Life style
Sri Dalada . Seal of Lanka’s Sovereignty
The 10-day public exhibition of the sacred tooth relic which commenced on April 18 after a respite of 16 years ends today.
Revered by millions and regarded as Sri Lanka’s seal of sovereignty, the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha, since its arrival in the island, had been the insignia of the royalty, shifting to wherever the seat of the government had moved. The most sacred relic had been sheltered in the last Sinhala kingdom of Kandy for the past three centuries in the Dalada Maligawa or the Palace of the Tooth Relic. The sacred tooth relic is revered with a continuum of deeply seated rites and rituals, evolving a tradition of its own which had caught the imagination of many foreign travelers to the island as well.
BY RANDIMA ATTYGALLE
John Davy an English physician who accompanied the Governor of Ceylon, Sir Robert Brownrigg on his tour of the Central and the Uva provinces, documents in his work, ‘An Account of the interior of Ceylon and of its inhabitants with travels in that island’ (1821) his impressions of the Dalada Maligawa and the tooth relic: ‘The Dalada Maligawa, was the domestic temple of the king, and it’s the most venerated of any in the country, as it contains the relic, the tooth of Boodhoo to which the whole island was dedicated and which is considered by good Boodhists as the most precious thing in the world.’
(spelled as in the original writing) Davy who goes onto note that he had the rare opportunity enjoyed by only a few Europeans ‘of seeing the celebrated relic when it was recovered, towards the conclusion of the rebellion (of 1818) and brought back to be replaced in the Dalada Malegawa, from which it had been clandestinely taken,’ provides a detailed description of it and even provides a sketch to give some idea of its size and form. ‘Never a relic was more previously enshrined; wrapped in pure sheet-gold, it was placed in a case just large enough to receive it, of gold, covered externally with emeralds, diamonds and rubies, tastefully arranged.’ Describing the outermost of seven caskets containing the relic, Davy writes: ‘the ornaments attached to it are extremely rich and consists of gold chains and a great variety of gems, suspended from it. The most remarkable of these is a bird hanging by a gold chain and formed entirely of diamonds, rubies, blue sapphires, emeralds and cat’s-eyes, set in gold, which is hid by the profusion of stones.’
Encrusted with gems
Colonial Secretary of Ceylon, James Emerson Tennent in the Volume 2 of his book Ceylon, provides another account of the relic accompanied by a sketch of the shrine in which it is deposited. ‘The apartment in which it is deposited is in the inmost recess of the Vihara, a small chamber without windows, in which the air is stiflingly hot, and heavy with the perfume of flowers. The frames of the doors are inlaid with carved ivory and on a massive silver table stands the bell shaped carandua, the shrine which encloses the relic, encrusted with gems and festooned with jewelled chains. The outer case contains a number of others, similarly wrought, but diminishing in size, till on removing the inner one a golden lotus is disclosed, in the centre of which reposes the mysterious tooth.’
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- Sacred Tooth Relic
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- Illustration from James Emerson Tennent’s Ceylon
An American professor of Historical Theology, John F Hurst in his documentation, The Country and the People of India and Ceylon (New York 1891) pens a section under the banner, The Enchanted Road to Kandy. Visiting the Temple of the Tooth, Hurst is impressed by the Kandyan craftsmanship describing it to be of a ‘style well worthy of the early Italian workers.’ He goes on to to provide a detailed account of the temple consisting of several doorways. ‘By this last doorway you enter the dark and mysterious sanctum sanctorum of the whole Buddhist faith. There is first a silver table, which stands before the shrine and await the worshipper’s gifts. You look through iron bars and behold a gilded shrine, shaped like a bell. This is a mere covering for six other shrines of decreasing size, one within the other. All are of solid gold with rubies, pearls, emeralds and other precious stones. Here are Oriental cat’s eyes encrusted into gold and silver. The two smallest of these shrines are covered with squarely cut rubies. The sacred tooth, invisible in these days, is contained in the smallest of all.’
A journey like no other
It is believed that Arahat Kema recovered the fourth left canine of Lord Buddha from the flames after the cremation and handed it over to the King of Kalinga in eastern India. For 800 years it became an object of veneration by Kalinga (present Orissa) kings. King Guhasiva during his reign, fearing that the relic being stolen by his enemy who declared war against him, entrusted it to his daughter Princess Hemamala and her husband Prince Dantha to take it to neighbouring Sri Lanka. King Kirti Sri Megawanna who reigned in Anuradhapura from 300-331 AD made the best of royal pageantry possible to receive the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha which Princess Hemamala brought safely hidden amidst her tresses, 800 years after the passing away of Lord Buddha. Sri Lanka’s historic chronicle Mahavamsa records that the King having deposited the sacred relic in Dhammacakka Vihara (built by King Devanampiyatissa), further decreed that the sacred relic should be taken in parade around the city of Anuradhapura once a year. Mahavamsa further notes that the king spent over 900,000 kahapanas in celebrating the festival of the tooth relic. The famous Chinese Buddhist pilgrim traveller Fa Hien who visited Anuradhapura in 399 AD in his travelogue describes witnessing the celebrations replete with processions of jewel-encrusted elephants.
