Browsing by Author "Dissanayake, G.R."

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    Documenting cultural values of a Sri Lankan Minority of Indian Origin: A Pilot Study of the Bharatha Community
    (University of Kelaniya, 2015) Dissanayake, G.R.
    The Bharatha community, also known as the “parava”, is one of the 23 ethnic minority ethnic groups in the country, believed to have arrived in Sri Lanka from the 12th to the 16th centuries with skills in pearl fishery. This pilot study attempts to document their cultural characteristics and specific modes of communication within the community. The aim of the study is to record their cultural identity, with special focus on how the community was able to preserve their own cultural identity in the last 30 years as speakers of Tamil, and how other communities are able to identify the unique features of the Bharatha community. Several hurdles in the research area and the research methods were faced by this researcher in the process of conducting the pilot study, which will be presented for discussion. These hurdles include the unsuitability of questionnaires and open interviews to elicit complex data, the heterogeneity of the community that prevented the identification of general views on ethnicity among the community, as well as their assimilation into the Tamil Christian community. The presentation will demonstrate how these difficulties were overcome through participatory methods. As a minority group that has hitherto been ignored in research, this study presents for the first time an insight into the community through an innovative use of participatory research methods.
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    Temple on pillars: A study of the Tämpita Vihāras in the Kurunegala District
    (University of Kelaniya, 2015) Dissanayake, G.R.
    The structures built on a wooden platform resting on short granite pillars or stumpsis a unique type of image houses from the 17th to 19th centuries. Among the Tämpita Vihāras focused on in this project some have also been used for other purposes. They also are repositories of art. At the Tämpita Vihāras statues, murals and decorative motives from the pre-Kandyan and Kandyan period of art can be studied. As some temples are in a bad state of preservation, this project aims to document the work of architects and craftsmen of Tämpita Vihāras. While such viharas can be found in the Gampaha, Kandy and Matale districts, the majority are located in the Kurunegala District. For the initial documentation and analysis, the following sample of TämpitaVihāras located in Inguruwatta, Kaluhenadiwala, Kolambagama, Kōduruwapola, Nakkāwatta, Dambaneniya, Galgamuwa, Dätawa, Dīkikäwa, Dorabāwila, Panduwasnuwara, Bihilpola, Kaṇugala and in Dambadeniya have been selected. The study of each vihara focuses on the period it was constructed with an attempt to create a periodisation of the TämpitaVihāras and its evolution. The study will also include the basic characteristics as well as the special features of these structures, the uniqueness of their roof construction, the construction of the ambulatory, and their paintings, wood carvings and statues. Still photography and video documentation will be presented, while data will also consist of interviews conducted in situ. The study hopes to offer new insights into the discourse communities that constructed and used theTämpitaVihāras.
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    Transition of modes of transportation from pre-modern to modernized Ceylon; Representations in Murals of the Buddhist Image Houses of the Upcountry Kandyan and Low Country Maritime Regions
    (The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) de Zoysa, A.; Dissanayake, G.R.
    Modernized Ceylon under Dutch and British occupation marks paradigm shifts of transportation in three phases: Elephant-Horse-Palanquin- Sailing Ships through Bullock Cart- Horse Drawn Carriage to Train-Automobile -Steam Ship revolutionizing communication and transport systems locally and internationally. This presentation will sketch the methodology to gather information from main scenes of Buddhist narratives: The speedy delivery of the new born Prince Sidhartha Gutama from Lumbini to Kapilavastu, the journey out of the palace to view the “Four precursors to Renunciation of Worldly Pleasures” (Satara Peta Nimithi) and King Vessanatara’s Deparure to Vangagiriya. These three scenes will be compared in the Upcountry and Low Country traditions. With the help of photographs of the mid 19th century, we shall identify some of these modes of transport, which are also on display at the Martin Wickramasigha Museum in Koggala. The next section of the presentation will view development of Scenes from Srilankan History as seen in the paintings of Solias Mendis in the Kelaniya Rajamahaviharaya and the lithographs of the Buddha Caritaya by M. Sarlis and his school of painters demonstrating the historicizing modes of transport, questioning why the automobile did not enter to the repertoire of modes of transport in the temple murals.
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