Features

Back in the saddle as Secretary/PM:Ranil-CBK tensions after 2001 election

Published

9 months ago

2025/08/24

With President megawati of Indonesia at the UN General Assembly meeting New York, Oct. 2003

A day after the December 5, 2001 general election results were out, I got a call from Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private office at Cambridge Terrace. It was Dayaratne, Ranil’s personal secretary, with a message that the ‘boss’ wanted to see me urgently.

Ranil was brief and to the point as usual. He wasted no time on the formalities. He returned my congratulatory handshake with his normal perfunctory acknowledgement. He waved me to a chair.

“Brad,” he said, “I have a problem.”

I thought I would be flippant; after all it was a moment for celebration.

“Not one, I think you have got quite a few.”

“No, but there is a serious one,” said Ranil. “What’s that?”

“I don’t have a secretary.”

I was relieved. All he wanted were a few good names.

“That’s not too difficult, I can suggest a few names,” I ventured. “No, no, I want you.”

That really floored me.

“Me! Do you know how old I am?”” You must be about sixty five.”

“No. I am 71. I don’t think I can last the pace.” “But you are well, aren’t you. You look okay.” He looked so earnest. I played for time.

“I can help you out for about three months and then…

“No. Come for about a year and we’ll see … “

I knew I’d had it. I tried once more to obtain release. on my 72nd birthday dinner at which he was a special invitee, but I don’t think he was listening. Today April 2, 2004, as the country votes again at the general elections that President Chandrika Kumaratunga has called, I would have been with him over two years and three months.

Ranil had won the 2001 December election with a comfortable majority. From the opposition, and with a formidable array of forces against him he had prevailed and brought off a comprehensive victory. The final results showed the following alignment of seats in Parliament:

Party No of Votes Seats

UNP 4,086,026 109

PA 3,330,815 77

JVP 518,774 16

He had focused on a single issue that of bringing peace once more to people and a country devastated by 20 years of war. I felt I could not in good faith turn down his invitation. After all it would only be for a few months during which we, he and I, would find someone else for the job.

I had not thought of re-entering government service ever again. I had officially retired many years ago and was enjoying my life in semi-retirement. I had a sinecure’ in the private sector as chairman of a shipping company (where I was literally all at sea!) and with lots of free time in the late afternoon for seminars and such like. I must have been very regular at these seminars since some observant people apparently gained the impression that I had a permanent job at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES). I had some time too for golf, whose mysterious ways I now decided to take up for diligent study on a free morning.

There was also another project I had planned to do which had already been long delayed. This was to write a book on the lives of the prime ministers and presidents whom I had worked with. Where would I have time for this if I went back to work as secretary to the prime minister? And this time not even as an advisor which I had been to Premadasa when he was president, but as a full- fledged public official with all the financial and establishment responsibilities that such a position entailed. What would my erstwhile friends say? ‘Never know when to give up’; ‘still after the power and glory’, etc. And the all-knowing media? Wasn’t ‘Uncle Brad’ far too old and so on? To most of these I properly belonged, like others of my age, now `lean and slippered’, to lounging around the house and having a beer with my buddies at sundown at the local pub.

But there was one important matter which, if I could stir myself to help Ranil, would be still worthwhile doing. Perhaps the last hurrah! He was going to stop the war. He had made a promise to do that and I reckoned that he had the guts to keep his word. No one before had succeeded or even gone half-way.

I had seen throughout the years, the pain, the fear and the sense of loss which conflict brought in its wake to ordinary people. I had seen it in Ampara; in the faces of the young men and women captured after the JVP uprising and awaiting an uncertain future; I had been witness to it in 1983 in the heartbreaking refugee camps throughout_the country. I had seen it at the funerals and in the homes of soldiers and friends slain in battles far away.

I found it incomprehensible to see the disbelief on the faces of the young widows as they refused to reconcile themselves to the fact that their husbands are most likely injured or even dead when engaged in war. (I used to ask myself whether they had not known that death or serious injury was part of a soldier’s lot; or had the astrologers prediction and the prayers they daily offered to the gods dulled them into thinking that what to them was ‘impossible’ would not come their way).

I was appalled at the massive destruction of private property and public assets that security ‘operations’ and the bomb attacks of the terrorists in both north and south had caused over the 20 years of war.

Much of the time I had spent in the company of civil society NGO groups was in discussion on the hapless condition, particularly, of women and children whose hopes and expectations had been destroyed by the unending conflict.

Some of the `consultancies’ I had done for the UN system, particularly in the protection of children, had highlighted the dreadful consequences of the war. Perhaps the ‘pluses’ of being able to do something substantial through being at the prime minister’s office, of stopping the daily killing and maiming of both soldiers and civilians, might be time worthwhile spent in this last official chapter of my life.

