International Conference on the Humanities (ICH)
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Item Promoting Cave Tourism in Sri Lanka(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Rathnayake, S.Cave tourism is an environmental based tourism product. It means exploring natural caves and tunnels. It is also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom. Speleology is the scientific study of caves and the cave environment. Cave tourism can be named as a part of sport and adventure tourism. There are many caves in Sri Lanka which have pre-historical and natural values. Pahiyangala, Batadombalena, Belilena, Waulpane, Rawana Ella are some examples. Though there are many caves in Sri Lanka, promoting these caves for tourism is at a very low level. But many countries such as Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia, promote cave tourism for tourist industry. The main objective of this study was to identify the potential for promoting cave tourism in Sri Lanka. Research was based on both primary sources including interviews while secondary sources included web sites, books and those qualitative data were analyzed to arrive at the conclusions. Inclusion of cave tourism for tour packages of travel agencies, developing hotel promotions of caving, government and private sector involvement, raising awareness of heritage managers, developing visitor related facilities and introducing proper management plan are the recommendations for promoting cave tourism in Sri Lanka in future.Item Natural environmental features depicted in Hindi folk songs(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Rubesinghe, T.U.Folk literature, as well as expert literature, is evident in every society. The composition of folk literature is inspired by the first-hand experiences of a villager. The category of folk songs, being significant in folk literature reveals the wishes, aspirations, beliefs, troubles and delights of the villagers. Inspired by the everyday experiences of the villager, the stories and events articulated in the folk songs are often devoid of fictitious, artificial and misleading content. These folk songs and poetry greatly aided the hardworking villager in finding rest at the end of a hard day's work. There are such innumerable folk poems/songs composed within the zone of the Hindi-speaking community. Almost all Hindi folk poems, having the common characteristic of the universal folk literature of referring to the environment and its context, allow the recognition of environment and its characteristics of India. Further, these literary work portrays the consequences and difficulties arising from defying the natural environmental systems, which ultimately conveys the message of the importance of safeguarding the environment. The aim of this research is to elaborate the presence of the natural environment in folk songs/poetry in India, then to describe the experience of the natural environment, thoughts and attitudes related to that, how events in this environment is perceived and applied to their day-to-day lives and ultimately to show the intimate bond that existed between the villager and nature. The methodology of this research includes interviews conducted with experts of folk literature (Local and Indian), analysis of published and multimedia work on the subject.Item Indian culture and environment(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Shirin Qureshi, S.The Indian culture has always been attached to the natural environment. From the ancient times, people were brought up to respect and preserve the trees and plants that provide pure oxygen for human and animals. According to legends and as a part of religious practice people worship the trees and take good care of them as that will benefit the future generations. Some practices have become a part of the day to day life such as maintaining a Basil plant (Tulsi) at home to prevent mosquitoes and throwing Copper coins in the river as Copper is said to preserve the purity of the water and also plant herbs in their own gardens for quick remedies for sicknesses or diseases. These practices are even handed over to the next generation naturally. The Indian culture has always given nature a prominent place as a gratitude for the service it offers free of charge for the existence of all living beings.Item Literature, environment and human rights: Reading the connectivities(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Sigdel, K.One of the commonalities between environmentalism and human rights is that both these ideas have a universal scope. Though we talk of environmental degradation in a particular place, it will certainly be of global concern because people in this earth share the same roof. The public discussion of global environmental problems such as loss of biodiversity and climate change made obvious the need for ecocritical discourse to develop new ways of addressing global interconnectedness which literature and other art forms have been doing since ages . Similarly, human rights literature resonates a kind of activism in writing. Writing then not only remains an artistic aesthetic exercise, but also a way on the part of the writers to realize the social commitment under the power of their literary creation that has a public impact. This is based on the theory of what French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre calls “engaged literature”, that assumes the moral duty of the author to promote change, and that every human has a power to make a social change. Apart from asserting that disciplines like literature, environment and human rights are contributing towards a planetary connectedness through a shared imagination of “safer earth”, from a discussion of selected poems of a few Nepali poets; Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Siddhicharan Shrestha and Mohan Koirala, this paper argues that because of the interest of environmental literature in aesthetic imaginations that deal with particular frames of storytelling, the real life interaction of human beings with the natural world is made possible, and in the longer run, these interactions influence human behaviour and attitudes towards nature at large.Item Approaches to the study of environmental security(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Kothari, R.K.Since the emergence of the nation state system, international security has been understood and practiced with reference to the needs and interests of states. The concept of security however took a different shape during the twentieth century when critical voices were raised for the protection of human beings and the global environment. Thus an alternative approach to security emerged that gave priority to individual and societal dimensions. In the process, the scope of security was broadened and a multi-sectoral approach was suggested to study the same. Environmental sector was one of the primary areas of multi-sectoral approaches. As a result, environmental security became high on the agenda at the national and global levels. By the twentieth century, environmental issues had been on the international agenda for a whole generation of political leaders, governmental officials, scientists and concerned citizens. The major theoretical perspectives for understanding global politics have shed light on international environmental