Lankan History with Achinthya Nanayakkara

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...

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...