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Did King Buwanekabahu IV use Eyewear? Unverified Lore and Brief History of SL Optometry

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First and foremost, forgive the imagery being ai generated, it is for illustration purposes only and I don't have funds to commission a real artist 😅. The Sri Lanka Optometric Association website states that "Sri Lanka has a tradition in eye care that extends back to the mist of history. It is well documented that during the reign of King Bhuvanekabahu the IV (AD 1346 – 1353) of the Gampola period the ancient tradition of optical lens making with natural stone was revitalized and given royal patronage. However, there is ample indications that this craft and the technical knowhow existed and flourished dwell before this period. To further develop the crafts, the practitioners and artisans were given royal protection and a vast area of land was designated so that they could live and practice their craft free of any taxes levied by the king and the produce of the land area allocated to them was for their personal use. A few of the craftsman still live and practice in the origina...
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Green Medical School - The First Med School in Sri Lanka

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The Colombo Medical Faculty was established at around 1870, and tends to be considered the first western medical school in SL, and the second in South Asia after the Calcutta Medical College (1835). However, there was a med school set-up in Manipay in 1848, by Dr. Samuel Green, a missionary doctor from Boston, Massachussets. Dr. John Scudder was the first medical missionary in Jaffna, establishing a dispensary in Pandathirrippu in 1820, illustrated in image 3. And while there had been hospitals operated by the Portuguese and Dutch, they were mostly for their own use, they couldn't rlly be considered the 'modern' medicine, practiced since 1800s or so. Dr. Samuel Green similarly opened his clinic in 1847 (Image 4), which would eventually evolve into the Green Memorial Hospital, which is still operational to this day. The Green Med School trained around 80 doctors from 1850-1875, from local community, who were employed by the British colonial government. There was also a Green...
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Mideaval Polonnaruwa-Era Canoe and some Pre-Colonial Naval Lore

So this is a dug-out canoe/logboat dated to Polonnaruwa period, now housed at the Colombo Museum. Other than it's length, which I forgot, and it being discovered in Gal Oya region, I couldn't find any more information on it. Not in the plaque, and any search online shall only yield advertisements for tourists. Anyways, I think it's amazing that we have a canoe from mideaval Rajarata period, made from wood and it was rlly rlly long.. the dimensions are impressive. Our maritime history is not something that always comes to light, with King Parakramabahu's naval invasion of Pagan (Burma) and Pandya being the most notable. But it did continue even after the transitional period. According to 'Warfare in Sri Lanka', by Siriweera and de Silva, Sitawaka Rajasinghe had a naval force of 22 ships and 18 large 'dhonies', which were sheltered in the Kelani valley and mobilized later to attack Colombo by sea. This was somewhere between 1581 and 1587, back when he stil...
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Polonnaruwa Era had Paintings Too! Not Just Rock Carvings and Inscriptions. Thivanka Pilimage Paintings Reproduced in Colombo Museum

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Mideaval Polonnaruwa, at first glance, seems to be but carvings of and on stone, and rocks. It is very easy to forget that Paintings also were a thing in this era, until one steps into the Thivanka Pilimage, now a ruin with am intact stone roof, and notable for having a modern metal roof and scaffolding to protect it further. Upon entering inside, where photography is prohibited, one might get to glance at some of these Paintings in the very dim light, most of which are in dark corners and cannot be seen from the main sanctum. One may forget about the Paintings even existing after leaving the Pilimage. That is until realising that these paintings have been re-created and are on display in the Colombo museum.. available for all see it's beauty, and how tall and big they are, in full illumination. As a kid, one would glance and pass this gallery, as it would just say "Thivanka Pilimage Art" and it just doesn't sound too significant. It's only after visiting the Pili...
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Sri Lankan Indigenous Gun Tech, also Our Heritage

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Sri Lanka had gunpowder tech 200 years before Portuguese arrival and known of such tech since Dambadeniya period. All gun images above r made by Sri Lankans, and horns and pouches to store the powder.. Image 3 and 4 are of the Kandyan Wall Guns. the Mahathuwakku, its gigantism can be seein in comparison to myself (BOOM BOOM to the Dutch trying to get in). And image 5 is the mahathuwakku of Sri Wikrama Rajasinghe's personal armory!! Its almost comedic to see Temple art of a dudes with a guns. And 9,10 r literally called Kodithuwakku 😭. We had canons too, the golden one, although rly rlly small belonged to Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe, recently returned by the Dutch Rijksmuseum (A reddit post on that ) [Image courtesies to the Colombo National Museum and their non-restriction of photography as long as not used for profit.. that's fair use and I'm not advocating for firearms, merely appreciating our indigenous guns on visits to the museum] As stated in the plaque in image 7. we had...
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Chola Inscriptions from Sri Lanka, at Colombo Museum

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These photos are of 3 Chola inscriptions from 10th/11th centuries AD, from the Colombo National Museum. Although from SL, they are Chola, which also makes them heritage of Tamil Nadu too. Tamil Nadu and SL during mideaval and ancient times had amazing histories and heritages. (Courtesy of Colombo Museum) The above '2 inscription 1 pillar' inscription, "refers to an endowment for the burning of the perpetual Lamp at Teruviramesvaram at Matota [Mannar] by a dignitary serving under king Rajendra Cola (1012-1044 AC). Three merchant had accepted responsibilties for the endowment". The Cholas had control over the three key seaports at Mannar, Jaffna, and even Trincomalee (Thirukkomalai/Thrikunaamalai), which is a huge leg-up in the Indian Ocean. The Merchant Guilds were an integral part of Chola way of doing things.. there are coins of Nanadesin and Ayinurwur merchant guilds even as south as Hambanthota, and this inscription depicts that aspect, that merchants were given ke...
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Sri Lanka, 250 million years into Past and Future

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250 million years ago was the Triassic period, the supercontinent Pangea, which roughly existed upto the Jurassic (Image 1,2). I like how Sri Lanka was just sandwiched between Antarctica, Mozambique, Madagascar, and Kerala. It's interesting to think that during this age of the dinosaurs, one would be able to walk from what at present are; Matara/Hambanthota/Galle to 'Norwegian' Antarctica, Kalutara/Colombo to Mozambique, Mannar/Kilinocci/Jaffna to Madagascar, and Batticaloa/Trincomalee to Kerala. I couldn't find anything about the fauna of SL in this period.. which is not cool.. there must've been all sorts of animals roaming around, but the very limited fossil records just have to offer ferns. Bruh. Also Triassic 'SL' was soo south of the equator, so must've experienced seasons too. Snow? I don't have sources. There r 4 major models on the future continents 250 million years into the future. The most popular online, but seemingly the second most lik...
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