This would probably compensate for the daily grind of dressing up in the morning, foregoing the long afternoon nap, poring through those bulky files and lengthy minutes, chairing unending meetings and pushing generally indifferent and demotivated staff. Everything would be different now; at Temple Trees and even in the prime minister’s office, from what I had known several years ago.

Rajiv Gandhi and Bradman in a one-to-one meeting New Delhi, Nov. 1989

Then there was also another personal reason as to why I thought I should work for Ranil now that he had asked me to. When I left for the IPPF job in 1984, Ranil, who was then the minister of education, had written an extraordinarily nice letter of appreciation for something I had done. I reproduce this letter later in this book. I had thought it special at the time, and it had been with me all these years. The last line was close to becoming prophetic. It seemed that I now had in my final years, a chance to make it happen!

The challenge of the Peace Process

Ranil knew of the difficulties in managing something as challenging as the peace process in Sri Lanka. The LTTE was deemed at most times to be intractable with fixed goals which were unchangeable, military cadres well resourced and, over the many years of conflict, now vastly experienced in both guerrilla and conventional warfare strategies. They were being assisted by a formidable diaspora across the world.

There was a long history of the breaking of truce agreements which the LTTE had entered into with the governments of the day. How was Ranil going to achieve the impossible of transforming this group of committed fighters into becoming a peaceful partner in political negotiations; one which would not break the truce when the going gets difficult? It was a high-risk venture he was going into where others before him had paid dearly and some with their lives.

There would also be the opposition from within to contend with. Those who had said, and would continue to say, that there should be no compromise with terrorism or armed insurgency against the state. They would continue to deny the reality that beating the LTTE or any such armed force that throve on ethno-nationalism and backed by a powerful diaspora, was unachievable except at great cost. The past battles’ had proved this beyond doubt and the people had finally spoken out that they wanted peace, literally at any price.

Yet there were many who would scoff at peace through negotiations with a long-time enemy. They would include elements of the political opposition, the military, nationalist minded NGOs, the media, and the majority’ of the Sinhalese diaspora’ abroad.

Ranil conceived an approach and plan of action which would address the reality he was confronted with. He spelt it out to Parliament and the people in a broad-ranging speech he delivered on January 22, 2002. His approach’ dealt with both the domestic and international imperatives. He realized a well-founded peace process needed the following basic elements:

= An experienced facilitator who is trusted by both sides.

= An agreement in writing laying down the parameters for a durable cease-fire subscribed to by both leaders of the parties to the conflict, namely Prabhakaran, on behalf of the LTTE and himself on behalf of the government.

= An official institutional structure which could manage the manifold requirements needed to keep the negotiations between the parties on track.

= An effective mechanism to coordinate the relief, rehabilitation and development activities which would sustain the process.

To buttress and support this he would need to establish an `international safety-net’ composed of the leading nations of the world to guarantee, and intervene whenever necessary, to achieve the shared goal of a negotiated political settlement of the national problem.

It was a task of enormous proportions and there had been many political leaders who had tried and failed. In addition he had a formidable political opponent from within to contend with. He was not, as the others who had tried to bring peace before him had been, the constitutional head of government. The president of the country, Chandrika Kumaratunga was the constitutional head of state and government and although she too was in favour of peace through negotiation, she could be expected to be fastidious in the manner she would oversee Ranil’s strategy and methodology, in the name of national security, sovereignty, territorial integrity and so on.

But through it all, winning the confidence of the Norwegian facilitator, pushing through the cease-fire agreement, gaining the goodwill of the Tamil diaspora, and a considerable section of the Sinhalese as well, and securing the commitment of a powerful array of the developed countries, Ranil succeeded in making peace actually come to pass. Overall it was a magnificent display of bold and innovative strategising, tenacity of purpose, the mobilizing of a devoted team of workers and infinite patience. Only. someone with an extraordinary sense of mission could have managed all the uncertainties and imponderables which this long-endured national problem posed.

In addition to the constant presidential challenges, he had a range of domestic forces opposed to what he was doing. There was the bedrock of nationalistic feeling stemming from a long history of perception of the Tamil community as aliens and outsiders, who had literally no place in the country which belonged to the majority, the Sinhalese. A strident reflection of this opinion came from the now resurgent JVP, who were again making a strong mark in the political field. There were also a heterogeneous grouping of intellectuals, serious students of the subject, who had come to the determination that the demands of the LTTE, were too much and should never be conceded. The price of peace was in their view becoming too high to pay.

