UFO sightings have been
reported from various parts of Sri Lanka over the years. Hundreds of people have
seen UFO phenomena over Sri Lanka according to professor Chandana Jayaratne of
the University of Colombo who has investigated some cases of UFO. Some predict that the
Extra Terrestrials could either be on the lookout for technology that was used
to construct sacred buildings or may be an attempt to locate the "Vishva Yathura"
(Key to the Universe)!
The UFO analysts believe that UFO lights that moves two feet off the ground
could be an alien probe. "They could be doing a research," he says. "Extra
Terrestrials may be seeking the 'Key' to the 'Star Gate' and thereby activate a
system of travel that transcends conventional space travel to reach another
galaxy."
UFOs reports from Sri
Lanka: (Sunday Observer, Colombo, Sri Lanka,
on June 16, 2002, by Umangi de Mel)
Could the strange blue ball of light, speeding at just 2 feet above the
ground near the ancient, sacred cliff of Dimbulagala, have been an alien
space probe seeking the mysteries of our ancients?
Sanjaya Bandara, a UFO expert claims that the "strange blue light" that has
been sighted in Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura during the past few weeks,
could be a probe craft of an extra terrestrial space ship.
The particular "blue light" was sighted for the first time in the seed farm
in Polonnaruwa on May 13, around 11.30 pm. It has also later appeared in the
Anuradhapura district. "It took me three days to get this thing on video
tape and when I finally did, it was around Dimbulagala, the same stretch
where it was first seen," says Gamini Obeysekara, Polonnaruwa correspondent
of Rupavahini. "It was about 3km away from me," he says.
However, this "UFO" sighting has still not been confirmed, even though many
predictions were being made. "Members of the Sri Lanka UFO Research
Association will proceed to Polonnaruwa to get an on-the report on Saturday
as 95% of the sightings could be fabrications," says Chandana Jayaratne,
Senior lecturer in the Physics department, University of Colombo...
Archaeological
Survey of Ceylon North-Central and Central Provinces. Annual Report 1901 by H.
C. P. Bell C.C.S. ,Archaeological Commissioner Ordered by his excellency
the Governor to be Printed. Colombo: LIII - 1907 CEYLON. Printed by H. C. Cottle,
Government Printer, Ceylon
The Site of the Sakwala
Chakraya on the bund of Tisavewa in Anuradhapura, Lanka. Text on this page
extracted from an original copy of Annual Report. The photographs were taken
when I visited the site in 1991, and again in November 1995. The site is
unmarked and unknown to most tourist guides. Maybe it should remain that way
until properly protected. Cave No 2 lies beneath the west face of the
penultimate rock forming its back and roof and floor. It was entered by a few
steps leading down from the rock ridge. A worn, and hardly recognizable
asanaya of bricks rests against the rock at back. To the left (north) of
this seat, or alter, is cut shallowly on the steeply projecting rock face a
great chakra, or circle 6 ft in diameter, scored by rectangular divisions
containing figures (mostly small circles), the whole girt, as a tyred wheel, by
a band on which is displayed variant piscine and crustacean life swimming round
from right to left.
The centre of the chakra
is filled by a large circle comprising seven concentric rings, within a square 1
ft 2 in., to which cross lines are drawn vertically and horizontally from the
encircling hand, cutting the chakra into quadrants. Further, parallel
lines divide the circles vertically into ten strips, or slices, varying in width
from 3 in. to 9 in., but matching to left and right of the central vertical
line. All strips but the outer two are bisected by the horizontal base line and
subdivided into dual or quadripartite partitions The outermost strips,
unbisected, contain a single small circle, quadrisected by cross lines, and a
figure of phallic suggestion. In each of the penultimate divisions right and
left is a tiny circle in line with the horizontal bisection of the chakra,
but nothing else. In the third pair are shown four more quadrisected circles,
two and two, one in each of the upper and lower partitions left and right. The
fourth strip to right contains four more such circles, bigger, and each in a
separate partition. But that to left has compressed its circles into a
quadripartite panel below the horizontal base line; leaving the upper panel free
for four distinct diagrams - second seven.ringed circle (differing only in size
from its larger counterpart in the centre of the chakra), beneath which
are two umbrella~like emblems, and a pinnated three.forked figure -the whole
interwined by a fret. Each of the eight divisions of the fifth strips, which
meet as one broad band, above and below the concentric ringed circle on either
side of the central vertical line of the chakra holds one of the small
circles with cross lines ; the two left upper partitions containing also a
square and a wavy diagonal line. Outside all these divisions is the 4 in tyre or
band bounding the chakra...
I watch two elderly gentlemen in a sparring contest. The now famous statement "He floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee" made about legendary boxer Mohammed Ali in Johnny Wakelins hit single in the 70's 'Black Superman' rings in my head.