Thus began the tradition of the monarch of Lanka being the guardian of the sacred tooth relic. Its possession alone conferred on its owner a substantial claim to the sovereignty of the island. It was during the reign of King Vimaladarmasuriya I that the sacred tooth relic was deposited in a three-storied shrine near the palace of Kandy. His successors laboured to expand the shrine which came to be known as Dalada maligawa.
Insignia of the royalty
The relic was zealously guarded by our royals shifting its abode to multiple places of safety during foreign invasions. Prof. Lorna S. Dewaraja in her book, The Kandyan Kingdom of Sri Lanka, notes that the possession of the tooth relic alone conferred on its owner a substantial claim to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka and even Nayakkar kings ‘jealously guarded it specially when foreign invasions threatened its safety’. Prof. Dewaraja mentions that in the reigns of Sri Vijaya Rajasimha and Kirti Sri Rajasimha public exhibitions of the relic were held. ‘On both occasions a pavilion was erected in front of the Temple and the king himself exposed the relic to public view placing it on the palm of his hand. The scholar citing, several historical sources says that the practice which persists even today of displaying the relic to distinguished visitors from abroad prevailed even at that time, for Kirti Sri Rajasimha held a special exhibition of the relic for the benefit of the bhikkus and dignitaries who came from Siam. ‘The relic was held in great esteem in Siam, for the king sent a model of it to the Siamese monarch, much to his delight.’
During the 1818 rebellion in the uplands against the British rule, Wariyapola Sri Sumangala Thero smuggled the tooth relic from the Dalada Maligawa, fearing its seizure by the British and went into hiding in Hanguranketa. When the British captured the prelate and recovered the tooth relic, the rebellion too ended. John Davy in his account records that, ‘when the relic was taken, the effect its capture was astonishing and almost beyond the comprehension of the enlightened…after the recovery of the sacred relic, the possessor of which is considered by the natives the master of the country that is dedicated to it, the whole of the interior was speedily tranquilised.’
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- Dalada exposition of 1828 as illustrated in Jonathan Forbes’ Eleven Years in Ceylon
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- A painting of Dalada Maligawa in John Davy’s Account of Ceylon
Exposition during the British rule
A descriptive account of the first Dalada exposition during the British rule is provided by Major Jonathan Forbes in Eleven Years in Ceylon. Forbes who was privy to the four-day pageantry in May 1828, replete with ‘Kandyan pipes’ and the ‘din of tom-toms’, notes that, ‘Fifty-three years had elapased since the King Kirti Sri had openly displayed the relic; and from the revolutions which had since taken place in the country, but few people remembered the ceremony, and still fewer had seen the Dalada.’ Further in his observations, Forbes notes: ‘in front of the silver altar on which the tooth was exposed a plain tabled was placed; to this the people approached one at a time and having seen the Dalada and deposited their gifts, they prostrated themselves, then passed on and made room for others. The offerings consisted of things the most heterogenous; gold chains and gold ornaments, gold, silver and copper coins and all denominations, clothes, priests’ vestments, flowers, sugar, ereca-nuts, betel-leaves.’
Exposition as an extended ritual
Ancient texts such as Dalada Siritha offers a comprehensive account of the rituals which need to be followed by kings to pay reverence to the sacred relic as well as a code of conduct associated with it. “Since Anuradhapura times, it had occupied the pride of place with daily rituals governing it. However, a systematic constitution governing Dalada came into being during the Kurunegala era with the compilation of Dalada Siritha,” says Prof. Wimal Hewamanage from the Department of Buddhist Studies, University of Colombo.
According to historical evidence, exposition of the tooth relic had been an extended ritual of the Dalada Perahera and during foreign invasions when perahera was not possible, there had been expositions only, says the scholar. “It is during the Kandyan kingdom that Dalada exposition evolved as a separate event. The first such under the British occupancy in 1828 is believed to have been to invoke the blessings of the sacred relic to induce rain after a prolonged drought as the ancient agrarian community of ours similar to many other Asian counterparts such as India and China strongly believed in the connection between the rains and the Divine.” The tradition of Dalada exposition independent of the Esala Perahera thus continued, says Prof. Hewamanage who says that the first such exposition after independence was held in 1952.