There were several media men and women, including one or two editors of mainline newspapers themselves, who regularly questioned the wisdom of embarking on a path which would inevitably end up in changing the nature of the Sri Lankan polity. In their view, and apparently a large part of the population supported their position, Sri Lanka had always” been one united state and its constitution should therefore remain immutably unitary in structure. Federalism was the `F word’ in all its possible connotations. To many of these groups, the proposed fundamental structural change (here both the president and the prime minister found agreement in opposing this line) from a unitary style constitution to one that was federal was anathema. They would regularly highlight in their editorials the dangers of several aspects of the peace process and by implication, the naivety, and in some instances even the treachery, of those engaged in the venture.

Throughout the two years process, what was unhelpful was the non-collaborative attitude that the president took. There was evident hostility at some of the actions of the Norwegian facilitator in the person of the Norwegian ambassador in Colombo and the head of mission of the monitoring force, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). These were seen as being partial and on the side of the LTTE, something that others too were saying but particularly decisive as it came from the head of the state.

The president was also said to be involved in ordering the sinking of a LTTE vessel, alleged by Anton Balasingham to be a merchant ship and at the time of attack by the Navy, in international waters. It was well known that as commander-in-chief of the three armed services, the president could give direct orders to the Navy Commander. She held the chair of the National Security Council (NSC) and remained in constant contact with the service commanders throughout the cease-fire period.

The tactic of the defence ministry virtually run by Ranil as prime minister on the other hand had been to shadow the vessel and put the international monitors on board to verify what was really on board after it moved into Sri Lankan waters. This would have enabled a verification of whether in fact, as alleged, the vessel carried arms and ammunition, or merchandise as claimed by the LTTE. There were numerous other incidents too in which the terms of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) were either breached or came close to being broken.

No cease-fire agreement could cover every possible eventuality that could arise and this led to an exchange between the president and her defence minister, the laconic Tilak Marapone, PC, which illustrates the sense of humour of Chandrika Kumaratunga and the bitter-sweet nature of the relationships between the president and the government.

Apparently after one particular close encounter between the LTTE and the army, which might have been regarded as a violation of the cease-fire agreement, Tilak, on being upbraided by Chandrika soon after a meeting of the National Security Council” for his lack of attention to such lapses, nonchalantly suggested that there were occasions when it was necessary to, as they say ‘turn a blind eye’ to such happenings. Quick as a flash Chandrika retorted that if that was so, it was she more than him, who could afford to do so!

It takes two to tango as the saying goes and there was much that Ranil could have done by sharing information and more consultation to change the confrontational attitude the president took about most of the actions he initiated. Ranil always countered this charge by insisting that she was being informed by their mutual friend Lakshman Kadirgamar whom he regularly met, and who was the president’s special advisor. But this was obviously no substitute to a regular face-to-face encounter between the two protagonists.

I personally felt that the president believed that the peace process which was rightfully her’s to move forward with, had been now usurped by an outsider. What was most galling was that the outsider, Ranil, was now seen to be making unexpected progress towards a settlement. She, the president, had been the originator of the negotiation approach to a political settlement. Her father, S W R D Bandaranaike had many years earlier made the first moves in this direction through the famous Bandaranaike Chelvanayakam Pact. She and her late husband Vijaya Kumaratunga had intensely believed in the negotiation approach for years.

In 1994 when she got the chance, she had, first as prime minister for a few months and later as president, initiated “Talks” by sending a delegation to Jaffna. That attempt faltered after some months and an intense period of conflict had followed. In 2000, she had come up with significant proposals in a draft constitution which was presented in Parliament.

Ranil and the UNP who had participated in some of the discussions had rejected the draft out of hand. Copies of the draft Constitution had been burnt on the floor of Parliament. Ranil was perceived by her as always being on the opposite side, inhibiting her attempts at resolution of the problem. In her view the UNP had been doing so ever since its opposition to the B-C Pact in 1957.

(Excerpted from Rendering Unto Caesar, the Bradman Weerakoon autobiography) ✍️

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Features

Building a sustainable future for Sri Lanka’s construction industry

Published

33 mins ago

2026/05/8

Thilina Walpola

Sri Lanka’s construction industry has long been a central pillar of sustainable development. From roads and bridges to homes, schools, and hospitals, construction shapes the country’s physical landscape and supports economic progress. As the nation continues to rebuild and modernise, the demand for construction materials and infrastructure keeps rising. However, this growth also brings a significant environmental cost. Cement, steel, bricks, aggregates, and timber all require energy, resources, and transportation, contributing to carbon emissions and environmental damage. If Sri Lanka continues with traditional construction practices, the long-term impact on the environment will be severe.

