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Item Use of heritage for personal image building by politicians of Sri Lanka: A few case studies(Centre for Heritage Studies, University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2019) Manatunga, AnuraHeritage is being used or misused by politicians throughout the world for their personal image building while promoting or dealing with heritage pretending to safeguard heritage with regard to mass interest about the past. This study is an observation of how some Sri Lankan politicians in the recent past used heritage for their personal image building, despite their political ideology or policies and actions regarding heritage preservation. A few case stuides such as S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike’s interest about Anuradhapura and Attanagalla, D.S. Senanayake’s work on Dedigama and Mahiyanganaya, J.R. Jayewardane’s move of shifting the capital city from Colombo to Sri Jayawardenapura, Gamini Dissanayaka’s ambitious project on reconstruction of Mirisawetiya and several other cases will be examined critically to understand how they utilized heritage as soft power to build their personal image when they were active in politics. Similar activities of present politicians will not be considered here due to perspective nearness and ethical considerations.Item The Terracotta Hoards as Remnants of Rituals Practiced at Elephant Kraals in Sri Lanka(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Manatunga, AnuraThe terracotta hoards found in Sri Lanka have been vividly interpreted. The close relationship of these hoards with elephants has been pointed out by the present writer in series of research presentations based on his chance discoveries in 1983 at Manawewa near Inamaluwa in the Sigiriya – Dambulla region. Three hypotheses have been postulated by the present writer after his excavations at Manawewa in 1992. 1. A forgotten cult of worshiping elephants 2. Rituals practiced for protecting crops and lives from wild elephants 3. Rituals practiced before catching wild elephants Despite these three hypotheses are still to be verified, the writer is inclined towards the third hypothesis as the most appropriated and most probabilistic pursuit for understanding ambiguous terracotta hoards in Sri Lanka. The present paper is an extension of this hypothesis in the same line that these terracotta hoards as remnants of rituals practiced at elephant kraals in Sri Lanka which were used for catching wild elephants in a mass scale from time to time. The following facts will be examined in this regard in detail with little known aspects of rituals practiced at elephant kraals. 1. Terracotta hoards dominated by figures of elephants 2. Odd looking female figures 3. Figures of elephant riders 4. Sites closer to irrigated tanks 5. Representing a mono cultural phase 6. Terracotta hoards found in elephant tracks 7. Some hoards found in Aiyyanayaka Temples We know from some Colonial administration reports that rituals practiced before having elephant kraals were performed at Aiyyanayaka temples. Some other sources reveal that odd looking figures symbolizing prostitutes were kept in Kraals to attract wild elephants. The kraals were practiced near irrigation tanks and elephant tracts. The mono cultural nature shows that they were not continued as ritual sites. The writer will elaborate on these facts with his findings of Manawewa excavations. Some other discoveries before and after the Manawewa excavation will be used in support of this hypothesis with ethnographic and literary surveys in relation to catching wild elephants.Item An extension to Nur Yalman’s Under the Bo Tree: A Survey into Diaries of Mr. KB Nissanka, School Head Master of ‘Terutenne’(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2015) Manatunga, AnuraUnder the Bo Tree by Nur Yalman has been considered one of the best socio-anthropological books on Sri Lanka. It is mainly based on field studies conducted in a Kandyan Village, ‘Terutenne’, for his PhD at Cambridge under the supervision of Edmund Leach from 1954 to 1956. The book was published in 1967 by the University of California Press and popularized among academics as a prescriptive text on the Sinhalese society. ‘Terutenne’ is a fictional name coined by Yalman for Teripehe, a remote village in the Walapane Division of Nuwara Eliya District. The focus of his study was on caste, kinship and marriage in the Kandyan Sinhalese village in Sri Lanka. The present research is an extension of Yalman’s study through analysing diaries of late Mr. KB Nissanka who was a native of the village and the Head Master of the school when Yalman conducted his research. Nissanka and his family have been widely referred to in Yalman’s book and they have met each other on several occasions including some of the important family functions at home. Mr. Nissanka was born in 1908 in Teripehe and died in 1991 in the same village. He was the Head Master and Principal of the Teripehe School for over two decades and later was promoted as the School Inspector of the region. He retired in 1968 and continued his service as a member of the Village Council and functioned in various other capacities which were integral to the life and society of ‘Terutenne’. He was a regular diarist from around the 1930s and these diaries are not only a record of his personal life, but also a repository of facts which reflect various aspects of village life and contemporary society in Sri Lanka. An analysis of these diaries is important as a cross reference to Yalman’s claims and is a definite extension of Yalman’s study in terms of time and scope.Item Identification of the Statue near Potgul Vihara at Polonnaruva as Amoghapasa Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva(University of Kelaniya, 2015) Manatunga, AnuraThe statue near the Potgul Vihara at Polonnaruva has been considered as an excellent work of art. However, the identification of the statue has hitherto been ambiguous though it has been attempted to identify either as a king or a sage by various scholars with different perspectives. The traditional belief is that the statue is a depiction of the king Parakramabahu the Great who ruled the Island from the Polonnaruva kingdom. The object held on both hands of the statue has been considered as an ola book and the name assigned to the nearby monastery, Potgul Vihara (Monastic Library) is taken to reinforce this popular belief. Paranavitana argued in length in support of the popular belief, but interpreted the object held on hands as an ‘inverted yoke’ to symbolize the sovereignty. Some other scholars attempted to identify the statue as sages Pulasthi, Agasthi , Kapila and Karuvar Thevar with different arguments. The present writer understood that the statue must be understood in its Buddhist context and identified the statue as Amogapasa Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. The main point of this identification is that the object on the hand as a representation of the ‘Pasa’( Lasso) which is the principal symbol of the particular Bodhisattva. The miniature statue found at Panduvas Nuvara having a rope on both hands and later period statue at Urulevewatta Temple have been taken to support this identification. The mark behind the left shoulder of the statue is also identified as the lotus stroke which is a distinct mark of this Bodhisattva. The nearby monastery, Pothgul Vihara has been identified as a Mahayana Mandala with its unique plan and it possibly symbolizes the Pothalaka mountain where Avalokitheshvara abodes. Oral traditions related to Polonnaruva as a place associated with serpents has also been considered here as reminiscent of popular stories associated with Amogapasa