A RELIGLOUS FESTIVAL

        There are several religious festivals in Sri Lanka. Among them Weak is regarded as the most important religious festival. It held in the month of May every year. It marks three important events in the life of Lord Buddha. They are the Birth, the Enlightenment and the Passing away of Lord Buddha.

 

          Most of the people observe “Sill” on this day. They engage in various religious activities too. They listen to sermons and other religious talks. All these acts purify their thoughts.

 

          Houses are decorated with Weak lanterns and other decorations. They are also illuminated with colored bulbs.

 

          Thousands of devotees go on pilgrimages to important religious places. Pandas are erected at public places. These pandas depict illustrations from the “birth stories” of Lord Buddha. They are illuminated with thousands of colored bulbs.

 

          Weak is a busy day for children. They make Weak lanterns in various shapes. There are Weak lantern competitions too. Prizes are also offered to best creations.

 

          Dansals are organized by the youth. They serve the tired devotees with refreshments. 

 

          In the evening all families go to village temple. They offer flowers and worship Lord Buddha. They also burn joss sticks and light ail lamps. Their minds are filled with purified thoughts. Herds of cattle that are taken to slaughter houses are freed by certain Buddhist organizations. It is a great meritorious deed. Liquor shops are closed on this day.

 

          Newspapers carry special supplements including articles on the importance of the Weak day. Sermons and other religious talks are telecast through all the channels of the T.V.

 

          People realize the value of leading a religious life on this day. They determine to give up all misdeeds done by them. They realize the value of self – help too.

 

          May the people of different races and religions forget their differences and live happily in peace and harmony on this three – blessed Weak day. 

         
 

My web blog      :- http://.Jayanath.wordpress.com

Home page         :- www.oasisdamahana.org / Student

E-mail                 :- lasanthajp@yahoo.com

                             lasanthalaayanath@esrilanka.lk

OUR CULTURAL HERITAGE

       The people of Sri Lanka have inherited a great culture and a civilization. Archaeological evidence exists to prove that Sri Lanka has been populated for over 3000 years. There is also confirmed archaeological evidence to say that in about 800 B.C. the Sinhalese had settled down in the citadel area in Anuradhapura with a highly developed culture.

 

          There are many places of historical and cultural importance. Lot of ruins can be seen at these places. Some of these places are Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla, Sigiriya, Yapahuwa and Panduwasnuwara. We should protect the remains of these ruined cities because they are the monuments that symbolize the great past of our country. We can imagine the skills and talents of our ancestors through these buildings, structures, and images. We should preserve them for our future generation. One day they too will look at these monuments with pride.

 

          Buddhism has not only molded the lives and thoughts of the people, but also has served as the chief source of inspiration to the cultural and social achievements of the nation. During the long and eventful history the island was subject to numerous foreign invasions. But our people were able to protect almost all the objects that were of cultural value.

 

          We have many traditional arts and crafts. We should protect them. In cities like Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa we can see huge stone pillars, Buddha Statues, Moonstones, Guard stones and ruins of ancient Dagabas. These cities have become very popular places of tourists. We should never forget our traditional customs and practices. We follow these customs at our National festivals such as Sinhala and Hindu New Year and lndependence day celebrations. We should pass on these customs and practices to our younger generation. We should make them aware of the value of such customs and practices.

 

          We should also protect aesthetic arts and clothing native to us. It is said that a race could be identified by their dress. We should were such clothes at important events, cultural festivals and religious ceremonies. We should give priority to our traditional music. But today most of our youth have compelled to respect Hindi and Western Music. This is a very sad state of affairs.

  

My web blog      :- http://.Jayanath.wordpress.com

Home page         :- www.oasisdamahana.org / Student

E-mail                 :- lasanthajp@yahoo.com

                             lasanthalaayanath@esrilanka.lk                 

 

 

My hobby

            Almost everyone has a hobby. A person who pursues a hobby is never dull or  idle. It helps to spend our leisure in a meaningful and useful manner.

            There are many different kinds of hobbies. Many take the form of collecting. Some collect coins, picture post cards and sea shells. My hobby is collecting stamps. It is also called philately. A person who collects stamps is called a philatelist. We can learn many things through this hobby. It is instructive, educational and also profitable.