In a country where creative pursuits are often treated as indulgences rather than vocations, Saman Halloluwa’s journey stands apart — carved patiently through brushstrokes, framed through a camera lens, and articulated through the written word. Painter, wildlife and nature photographer, and independent environmental journalist, Halloluwa inhabits a rare space where art, ecology and social responsibility converge.
His relationship with art began not in galleries or exhibitions, but in a classroom. From his school days, drawing was not simply a subject but an instinct — a language through which he learned to observe, interpret and respond to the world around him. Under the guidance of two dedicated mentors, Ariyaratne Guru Mahathaya and Gunathilaka Guru Mahathaya, he honed both skill and discipline. Those early lessons laid the foundation for a lifelong engagement with visual storytelling.
“His work navigates between traditional Sinhala artistic sensibilities, abstract compositions and expansive landscapes.”
That commitment eventually materialised in two solo art exhibitions. The first, held in 2012, marked his formal entry into Sri Lanka’s art scene. The second, staged in Colombo in 2024, was a more mature statement — both in content and confidence. Featuring nearly fifty paintings, the exhibition drew an encouraging public response and reaffirmed his place as an artist with a distinct visual voice.
His work navigates between traditional Sinhala artistic sensibilities, abstract compositions and expansive landscapes. There is restraint in his use of form and colour, and an underlying dialogue between memory and space. Yet, despite positive reception, Halloluwa speaks candidly about the structural challenges faced by artists in Sri Lanka. Recognition remains limited; fair valuation even rarer.
“This is not merely an artistic issue,” he observes. “It is a social and economic problem.”
In Sri Lanka, art is often viewed through the lens of affordability rather than artistic merit. Many approach a painting by first calculating the contents of their wallet, not the value of the idea or labour behind it. In contrast, he notes, art in Europe and many other regions is treated as cultural capital — an investment in identity, history and thought. Until this mindset shifts, local artists will continue to struggle for sustainability.
The decisive push toward wildlife photography came from Professor Pujitha Wickramasinghe, a close friend who recognised both Halloluwa’s observational skills and his affinity with nature. From there, the journey deepened under the mentorship of senior wildlife photographer Ravindra Siriwardena.
Both mentors, he insists, deserve acknowledgment not merely as teachers but as ethical compasses. In a field increasingly driven by competition and spectacle, such grounding is invaluable.
Saman Halloluwa
Wildlife photography, Halloluwa argues, is among the most demanding visual disciplines. It cannot be improvised or rushed. “This is an art that demands restraint,” he says.
Among all subjects, elephants hold a special place in his work. Photographing elephants is not merely about proximity or scale, but about understanding behaviour. Observing social patterns, movement, mood and interaction transforms elephant photography into a constantly evolving challenge. It is precisely this complexity that draws him repeatedly to them.
Halloluwa is cautiously optimistic about the current surge of interest in wildlife photography among Sri Lankan youth. Opportunities have expanded, with local and international competitions, exhibitions and platforms becoming more accessible. However, he issues a clear warning: passion alone is not enough
Sri Lanka, he believes, is uniquely positioned in the global nature photography landscape. Few countries offer such concentrated biodiversity within a compact geographical area. This privilege, however, carries responsibility. Nature photography should not merely aestheticise wildlife, but foster respect, aware ness and conservation.
Parallel to his visual work runs another equally significant pursuit — environmental journalism. For the past seven to eight years, Halloluwa has worked as an independent environmental journalist, giving voice to ecological issues often sidelined in mainstream discourse. His entry into the field was guided by Thusara Gunaratne, whose encouragement he acknowledges with gratitude.
An old boy of D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo, Halloluwa holds a Diploma in Writing and Journalism from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and has completed journalism studies at the Sri Lanka Press Institute. He is currently pursuing an Advanced Certificate in Wildlife Management and Conservation at the Open University of Sri Lanka — a testament to his belief that learning must remain continuous, especially in a rapidly changing ecological landscape.
Outside his professional life, he enjoys cricket, rugby and badminton. Yet even leisure intersects with responsibility. He is a founding member and former president of the D.S. Senanayake College Old Boys’ Wildlife Forum, an active member of Wild Tuskers Sri Lanka, and a contributor to several independent environmental and wildlife volunteer organisations. In an era dominated by speed, spectacle and short attention spans, Saman Halloluwa’s journey unfolds differently. It is deliberate, reflective and rooted in values. Through art, he captures memory and form. Through photography, he frames life beyond human control. Through journalism, he asks uncomfortable but necessary questions.
“What I do, what I love” is not fashion here.
It is conviction — patiently lived, quietly asserted, and urgently needed in a country still learning how to value its artists, its environment and its truth.
