Symposia & Conferences
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Item The Road to Kandy: A bibliographical and historical study of Colonial and Post-Colonial accounts(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) Dehigama, K.A considerable body of literature highlights that the survival of Kandyan Kingdom from western invasion was mainly caused by geographical barriers and ancient travel rules and procedures practiced. Thus, the construction of road to Kandy under the supervision of Dawson and Skinner established British administration in Kandyan provinces. The road to Kandy is known as the “Great Road” not only because the of route is taken by the higher officials of Kandyan court and embassies of different countries to reach the Kandyan kingdom but also it marked a milestone of British Occupation in Sri Lanka. Historical literature suggested that changes brought into effect the construction of Kandy road in to the livesof Kandyans in particular and Sri Lankans in general, stretched from social, political and economic liberty to facilitating communication through fast trade and passenger transportation while transportation facilities were at minimal stage. On the contrary, it is argued that building a new road to Kandy under the concept of D’oyley and policy of Barnes had interrupted the traditional life style of Kandyans. Nearly after two centuries of opening of the road to Kandy, building of a new expressway to Kandy is at its crossroads. One may argue that the construction of a new expressway will fade away the significance of the existing Kandy-Colombo highway. However, due to social, political economical as well as historical linkages associated with Kandy road with Sri Lankan way of life, significance of Kandy road is heightened continuously. Gradually the same route was popularly known as Colombo-Kandy highway with the increasing development of Colombo as a commercial and administrative capital and its significance is even so emphasized by designating it Sri Lanka’s A-1 motorway. Notwithstanding the significance of the Kandy road, exploring into literature reveals that there is no effort has been taken to record the history of Kandy road in a descriptive manner. Except for few brief attempts made by handful of authors, rest of the accounts on constructions of the road to Kandy is intermingled in the administrative reports, travel accounts and, personal diaries etc. Hence, this study attempts to contribute to historiography of road building in Sri Lanka by putting all aspects of construction of Kandy road together.Item Tracing the Tracks: Road, Road Culture, and Romance in the Sangam Tamilnadu(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) Vijailakshmi, U.R.Microhistory in a sense, captures the life of ordinary people during extraordinary circumstances or during macro-historical events. The purpose of this paper is to bring out the life style of the Sangam Tamils through the study of road culture. Tracing the roads and alleyways of a period would tell us a different story, the story of commoners who travelled by it, the purpose of their travel, their experiences en route, their expectation on the people they met during the journey, their disappointments, happiness, and the social values of the contemporary period. Sangam period stretched from 3rd Century B.C to 3rd Century A.D. Contemporaneous to this period were the rule of the Mauryas and later the Satavahanas in Deccan. The mercenary soldiers of Tamilnadu traversed through these roads to participate in the wars happening in north. The merchant groups crisscrossed the Western Ghats to reach western seashore to participate in trade. Many Sangam literary works have captured the life of these travelers: Young men who passed through tribal communities invariably were attracted towards the girls they met on the way. Forgetting the purpose of their journey they would agonizingly wait near the alleyways to have a glimpse of the girl they had fallen in love with. If lucky, they got into a clandestine relationship and continued with the journey at the end of it. It was then the turn of the girl to wait for the man she had fallen for. Sometimes, in all naivety, the girls would elope with their lovers looking for a better life in faraway cities. It was then the turn of the mother to experience the searing pain at the loss of the daughter. Roads which connected the cities with tribal areas were a mute witness to these ecstasies and agonies.