I continue to watch the two sixty something men, each dressed in a white padded skinny and traditional 'Diya Katchiya', as they size the other up; floating like butterflies. I wait for the sting...it comes...so sudden that it takes me by surprise. One throws a quick punch. The other gracefully avoids it and entangles his adversary's hand in a lock, wraps his other arm around the assailant's neck and wrestles him down to submission. The two men then get up and smile at me. I have just been witness to the oldest and probably the only form of authentic Sri Lankan martial art: Angampora.
The two men giving the demonstration are two old hands at the sport. They are master Karunapala, who runs a school for Angampora in Mirihana and Rienzie Wickremasinghe. They both have practised and taught this ancient art for over five decades, and are determined to ensure that it does not die out or is subject to distortion in anyway. Both also hold the title of 'Panikkirala', the highest grade in Angampora, equivalent to the black belt in karate.
Where did this art originate? What are the fundamental principles its practitioners follow? What future does it have? With these questions in mind Sports Weekly inquired about the masters and practitioners of this ancient and elusive art. The findings amazed us.
Its History: The exact date of the origin of Angampora is not known. What is known however is that it dates back to the Anuradhapura era to the times of the ancient Sinhala kingdoms. In those days it was the fighting technique of the noblemen. Legend has it that the army that came under the command of Sapumal Kumaraya comprised fighters skilled in this martial art. Angampora continued with the Sinhala kings with the transition of the kingdoms towards the southwest of the country. However, with each new king emerged new gurus and as a result the pedigree of the gurus of Angampora got diluted...
Omens still predict both
good and evil in Sinhalese society:
Bathing on Sundays is said to
spoil the bather’s appearance; bathing on Monday improves it; Tuesday -
brings on disease, and Wednesday riches; Thursday - creates quarrels and if
one bathes on Fridays his children will die; Saturday is deemed to be the
most suitable day for bathing and is said to bring happiness. To face east
or west while taking meals is supposed to bring good luck; money
transactions held on full moon days bring ill luck.
Sinhalese –
still a superstitious society :
Ours is still a superstitious society and the commonest kind of
superstitions prevailing among the Sinhalese are those which deal with
omens, which they regard as prognostications, of both good and evil.
Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays are classed as unlucky, but for journeys
Thursdays are the best unless they happen to be astrologically unfavourable.
The best omen for a person setting out on a journey is for him to meet
anyone carrying a pot of water, milk or white flowers first. But it is
unlucky to meet those with shaven heads or with their hair (konde ) loose,
as a sign of mourning, or those with great physical defects or a woman
carrying a pot or ‘chattie’. It is also considered unlucky for a person to
stumble against something or to be interrogated as to his destination at the
outset of the journey.
Tradition: Bathing on Sundays is said to spoil the bather’s appearance; bathing on
Monday improves it; Tuesday - brings on disease, and Wednesday riches;
Thursday - creates quarrels and if one bathes on Fridays his children will
die; Saturday is deemed to be the most suitable day for bathing and is said
to bring happiness. To face east or west while taking meals is supposed to
bring good luck; money transactions held on full moon days bring ill luck.
Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are bad for visiting, and July is considered
to be an unlucky month for weddings just as May is in England. Talking of
weddings, there is a strange ancient custom followed still in "bringing home
the bride" - the bride is obliged to walk in front of her husband, always
keeping in his sight; the traditional reason given for this is that once a
bridegroom who had walked in front had had his bride carried off from behind
him before he was aware of it, and the newly made husband is not very eager
for history to repeat itself in his case at least...
Even today the elephant
has a prominent place in Buddhism unlike other animals. It is the only animal
possessed of grace to carry the sacred reliquary containing the 'Danta-dhatu'
(Tooth-relic) of the Buddha, in the annual Esala Perahera in Kandy. All Buddhist
temples follow the same procedure in choosing an elephant to carry the relics in
procession, as no major Buddhist procession is complete without at least a
single elephant, ornately caparisoned to walk majestically through the streets. ‘The torn boughs
trailing o'er the tusks aslant,
The saplings reeling on the path he trod;
Declare his might: our lord the elephant, Chief of the ways of God’.
(Rudyard Kipling 1865-1936)
The life and habitat of the elephant are
provocative of wonder and demand our reverence, since both its evolution and
influence upon mankind have always been found to be most fascinating,
bewitching, enchanting, charming and delightful. The interesting roles it has played in
myths, legends, religion, history, folklore and war, notwithstanding its recent
prominence in politics; its association with man and the services rendered to
him from remote antiquity; the symbolic splendour of its colossal body, let
alone flesh, to be balanced on bones; its place in circuses and menageries, in
wildlife sanctuaries and zoological gardens and, above all, its graceful and
majestic appearance have been well attested, expressed and documented in various
works of art and literature down the ages. The elephant belongs to the animal order
Proboscidea (possessed of a trunk) and to the sub-order of ungulates (hoofed
digitigrade mammals). The two species of elephants now extinct are the mammoth
(Elephas premiginius) and the mastodon (Elephas odontos). The two existing
species are the Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus) and the African elephant (Elephas
africanus)...