The encouraging news is that Sri Lanka has many opportunities to adopt more sustainable construction practices while still maintaining the highest standards of quality and safety. Sustainable construction does not mean weaker buildings or lower standards. It means using sustainable materials, reducing waste, improving design, and choosing methods that protect the environment. Many countries have already moved in this direction, and Sri Lanka has the potential to follow the same path with solutions that are practical, affordable, and suitable for local conditions.

A promising option

One promising option is the use of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB), which are different from the concrete blocks commonly used in Sri Lanka for the past 25 years. CEBs are made from soil mixed with a small amount of stabiliser and pressed using machines. Unlike traditional fired clay bricks, CEBs do not require high-temperature kilns, which consume large amounts of firewood or fossil fuels. This makes CEBs a low-carbon alternative with a much smaller environmental footprint. In Sri Lanka, CEBs are already used in eco-resorts, community housing projects, and environmentally focused developments. They offer good strength, durability, and thermal comfort, making them suitable for many types of buildings. By expanding the use of CEBs, Sri Lanka can reduce energy consumption, lower emissions, and promote locally sourced materials.

Recycled aggregates also offer significant potential for sustainable construction. These materials are produced by crushing concrete, demolition waste, and construction debris. In Sri Lanka, recycled aggregates are already used in road construction, particularly for base and sub-base layers. They are suitable for non-structural building work such as pathways, garden paving, drainage layers, landscaping, and backfilling. Using recycled aggregates reduces the need for newly quarried rock and aggregates, decreases landfill waste, and lowers transportation emissions. With proper quality control and standards, recycled aggregates can become a reliable and widely accepted material in the construction industry.

Timber and sustainability

Timber is another important area where sustainability can be improved. In the past, timber for construction was often taken from natural forests, leading to deforestation and loss of biodiversity. Today, this approach is no longer sustainable. Instead, the focus must shift to legally sourced timber from managed plantations. Sri Lanka’s plantation-grown teak, jak, and kubuk can provide high-quality, legally sourced timber for construction while protecting natural forests and supporting rural economies. Using plantation timber ensures that harvesting is controlled, trees are replanted, and the supply chain remains legal and ethical.

Beyond materials, sustainable construction also involves better design and planning. Buildings that are designed to maximise natural ventilation, daylight, and energy efficiency can significantly reduce long-term operating costs. Simple design improvements such as proper orientation, shading devices, roof insulation, and efficient window placement can reduce the need for artificial cooling and lighting. These measures not only lower energy consumption but also improve indoor comfort for occupants. Sri Lanka’s tropical climate offers many opportunities to incorporate passive design strategies that reduce environmental impact without increasing construction costs.

Waste reduction is another key component of sustainable construction. Construction sites often generate large amounts of waste, including concrete, timber offcuts, packaging, and soil. By adopting better site management practices, recycling materials, and planning construction sequences more efficiently, contractors can reduce waste and save money. Proper waste segregation and recycling can also reduce the burden on landfills and minimise environmental pollution.

Promoting sustainable construction

Public projects such as schools, hospitals, and government buildings can play a leading role in promoting sustainable construction. When government projects adopt greener materials and designs, the private sector follows. This creates a positive cycle where environmentally responsible choices become the industry standard. Public sector leadership can also encourage local manufacturers to produce sustainable materials, improve quality standards, and invest in new technologies.

Sri Lanka also carries a proud and remarkable history in construction, with achievements that continue to inspire the world. The engineering brilliance behind Sigiriya, the advanced urban planning of Polonnaruwa, the precision of the Aukana Buddha statue, and the sophisticated water management systems of ancient tanks and reservoirs all demonstrate the deep knowledge our ancestors possessed. These historic accomplishments show that innovation is not new to Sri Lanka; it is part of our identity. As the world moves toward 2050 with increasing sustainability challenges, Sri Lanka can draw strength from this heritage while embracing modern technologies and sustainable practices. With the combined efforts of skilled professionals, industry experts, academic researchers, and strong government support, the country can introduce new systems that improve efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and strengthen resilience. By working together with determination and sharing knowledge across generations, Sri Lanka’s construction industry can build a future that honours its past while leading the way in sustainable development.

Foundation of sustainable development

Sri Lanka’s construction industry has always been a foundation of sustainable development. Today, it also has the chance to take a leading role in sustainability. By choosing sustainable materials, reducing waste, improving design, and supporting responsible sourcing, the country can build a future that is both modern and environmentally responsible. Sustainability is essential for Sri Lanka’s long-term goals of reducing carbon emissions and limiting the impacts of global warming. As Sri Lanka moves forward, the construction industry must embrace sustainability not only as an environmental responsibility but also as an opportunity to create stronger, smarter, and more resilient buildings for future generations. Sri Lanka has the talent, the heritage, and the technical capacity to shape a more sustainable future, and with the right national direction, the construction industry can become a model for the region. If professionals, policymakers, and communities work together with a shared vision, the country can transform its construction sector into one that protects the environment while supporting long-term progress.