By Ifham Nizam ✍️
Ramani Fernando Sunsilk Hair and Beauty Academy
Ramani Fernando Sunsilk Hair and Beauty Academy marked their graduation of their latest cohort of aspiring hair professionals in a ceremony held at Kingsbury Hotel.
Senaka de Silva, creative force behind Ramani’s shows
For over two decades, the Ramani Fernando Sunsilk Hair and Beauty Academy has stood as a beacon of excellence in beauty education in Sri Lanka. Founded by industry icon Ramani Fernando, the Academy has built a reputation for producing highly skilled professionals who go on to make their mark in salons, both locally and internationally. As the newly minted graduates step out into the world, they carry forward not just certificates, but also the promise of creative authority and personal empowerment.
The chief guest for the occasion was Rosy Senanayake, a long-standing supporter of the Academy’s mission. Addressing the graduates her message echoed her enduring belief that the beauty industry is not merely about aesthetic but about. confidence, self-worth and future leaders.
Over months of rigorous training, these young professionals honed their skills in cutting colouring, styling and contemporary artistry readying themselves to set trends rather than follow them.
Each graduate walked the stage with confidence, their dedication signalling a promising future for Sri Lanka’s beauty and fashion industry! With this new generation of stylists preparing to raise the standard of professional hairstyling.
Ramani Fernando, addressing the audience reflected on the academy’s mission to cultivate not only skills but vision and confidence in every student.
She urged the graduates to embrace continuous learning to take risks with creativity .The world of beauty is ever evolving, stay curious, stay bold and never underestimate the power of your talent, she added emphasising the importance of confidence, discipline and passion in carving a successful career in shaping the future of style.
These graduates are stepping into a world of endless possibilities. They are future of the country, who will carry a forward legacy of creativity. Behind every successful graduate at Sun silk Hair Academy stands a team dedicated to excellence. While Ramani Fernando serves as a visionary Principal and it is Lucky Lenagala, her trusted person who ensures that the academy runs seemingly.
From overseeing training sessions to guiding students, through hands on practice, Lucky plays a pivotal role in shaping the next generation of hairstylists.
Kumara de Silva, who has been the official compere Ramani’s, Hair graduation ceremony, from inception has brought energy, poise and professionalism. The Sunsilk Hair Academy is a celebration of talent and mentor ship for the graduates stepping confidentially into the next chapter of their careers, ready to make their mark on Sri Lanka beauty landscape
A moment of pride Ramani with chief guest Rosy Senanayake
Statement in style
Gliding in romance and sophistication
Pix by Thushara Attapathu
By Zanita Careem ✍️
During this season, Romesh Atapattu’s Capello Salon buzzes with a unique energy – a blend of festive excitement and elegance. Clients arrive with visions of holiday parties, office soirees, seeking looks that capture both glamour and individuality. The salon itself mirrors this celebrity mood. Warm lights, tasteful festive décor create an atmosphere where beauty and confidence flourish.
Romesh Atapattu himself curates the festive décor, infusing the space with his signature sense of style. His personal eye ensures that the décor complements the salon’s modern interiors.
As Colombo slips effortlessly into its most glamorous time of year, the Christmas season brings with it more than twinkling lights and celebrity soirees – it signals a transformation season at salons across the city. Capello salons are no exception.
At the heart of this festive beauty movement is Romesh Atapattu of Capello salons, a name synonymous with refined hair artistry, modern elegance and personalised style.
Christmas is about confidence and celebration. Romesh believes ‘People want to look their best without losing who they are”. Our role is to enhance, not overpower. This philosophy is evident in the salon’s seasonal approach.
Beyond trends, what sets Atapattu apart is the attention to individuality. Each consultation is treated as a creative collaboration – face shape, lifestyle, hair texture and personal style all play a role in creating the best for Romesh.
Stepping into Romesh’s salon during the Christmas season is an experience in itself. The space hums with festive energy while maintaining an atmosphere of calm sophistication.
The décor embraces the Christmas spirit with understated elegance. Tastefully adorned décor, beautiful Xmas tree, soft gold and ivory tones, and gentle hints of red are woven seamlessly into the salon’s contemporary design.
His staff, known for their warmth and professionalism also plays a key role in shaping the salon’s atmosphere—friendly, stylish and always welcoming. The Capello staff combine skill and creativity to deliver results that have a lasting impression.
Beyond trends, what sets Romesh Atapattu apart is the attention to individuality. Each consultation is treated as a creative collaboration – face shape, lifestyle, hair texture and personal style all play a role.
He is a professional who blends technical mastery with a deeply personal approach to style. His dedicated team of skilled professionals, operate with quiet confidence ensuring styles that create an atmosphere of trust, turning every appointment into a personalised and memorable experience.
(ZC) ✍️
Pic by Rohan Herath
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