever's and Reckitt's Sales Reps sold toothpaste in Jaffna and drank 'Tal Raa' whilst bathing in the Keeramalai tank .
The Vel cart used to come down Wellawatte and the waiters worked double time at the Sarasvati Lodge .
The differences were there from the North to the South, but who cared ?
Nobody killed anyone. There was a life, simple and in peace .
Bala Tampoe took the CMU out on strike every year and the Parliament changed colours every five years with mythological promises . That was acceptable .
The queues got long at the CWE to buy 'Jumping Fish' and the bread prices leapt like high jumpers. Those were our big problems .
The smiles were there too, affordable to the all and sundry, beat shows and big matches, sports meets and school carnivals, all within a ten-rupee budget .
Fashion-wise, the pinnacle was the CR-Havies Match at Longdon Place; the Suzettes and Claudettes were there, dazzling in mini skirts, making
their best attempts to get partnered to go to the Coconut Grove and jingo and jive to the Jetliners .
Some made it to Akasa Kade too, to eat egg hoppers and hold hands and become more naughty whilst pretending to be watching the ship lights at
the Colombo harbour .
There was peace; it was a long long time ago. That was before the Morris Minor taxis changed their English alphabet number plates .
Then came the carnage. Who's to blame? Don't waste time, that's kicking the moon and corralling clouds .
We all know better. We are all to be blamed, some for cheering and others for their silence. It has always been 'our soldiers' - but it is their war .
The guns are silent now and the talks go on and hope seeps slow like a weed-clogged wave. If the Gods are kind, we'll have peace. Let it lie there .
North and East must be separate 'Don't give this', 'can't have that', 'autonomy? what nonsense?' Such passionate phrases bellow from borrowed patriotism . 'My son has to study', 'No no, not to join the Air Force', 'Army? Are you mad?' The same voices add the contradictions 'We must continue to fight at any cost'. Brave words, quite cheap too when rights and wrongs are just 'whys' sprouting out from empty opinions on even emptier forums .
Try telling all that to mothers who buried their sons or children who pray for their missing fathers .
Voice it to a legless 'Boy' from Velvettiturai or a Sightless soldier from Devundara. Or maybe to a lover who lights a candle for some forgotten fighter buried under swollen earth, too poor even for a memorial.
What does it matter to which side they belonged ?
They paid the price, we didn't. They shed the tears, we didn't .
Let us then wish, nay, that's not enough, let us pray, to all the Gods in creation for 'The way it used to be' to return .
Or ........ let us be all silent ~ we owe that much to those who died nameless”

From an email from an anonymous Nihal, long long ago. The seniors would appreciate the sentiments, expressed with poetic beauty.