Kandy or Senkadagala-Willful Distortion of Our Heritage and Names

 Kandy or Senkadagala-Willful Distortion of Our Heritage and Names

I was born an bread in Kandy.

My childhood doctors were Dr. Dharmasena. His clinic is where now the Buddhist Publication Society is located.

His contribution to Buddhism was enormous.

 

Later Dr. Nihal Karunatatne was my family doctor. 

He did come from my college and never charged any fees from my father. His son who was a doctor I have taught in the Medical Facility.

 

His interest was racing not medicine.

 

Dr. Nihal Karunatatne was a dedicated Buddhist and his major contribution was the Book on Kandy City with beautiful photographs. I did not buy the book since, I have have visited all those places and had my own photographs.

My hobby except for sports was photography.

 I have given up after digital cameras came into exitance.

 

He based his book from knowledge collected from Buddhist Monks. 

When I was a kid the Chief of Kandy Saranakkara Vihara was one of my paternal uncle's. I used to carry Dhana to the temple on regular basis. There was no attempt to convert me to a monk but one of my maternal side monk did try to convince me to become a monk. 

I refused. 

He was the Chief of Diwrum Bodiya in Ampitiya, Kandy, where Kings used to take oaths. 

We did not possess any land in Kandy, mostly belonged to the Temple. From Kandy we were relocated to Ampitiya where my maternal grand parents bought property. 

We were originally from Matale. 

My guess was we were pushed as far back as Matale by the British.

 

We were persecuted by British due to Kandyan Uprising. 

 

When I went to UK, the very first thing I did was to go to British Museum. 

There is a list of our relations killed recorded there for public consumption, a sort of subtle intimidation.

But we survived to visit there base in London. 

My cousin was in the same plane but I do not think he made a a name in England. I lost touch with him.

It was my mother's request that I went to the British Museum and once to the science museum with my wife when we got married. She worked for the British Council.

 

British of course doctored the history of Kandy and Kandy landscape. 

They changed the Kandy Lake and original lake was where now Borambara Ground is located. 

The original Lake Road is behind the Wembly Theater.

 

Professor Anuradha Seneviratne has written excellent books on Kandy. 

Peradeniya Botanical Garden in my opinion was a smaller garden during kings time. 

I was a Graduate from Peradeniya and there is not a place I have not visited basically walked in Kandy from Teldeniya to Lewella to Ampitiya to Kataesla to Lewla to Manikhinna to Rajawatta to Mylapitiya.

 

I have not heard any of names recently revisited by a Buddhist monk on YouTube. 

 

It is based on names from literary exegesis and not not fact based. I have no inclination say anything on this.

Too, late too little achieved.

 

Besides I have written a Book on Ceylon and it based on prehistoric facts and survey records. 

I have looked at every inch of Kandy map to fight a case against Kandy Municipality. 

 

I won the case and had a binding injunction where the Municipality workers could not visit my land under 48 hours notice even to read the electricity or or water bills. 

 

Municipality created by British and has enormous powers. 

No lawyer wanted represent me. I fought the case single handed when JVP threatened to kill anybody who attended the Courts.

I dared them.

I could never obtain the membership of the D.S. Senanayake Library but I was regular member of the British Council Library and the American Foundation Library. 

I won a General Knowledge Championship conducted by Asia Foundation beating all other kids from Kandy. 

No wonder, I entered Medical Faculty on first attempt and now in Australia.

I have an eagle eye cannot let NPP/JVP affiliates who are willfully destroying the History of Kandy. 

 

They are all Niragamikayo!

 

Some misguided monks are giving a helping the hand.

These guys neither were born nor lived in Kandy.

They all are outside visitors.

 

I was involved in a clinical Survey of Kaduganna as a medical student.

 

I have two books on Ceylon and Rivers of Ceylon. 

 

I was particularly interested in the Mahaveli contour in and around Kandy city.

I used to go to the Elephant Bath on weekly basis, it is under water now..

I had the Surveyor General's big book and all the plans/maps of Kandy city up to 1952.

By the way, all the guys who were involved in Mahaveli Scheme were my batch mates. I used to visit all the sites, before and after the construction. Most of them have left us or left this country for good. They were not given permanent jobs after the completion of the project. They were hired hands and all of them had malaria within one year of leaving Mahaveli Project.

I was their doctor.

I formulated how to diagnose malaria using those records.

The clinical presentation was entirely different.

We developed chloroquine resistance in no time.

We cleared  Malaria from this country in 1968.

 

I donated the Surveyor general's big book to my best friend in Ceylon. He is a guy who travel all the places in Ceylon by foot from the last railway or bus terminal.

 

He is not a big talker but a real walker.  

Please do not distort Kandy History to earn a fast buck. 

These monks do not know how to read a map especially posted by Surveyor General.