About the Author: P.G.R.A.C. Gamlath Menike,

BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying (University of Reading, UK), MSc Quantity Surveying (University College of Estate Management, UK), MCIArb, Doctoral Student, Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, is a Senior Quantity Surveyor: Last Project (2022 -2025) Hong Kong International Airport Terminal 2 Construction Project, Gammon Engineering Construction (Main Contractor).

By P.G. R. A. C. Gamlath Menike

Features

Palm leaf manuscripts of Sri Lanka – 1

Published

38 mins ago

2026/05/8

Thilina Walpola

Palm leaf manuscripts

Palm leaf manuscripts have been in existence in Sri Lanka since ancient times. The two oldest palm-leaf manuscripts found in Sri Lanka today are the Cullavagga Pâli manuscript of the H. C. P. Bell collection, which is held at the Library of the National Museum, Colombo, and the Mahavagga Pâli manuscript in the University of Kelaniya collection. Photocopies of both are available at the Library of the University of Peradeniya. Both are dated to 13 century. Cullavagga manuscript has wooden covers richly decorated in lac with a design of flowers and foliage.

Karmmavibhâga

However, the oldest known Sinhala palm leaf manuscript in the world is the Karmmavibhâga which was found in a Tibet monastery in 1936 by the Indian scholar Rahul Sankrityayan. Rahul Sankrityayan, (1893–1963) former Kedarnath Pandey, was an Indian polymath, who searched out rare Buddhist manuscripts on his travels abroad. Sankrityayan visited Sri Lanka as well. Vidyalankara Pirivena is mentioned.

Sankrityayan visited Tibet several times to collect manuscripts from the Buddhist monasteries there. In May 1936 on his second visit to Tibet, Sankrityayan visited the Sa-skya monastery. The Chag-pe-lha-khang Library in this monastery was specially opened for Sankrityayan.

He stated in his autobiography that when the clouds of dust which greeted this rare opening of its doors had subsided, they beheld rows of open racks where volume on volume of manuscripts were kept. “After rummaging around, I came across palm-leaf manuscripts. They were not wrapped in cloth, but were tied between two wooden planks with holes through them.” Sankrityayan found several important manuscripts he had been looking for, in that collection.

Sankrityayan catalogued fifty-seven manuscripts bound in thirty-eight volumes. The thirty-seventh volume was written in the Sinhala script. Sankrityayan records that this volume contained ninety-seven palm- leaves each of which measured 18 1/4 by 1 1/4 in. (46 x 3 cm.) and that there were seven lines of writing on each folio.

According to Sankrityayan, these Sinhala texts originally belonged to a Sri Lankan monk called Anantaśrî who had come to Tibet in the time of ŚSrî Kîrttidhvaja (Kirti Sri Rajasinha). Analysts noted that Sankrityayan does not give the source of this information and the manuscript makes no mention of Anantaśrî.

Sankrityayan had taken with him to Tibet, one Abeyasinghe, (Abhayasimha) to help him with copying manuscripts. They made hand-copies of the important manuscripts. Abhayasimha had copied about 250 to 350 strophes each day. But he fell ill due to the extreme cold and was sent home in June. Abeyasinghe had written letters home during his stay in Tibet.

Photographs of the manuscripts found during Sankrityayan’s expeditions in Tibet are preserved at the National Archives in Colombo. There is also a copy in Vidyalankara pirivena library The Historical Manuscripts Commission In its 1960/1961 report, drew attention to this manuscript, known as Sa-skya Codex, describing it as “a unique document.” (Annual Report of the Government Archivist 1960/61, 1963)

Sinhala scholar P.E.E. Fernando examined photographs of the Sa-skya Codex at the request of the Historical Manuscripts Commission and assigned it to the 13th century. The Historical Manuscripts Commission, dated it to either twelfth or the thirteenth century.

The Historical Manuscripts Commission observed that this manuscript was of great value for the study of the development of the Sinhala script. Ven. Meda Uyangoda Vimalakîrtti and Nähinne Sominda in their edition of the Karmmavibhâga published in 1961 agreed that the Sa-skya Codex represented an early stage in the evolution of the Sinhala language.

Mahavamsa

The Mahavamsa is considered a unique historical document. There is nothing like it in South Asia, and probably all Asia, with the exception of China. Mahavamsa provides a historical account of events, with emphasis on chronology and dating. This, it appears, was rare at the time.

