Devas, Demons and Buddhist Cosmology in Sri Lanka

Devas, Demons and Buddhist Cosmology in Sri Lanka
Author: Achala Gunasekara-Rockwell
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2022-08-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000630862

This book examines the worship of devas and demons in Sri Lanka, illustrating how diverse influences interacted to create the Sinhala Buddhist cosmology. The work explains the processes by which apotheosis plays an important role in revitalizing that cosmology. The author offers an examination of holy sites associated with the worship of Hūniyam. These sacred spaces each have a unique background historically, and the ritualists associated with these sites have divergent understandings concerning Hūniyam. Building upon the examination of the temples, the book delves into the iconography of Hūniyam, illustrating his transformation from demon to deity in the manner that he is depicted in imagery associated with his worship. The book moves to a discussion of Aritṭ ạ Kivenḍu Perumāl, a South Indian adventurer, demonstrating the likelihood that he is the historical figure later apotheosized as Hūniyam. Sri Lankan society felt his impact so strongly that in death he became a demon in the Sinhala Buddhist cosmology. Finally, the book demonstrates that the same apotheosis processes are at work today. This book will be of interest to researchers and students engaged in the study of religion, anthropology, folklore, and history, specifically in the South Asian context.

Language Legislation and Linguistic Rights

Language Legislation and Linguistic Rights
Author: Douglas A. Kibbee
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 432
Release: 1998-01-01
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027218323

The contributions to this volume cover a broad range of issues in language policy that are hotly debated in every corner of the globe. The articles included investigate the implications of language policies on the notion of language rights as the issues are played out in very specific circumstances — from the courtroom in Australia to the legislature in California to the educational system in England to the administrative practices of the European Commission. The authors explore conflicts between basic conceptions of fairness in justice, administration and education on the one hand, and political and economic realities on the other. Articles focus on langage issues in the United States, Canada, Brazil, England, France, Slovakia, Russia, Sri Lanka, Australia and several African states. Other articles consider the implications of new supernational agreements — the European Union, NAFTA, GATT, the OAU — on language issues in the signatory states. In sum the volume offers an extensive presentation of current issues and practices in language policy and linguistic human rights.

This Inscrutable Englishman

This Inscrutable Englishman
Author: Brendon Gooneratne
Publisher: Burns & Oates
Total Pages: 320
Release: 1999
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

Sir John D'Oyly accomplished the seemingly impossible with the annexation on behalf of the British Crown of Sri Lanka's fiercely independent Kingdom of Kandy in 1815. This biography looks at his conduct and motives.

Kandy at War

Kandy at War
Author: Channa Wickremesekera
Publisher:
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN:

The Many Faces of the Kandyan Kingdom 1591-1765

The Many Faces of the Kandyan Kingdom 1591-1765
Author: Gananath Obeyesekere
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2020
Genre: Kandy (Sri Lanka)
ISBN: 9789557743066

Surrounded by magnificent mountains, the city of Kandy, home of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth and the Royal Palace, was the capital of Lanka for about three hundred years. Gananath Obeysekere paints a vivid portrait of the kings of these great green highlands of Kandy, revealing a complex and advanced society every bit as violent as any other civilization. Focusing on kings Vimaladharmasuriya 1, Rajasinha II, Sri Vijaya Rajasinha and Kirti Sri Rajasinha, he brings the Kandyan monarchy to life, depicting them not as mythic figures but as real flesh and blood, larger than life characters who ruled over the last citadel of Lankan aristocracy