cooperation, even though it is fairly a new area in world politics. In looking at the prospects for environmental cooperation, realism expects cooperation among sovereign states would be very difficult because international agreements reflect interests of the most powerful states strongly. Liberals, in contrast, remain inclined to believe the reality of ecological interdependence. According to them, environmental problems could only be resolved through new and far reaching mechanism of cooperation. The Marxists on the other hand blamed Capitalism as the main factor for environmental degradation. The feminist thinkers drew parallels between male control over nature and men’s control over women as connected. This apart, Green Political Thinkers provide a useful base for Green ideas about international relations. In this backdrop, this paper attempts to study the concept of environmental security through the prisms of various approaches cited above.Item Ancient oriental methods of caring for trees: A study on the methods of Vṛkṣāyurveda described in Agnipurāṇa(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Indrajothi Thero, BaladoraThough human survival depends on various environmental factors, man, being insensitive, abuses environment in various enterprises such as food production by means of deploying environmentally harmful methods focusing on the multitude of harvest. In contrast, vṛkṣāyurveda (ancient medical science for trees) teaches us to achieve the same target in harmony with the environment, which the present paper addresses. This science is, of course, a branch of Indian Āyurveda (the science of life) and has useful references in Agnipurāṇa – one of eighteen Purāṇa texts – where we come across a good account on eco-friendly methods of cultivating. This paper is mainly based on the relevant portion of Agnipuṛāṇa regarding one of the chaotic issues in the modern era, that is, the scarcity of food with no artificial fertilizers and chemicals as they would cause numerous health problems like cancer, blood sugar, and low expectancy of lifespan. This issue is to be resolved by substituting eco-friendly methods in food production and this makes vṛkṣāyurveda to be indispensable in this respect. In the Agnipurāṇa there is a mythical aspect of expounding auspicious and inauspicious results of trees. It further comprises treatments and methods of maintaining tress as they can produce many fruits, many sprouts, and to be grown a healthy plant and so on. By explaining them all this paper provides a detailed analysis of ancient knowledge on trees as to be applicable in modern circumstances leading to a healthy society.Item Buddhist solutions for modern environmental issues(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Kalurachchi, A.Most of the people in the present world have faced many environmental problems due to modernization and face problems due to natural disasters. Although, they have lost a proper place to dwell, human beings are not able to leave the world. Many environmental problems, such as earthquakes, floods, drought, tsunami, and wild-fire, have risen due to the unlimited usage of environment. These issues should be solved as soon as possible and in fact, findings solutions for such problems is a public responsibility. All the disasters have sprung up due to the influence of human activities. In investigating solutions for the above mentioned crises, some specified teachings of the Buddha can be suggested as solutions. According to Buddhist teachings, many positive attitudes and principles on the environment can be pointed out, such as use of natural recourses with responsibility and practice of loving kindness. When we go through the above points, it is possible to change the attitudes of the people to generate more awareness towards environment. Though Buddhism is not going to recommend environmental solutions, it is clear that the basic teachings in Buddhism indirectly stress the way to protect the environment. The intention of this paper is to reveal that predominant elements in Buddhism can be applied to solve the modern environmental issues.Item A Buddhist perspective on the influence of the human mind on climatic changes(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Dhammadassana Thero, KosgamaBuddhism discusses the influence of the human mind and feelings on the climatic changes, especially in two discourses in the sutta pitaka. Aggañña Sutta and Saptasüryodgamana Sutta thus enunciate how the pollution of the environment affects the human mind in similar negative aspects. If someone studies and follows the discourses which reveal those facts, he/she can have a precise idea regarding how the transformation of feelings of the people affects the environment and he/she is made aware as to how the human mind directly influences the environmental pollution. Thus the present research aims to study the climatic changes mainly in terms of those discourses in Tipitaka in order to show how the mentality of the people changes directly with regard to the climatic changes. In terms of the methodology, certain relevant discourses and commentaries are studied and the facts are being investigated. A comparative idea can be deemed following those discourses and relevant commentaries. As the research is based on a library study it is directed as a qualitative study.Item A study of the concept of environment within Zen philosophy(Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Rathnayaka, R.M.C.P.Zen is one of the most accepted schools of Buddhism in Japan and believed to be a creation of Shakyamuni Buddha. At the sacred Bodhi tree, Buddha has passed his realization to Maha Kassapa Thero. The objective of Zen Philosophy is to transmit this realization from one mind to another. Buddhist monks named Eysai and Dogen have officially introduced the Zen concept to Japan in 12 – 13 A.D. Zen concept is based on a philosophy of ordinary life and not on deep analysis or logical theories and it means the human and the environment around him. There is no religion as Buddhism which has addressed and spoken of the environment. The concept of the environment in Buddhism is similar to the modern day concept in their basics. However, Buddhist understanding of this concept carries a deeper philosophy. The in-depth analysis of the concept given by the Buddha is more important than the concepts of modern environmental specialists for the development and protection of the environment. The environment in Buddhism has two aspects; mental and physical environment. Mental environment means the nature of human mentality and becomes the key factor of human existence. The physical environment is the nature. Many such advice appear in the Pali Canon. Zen philosophy represents both mental and physical environment. Satori is the essence and ultimate target of Zen philosophy. Zen cleanses the mind of a person. Unpolluted mindset develops a good mental environment which automatically develops a good society. Thus, Zen followers have created a society that appreciates the environment and art. Zen has directly influenced the Japanese lifestyle. The purpose of this research is to draw scholar’s attention towards the concept of Zen environment. Literature survey is used as the research method of this study. It is very important to pay attention to the concept of environment within Zen.