However, Mahavamsa is not a political history, though that is the popular perception of it. It is a religious history. It was written to record the introduction and entrenchment of Buddhism in the country. Other Buddhist countries, such as Cambodia, Burma and Thailand value the Mahavamsa for this reason. They held copies of the Mahavamsa and used events from it in their temple frescoes.

But Mahavamsa is also an important reference source for reconstructing the political history of Sri Lanka. Political and social facts are included in the Mahavamsa narrative when describing religious events, and this makes the Mahavamsa important for historians. This tradition of history writing, beginning with the earlier Sihala Attakatha and Dipawamsa, it is suggested, started in Sri Lanka in 2^nd or 3^rd BC.

Today, the Mahavamsa has become a major source of historical information, not only for dating kings, temples and reservoirs, but also for reconstructing ancient Sinhala society. The fact that Kuveni was seated beside a pond, spinning thread has been used to indicate that there was water management and textiles long before Vijaya arrived. Dutugemunu (161-137 BC) paid a salary to the workers building the Maha Thupa. This shows that money was used at the time.

Copies of the Mahavamsa have been treasured and looked after in Sri Lanka for centuries. They have been copied over and over again. The manuscripts were held in temple libraries because the subject of the Mahavamsa was the entrenchment of Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

The Mahavamsa manuscripts did not pop up suddenly during British rule as people seem to think. The British did not ‘discover’ the Mahavamsa. It was there. When the British administration started to take interest in the history of the island, the sangha would have directed them to the Mahavamsa, in the same way that they directed HCP Bell to the ruins in Anuradhapura and the Sigiriya frescoes. HCP Bell did not discover those either.

The British administrators saw the value of the Mahavamsa and copies were sent to libraries abroad. The Bodleian library, Oxford has a well preserved Mahavamsa manuscript, taken from Mulkirigala, which Turner used for his translation. Cambridge has two Mahavamsa manuscripts. The two copies at India Office library, and the copy in East India Library are probably in the British Library today. The Royal Library, Copenhagen, has a copy, consisting of 129 sheets, 12 lines to a leaf, written in good handwriting.

In Sri Lanka there are several copies of the Mahavamsa in the Colombo Museum Library. One copy, known as the ‘Cambodian Mahavamsa ‘is in Cambodian script. University of Peradeniya has at least three copies.

It is interesting to note that the Mahavamsa was known to the Sinhala elite and some had copies in their private libraries. The Historical Manuscripts Commission of the 1930s said in its first report that five copies of the Mahavamsa and a 19^th century copy of the Dipawamsa were found in private collections.

The temple libraries had many copies of the Mahavamsa. Some were of very high quality. Wilhelm Geiger had looked at the copies held at Mahamanthinda Pirivena, Matara and Mulkirigala vihara. Asgiriya, Nagolla Vihara and Watagedera Sudarmarama Potgul vihara, Matara, are three of the many libraries that held copies of the Mahavamsa.

Sirancee Gunawardene examined the copy at Mahamanthinda Pirivena, Matara, very closely. She says that it is a very old manuscript. According to its colophon, the manuscript was first copied 400 years ago. It is in a very good state of preservation. It has 232 folios. Each 50 cm long 6.25 wide. Nine lines on each side, in Pali metric verse.

The writer of the manuscripts said that his version was an improvement on the copy. He wrote, “I will recite the Mahavamsa which was compiled by ancient sages. [their version] was too long and had many repetitions. This version is free from such faults, easy to understand and remember. It is handed down from tradition, for arousing serene joy and emotion’ .

The Mahamanthinda manuscript records the continuous history of 23 dynasties from 543 BC to 1758 AD. It refers to the principle of hereditary monarchy as 39 eldest sons of reigning monarch succeeded their fathers to the throne. It highlights the fact that fifteen reigned only for one year, 34 for less than four years, 22 kings were murdered by their successors, 6 were killed during battles, 4 committed suicide, 11 were dethroned.

Mahawansa as a World Heritage document

An ola manuscript of the Mahavamsa, held in the Main Library of the University of Peradeniya has been recognised by UNESCO as a part of World Heritage. UNESCO announced In 2023 that it has included the Mahavamsa as one of the 64 items of documentary heritage inscribed in the UNESCO’s Memory of the World International Register for 2023. The manuscript is dated to the early 19 century.

The certificate declaring the Mahawansa as a world heritage document was handed to the Chancellor of Peradeniya University by UNESCO Director General, who visited the University in 2024 specially to do so. She also unveiled a plaque marking the declaration.