A second GDN reader has come forward claiming to have seen a UFO over Bahrain on Monday evening, but one of the country's top astronomers has dismissed suggestions that it was a flying saucer. Indian Joy Michael, aged 35, claimed he saw a "strange sight" over the Bahrain Financial Harbour (BFH) at around 6.10pm while he was driving home from work.Mr Michael, who works as an administration and finance officer at Techind, said he told his friends about it, but they also dismissed the... Read More
The X-Files have been opened: in a victory for ufo-logists everywhere, the man from the ministry not only admits he has an open mind about the existence of extra-terrestrial lifeforms but also keeps a careful tally of UFO sightings. Following a request under the Freedom of Information Act by the Financial Times, the Ministry of Defence has revealed it remains "totally open-minded" about the possibility that life exists beyond Earth.The MoD has released a detailed log of reported uniden... Read More
People are again reporting heavy UFO sighting in Nicobar Island, Andaman, India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka coastal areas. The animals in these areas are again showing strange behavior. The fishermen and their families this time are taking these signs seriously and are refusing to move near the ocean. The tribal people of Andaman Nicobar Island have again moved to the high grounds. The sea birds are also showing strange signals.The UFO sightings happen at night with strange lights. The continuation... Read More
Tom Parker: It's late afternoon in Yala national park, and Priviraj Fernando, a scientist from Sri Lanka's Centre for Conservation and Research, is carefully attaching movement-sensitive cameras to posts on the park boundary. "We're hoping to catch the albino elephant on film, many herds come through here at night," Dr Fernando tells me, pointing out the piles of dung and the stripped branches of the acacia plants which they eat. The 11-year-old female - nicknamed Sue - was... Read More
To the untrained eye, it's just a bit on the pale side. To scientists and Buddhists, it's a miracle. White elephants are seen once in a blue moon. So it seems apt that such a fabled creature was sighted in southern Sri Lanka last month during precisely such a rare lunar event (when a second full moon appears in a single month). And after government scientists confirmed that the fair-skinned elephant with a herd in the forests near Yala national park could be classified as a true albino,... Read More
A rare albino elephant has been spotted roaming Sri Lanka's Ruhunu National Park, the first recorded sighting in the country. The pale-skinned pachyderm, thought to be around 11 years old, lives with a 17-strong herd of adult females and youngsters. Tracking the herd's movements could help researchers devise new strategies for the protection and management of Sri Lanka's elephants. "This is a rare and excellent opportunity for research," says Dayananda Kariyawasam, directo... Read More
Reference
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UFO sightings have been
reported from various parts of Sri Lanka over the years. Hundreds of people have
seen UFO phenomena over Sri Lanka according to professor Chandana Jayaratne of
the University of Colombo who has investigated some cases of UFO. Some predict that the
Extra Terrestrials could either be on the lookout for technology that was used
to construct sacred buildings or may be an attempt to locate the "Vishva Yathura"
(Key to the Universe)!
The UFO analysts believe that UFO lights that moves two feet off the ground
could be an alien probe. "They could be doing a research," he says. "Extra
Terrestrials may be seeking the 'Key' to the 'Star Gate' and thereby activate a
system of travel that transcends conventional space travel to reach another
galaxy." 
Archaeological
Survey of Ceylon North-Central and Central Provinces. Annual Report 1901 by H.
C. P. Bell C.C.S. ,Archaeological Commissioner Ordered by his excellency
the Governor to be Printed. Colombo: LIII - 1907 CEYLON. Printed by H. C. Cottle,
Government Printer, Ceylon
I watch two elderly gentlemen in a sparring contest. The now famous statement "He floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee" made about legendary boxer Mohammed Ali in Johnny Wakelins hit single in the 70's 'Black Superman' rings in my head.
I continue to watch the two sixty something men, each dressed in a white padded skinny and traditional 'Diya Katchiya', as they size the other up; floating like butterflies. I wait for the sting...it comes...so sudden that it takes me by surprise. One throws a quick punch. The other gracefully avoids it and entangles his adversary's hand in a lock, wraps his other arm around the assailant's neck and wrestles him down to submission. The two men then get up and smile at me. I have just been witness to the oldest and probably the only form of authentic Sri Lankan martial art: Angampora.
© by M. B.
Dassanayake
by Ariyadasa Ratnasinghe