           Now I have nearly nine hundred stamps, both local and foreign. I get stamps from my friends and from my pen-pals. I have three foreign pen pals. They all are stamp collectors. When I get more than one stamp of the same kind, I exchange them with others. I have two stamp albums. I have pasted all stamps in them neatly.

           Now I will tell how I became a stamp collector. About five years ago, my father took me to see a stamp exhibition. There were thousands of colorful stamps there; both local and foreign. I was so attracted by the colorful stamps that I started collecting stamps from the following day itself.

           We can learn about the culture, fauna and flora, history, discoveries, inventions and biographies of great men through stamps.

           The rare and very old stamps can be sold at very high prices. There are stamps in various shapes. Some are in square, rectangular and triangular shape. Some are large and some are small.

           In postage stamps there are errors, freaks and flaws. There stamps are considered rare. Such stamps fetch great prices.

           I also collect First Day covers. First Day covers are issued on the day a stamp is newly released. There fore first day covers are as valuable as stamps.

My web blog      :- www.Jayanath.wordpress.com

Home page         :- www.oasisdamahana.org / Student

E-mail                 :- lasanthajp@yahoo.com

                              lasanthalaayanath@esrilanka.lk                 

              

  

 

Dambulla

          Dambulla is one of the places of historical importance in Sri Lanka. It is situated exactly 160 KMS from Colombo at the very end of North –Western Province and right at the beginning of the North–Central Province.

          Dambulla is the centre of the Cultural Triangle and is in close proximity to all cultural and archaeological sites in the island. It is a city which has a great and glamorous value not only towards the history and the heritage of Sri Lanka but for Sri Lanka’s Tourist industry.

          Tourists who come to Sri Lankan never fail to visit Dambulla. Their main attractions are Dambulla historical temple and Sigiriya Fortress. Sigiriya is world famous for its frescoes. This historical place is considered the eighth wonder of the world. It is situated about ten KMS away from Dambulla. Other attractive places are picturesque Kandalama tank, Kaludiya Pokuna (Pond) and Namal Uyana. This city belongs to the dry zone. The largest market of Sri Lanka is situated in Dambulla. It is called “The economic center”. The city becomes a height of activity during the evening until late in the night since it is the hub for distributing vegetables throughout the entire southern sector of the island. Almost all the vegetables grown in Sri Lanka can be seen here.
          You can experience the hobby of bird watching at Kandalama. Kingfishers, woodpeckers, parrots, pigeons, colorful Ladybirds and several migrant birds can be seen there. Dambulla has a hot and humid climate throughout the year. Wild elephants too can be seen at Habarana, a village situated few miles away from Dambulla.
         The ebony and the satin wood are the valuable trees grown in this area. The chief subsistence crop is rice.
         There is an international level cricket stadium too in Dambulla. Nearly twenty hotels in and around Dambulla provide all the modern facilities for tourists.

My web blog       :- www.Jayanath.wordpress.com

Home page          :- www.oasisdamahana.org / Student

E-mail                  :- lasanthajp@yahoo.com

                              lasanthalaayanath@esrilanka.lk                 

              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lasantha Jayanath Peellawaththa

I am Lasantha Jayanath Peellawaththa. I’m from Galgoda, Balangoda in Sri Lanka. I am studying in grade 12 Commerce section in R/Damahana M.V. (College).

               Also I am a member of “oasisdamahana Foundation” where we leara ICT. We are involved in differeat tasks using computers. Writing “web-blog” is a main task there. Besides that we also make websites for ourselves. Further, I am involved in doing videography and video editing where I am making progress. However, in order to continue doing all this I greatly needed a personal computer. I am very happy to say that fulfilling my dream, Mr. Nimal Tissera of Canada generously made a contribution through the Horizon Lanka’s “Digital Butterfly” programme to help me get a pc. I used the donations and my own savings to get a Pentium– 4 PC. So I am very proud to do my tasks more accurately and efficiently.
             I am very thankful to those who supported me and guided me so far.

My web blog      :- http://.Jayanath.wordpress.com

Home page         :- www.oasisdamahana.org /  Student

E-mail                 :- lasanthajp@yahoo.com

                              lasanthalaayanath@esrilanka.lk