The story began much earlier. The National Library of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Buddha Sasana had jointly appointed a 6-member committee headed by Prof Malani Endagamage, to find the best preserved copy of the Mahavamsa in Sri Lanka. This would have been in 2000 or so. For two years, this team had examined copies from over 100 temples nationwide.

Temples around the country yielded copies, crumbling to well-preserved, reported Sunday Times. There was one from the Ridi Vihara that almost made the cut, but four other copies were shortlisted. One from the Dalada Maligawa, Kandy and three manuscripts from the Main Library of the University of Peradeniya. Three academics from the University’s History Department, Professors K.M. Rohitha Dasanayaka, Mahinda Somathilake and U.S.Y. Sahan Mahesh examined the three Peradeniya manuscripts

Dasanayaka said, “We poured over the copies together, and it became clear that one copy stood out. While the other two had numerous inconsistencies, this one, written in a curvy hand, was neat and beautiful. After more than two centuries, the manuscript was still very attractive, with a ‘flaming cinnamon orange’ cover and elegant lettering.

The first section of the manuscript ends with Mahasen (274–301 AD), written by the monk Mahanama. The second part ends at 1815. The author is given as Ven. Thibbotuwawe Buddharakkhita but he was dead by 1815. The final part was probably done by an acolyte. He has done a very neat job, seamlessly adding his bit, concluded Dasanayake.

This manuscript was acquired by the Library of University of Peradeniya when K. D. Somadasa, was the Librarian (1964 – 1970). It is held in the Main Library and its Accession Number is 277587.

National Library & Documentation Services Board of Sri Lanka, which administers the National Library of Sri Lanka submitted a nomination to UNESCO on behalf of this manuscript. UNESCO responded positively to the application.

UNESCO said the Mahavamsa was recognized as one of the world’s longest unbroken historical accounts, presenting Sri Lanka’s history in a chronological order from the 6th century BCE. The authenticity of the facts provided in the document has been confirmed through archaeological research conducted in Sri Lanka and India.

It is an important historical source in South Asia, said UNESCO. It was the first of its kind in South Asia, initiating a mature historiographical tradition. It has contributed singularly to the identity of Emperor Asoka in Indian history. The existence of a number of manuscripts of the Mahavamsa in several countries as well as the transliteration and translation of the text to several Southeast Asian and European languages stand testimony to its immense historical, cultural, literal, linguistic and scholarly values, .” UNESCO press release said.

Further, UNESCO found that this manuscript was correctly conserved at the University Library. The university and its library maintained high standards in safeguarding the palm-leaf manuscripts, preventing deterioration, declared UNESCO. (Continued)

REFERENCES

https://archives1.dailynews.lk/2021/02/25/local/242520/ola-leaf-mahavamsa-be-declared-world-heritage

Sirancee Gunawardana Palm leaf manuscripts of Sri Lanka . 1977 p 41,44-47 , 253 290 292, ,

N. E. I. Wijerathne Methods, Techniques and Challenges in Deciphering the Sa-skaya Codex. Vidyodaya Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (2025), Vol. 10 (01) https://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/vjhss/article/view/8571/6001

First report of the Historical Manuscripts Commision.1933 SP 9 of 1933. p . 53, 95, 96

https://journals.sjp.ac.lk/index.php/vjhss/article/view/8571/6001https://www.austriaca.at/0xc1aa5572%200x00314cc3.pdf

https://leftword.com/creator/rahul-sankrityayan/

https://www.reddit.com/r/IndianHistory/comments/1oc5tc2/in_his_autobiography_meri_jeevan_yatra_rahul/

https://www.sundaytimes.lk/230910/plus/in-search-of-the-perfect-mahavamsa-531513.html

https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/Mahawansa-declared-a-world-heritage/108-287528

https://mfa.gov.lk/en/visit-of-unesco-dg/

https://sundaytimes.lk/online/education/UNESCO-ready-to-support-digitalisation-of-Ola-leaf-books/290-1146314

https://media.unesco.org/sites/default/files/webform/mow001/53_131%252B.pdf

by KAMALIKA PIERIS

Features

A new Sherlock Holmes novel

Published

38 mins ago

2026/05/8

Thilina Walpola

Tales of Mystery and Suspense – 1

“The House of Silk” is set in a grim Victorian winter, and moves from Baker Street to a luxurious suburban villa, from dingy pubs to elegant London clubs, from a correction school for boys high on a hill to Dr Silkin’s House of Wonders, which provided noisy low life entertainment. Holmes and Watson went there in search of the House of Silk, a name they had heard when looking into the death of one of Holmes’ Baker Street irregulars (slum children who ferreted out information for him) .

I do not think highly of sequels to books written by highly regarded writers, though I must admit that this dislike is based on just a few samples. But while in England I was given by my former Dean, with a forceful recommendation, a book about a Sherlock Holmes mystery, supposedly written by Dr Watson. I began on it soon after I got back home, and found it difficult to put down, so I suppose I will not look on Anthony Horowitz as an exception to my rule. I may even look out for his efforts at continuing the adventures of James Bond, though I suspect Fleming’s laconic style will be less easy to emulate.

“The House of Silk” is set in a grim Victorian winter, and moves from Baker Street to a luxurious suburban villa, from dingy pubs to elegant London clubs, from a correction school for boys high on a hill to Dr Silkin’s House of Wonders, which provided noisy low life entertainment. Holmes and Watson went there in search of the House of Silk, a name they had heard when looking into the death of one of Holmes’ Baker Street irregulars (slum children who ferreted out information for him). They had asked Holmes’ brother Mycroft for help in finding what and where this was, but he had warned them off, having been himself told by someone very senior in government that it might involve those in very high positions, and further inquiries might prove dangerous.

Needless to say, Holmes does seek further, and is lured to an opium den where he is drugged, to be found outside with a gun in his hand and the body of a girl beside him, the sister of the murdered boy Ross. A passer-by swears he had seen Holmes fire the shot, and the owner of the opium den and a customer swear that Holmes had taken too much opium and left the den in a demented condition. A police inspector who had been passing promptly arrests Holmes and Watson, and even their old acquaintance Inspector Lestrade finds it difficult to get access to him.

Watson eventually gets to see him when he is in the infirmary, after he has been told by a mysterious man that Holmes was going to be murdered before his case could be taken up. The man said he had earlier tried to get Holmes to investigate the House of Silk by sending him a white silk ribbon, such as had later been found tied round the hand of the murdered boy. But, as a criminal himself, he said, he could not reveal more, though he himself was horrified by the business of the House of Silk, which gave criminality a bad name, which is why he wanted it all stopped.

Holmes escapes from the infirmary, with a little help from the doctor whom he had once assisted earlier, right under the nose of the nasty Inspector Harriman. He then joins up with Watson, and having with the help of Lestrade overcome the men designed to kill him at Dr Silkin’s House of Wonders, he sets off, with an even large posse of policemen, to the House of Silk.

After much suspense, the habitues of the House of Silk are arrested, the Inspector having broken his neck in the course of a chase downhill, having fled when his misdeeds were exposed. The mastermind claims that he will not face a trial because of the important people involved, but instead falls down a staircase while in prison and breaks his neck. One of the noblemen involved commits suicide, but another, and the medical man who had sworn he saw Holmes kill the young lady, get off without charge.

But then we revert to the original story, which had involved an art dealer who came to Holmes because he was being followed by someone he thought was an American gangster out for revenge. This was because he had shipped some pictures to an American buyer, and these had been destroyed when a train was held up by an Irish gang and the coach with the safe in it dynamited. The buyer and the dealer had got a private agency to investigate, and this had ended with the gang being killed in a shootout, though one of the twins who led it had escaped. The buyer had subsequently been killed, and Mr Carstairs feared that the twin who survived had followed him to England.

Holmes and Watson went to Carstairs’ house, where they met his wife, whom he had met on the boat back from America, and his sister. Their mother had died some months earlier, when gas had filled her room after the flame had gone out. It transpired that there had been a break in, and some money and a necklace stolen from a safe, and it was in tracing these, through a pawnbroker, that Holmes and Watson had found the American murdered in the hotel where he had been staying.

The leader of the irregulars had come to tell Holmes that they had traced the man to the hotel, and Ross had been left on guard. He seemed terrified when Holmes and Watson and Carstairs turned up, but said he had seen nothing. When the boys had been dismissed, and the room opened up, the man was found dead, the murderer obviously having gained entrance through a window.

Holmes assumed the boy had seen someone he recognized, but he could not be traced, until he was found dead, horribly tortured. The silk band around his wrist then led Holmes to pursue the House of Silk. One of the boys at the school where Ross had been mentioned that he had a sister at a pub, and she, when confronted, asked in fear if they were from the House of Silk and then, having lunged at Watson with a knife, ran off – herself only to be found dead outside the opium den, which prompted the arrest of Holmes.

After the drama at the House of Silk, Holmes and Watson go to the Carstairs household, where he explains exactly what had taken place, identifying the murdered man as not a member of the gang but the head of the private agency which had investigated them. As my Dean told me, Horowitz then ties up all the loose ends with consummate skill, connecting with a fine thread all the malefactors, of various kinds.