Archive for August, 2008

We are going to Sri Pada(Put print of Load Buddha)

August 30, 2008 · Filed under Heritage · Tagged , ,

Reported by : Gayanthi Dilrukshi

About four decades ago we went on a pilgrimage to sripada as a novice with a large number of pilgrims led by a leader known as “Nade gura”. We went fully prepared in full faith to worship this hold place. It was considered a sacred pilgrimage Because the people be lived it to be a place full of miracles, as it is a holy mountain guard by God Saman. All of us climber the mountain at night singing devotional songs. We had to be very careful about our speech and behavior
.Because it was said that God Saman gets offended for such things and gives punishments.
Unlike today those days it was very difficult to climb as there weren’t electricity water supply and steps.

People of all faith used to go on pilgrimage to the hold place.  So nobody consumed liquor or sang songs while going up hill and down hill. There wasn’t any police or security guard at the holy place because nobody expect devotees climbed this place. There were in stories of punishments given by the God Saman to the misdemeanors
.But now…. Everybody goes to sripada just to enjoy but not to worship with devotion. It’s a place full of thugs. Pick pockets and rogues, some are used to polluting this holy place by dumping garbage. So there police check points and guards to bring such culprits to book. As a result of that. I am reluctant to visit this holy place any more.

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THE PROBLEM OF STREET CHILDREN IN SRILANKA.

August 30, 2008 · Filed under community · Tagged , ,

Reported By: Lasantha jayanath

Social problems are prevailing in every developing country. In Sri Lanka too there are several such problems. The problem of street children is one of them.
Hundreds of street children can be seen in our populous cities like Colombo, Kandy and Kurunegala. Most of them are in the age group of 5-10 years. The number of street children is increasing day by day.
Why have they become street children? This situation has been arisen due to several factors prevailing in our society. Unemployment, parental death and illness and acute poverty are some of them. These factors have paved the way for these children to leave their homes in search of jobs.
It is said that parental love and affection is essential for both mental and physical development of a child. All these children have lost their parental love and affection. There is no one to look after them. So they roam here and there in the streets. The chief means of living of most of these children is begging. Some children are engaged in odd jobs like pushing carts, washing plates and scavenging. They earn a few rupees by doing such odd jobs. Most of these children compel to engage in illegal and anti-social activities. It has been revealed that certain affluent people employ these children in their illegal businesses such as selling drugs and illicit liquor.
There children have no permanent abode. They have no beautiful clothes to wear. They have no chance of receiving education. They have no comfortable beds to sleep. They sleep in a corner of a building or under the shade of a tree or somewhere in the street. They wear ragged clothes. They eat rubbish dumped in dust bins. They have been deprived of all the privileges enjoyed by the other children.
The government has set up a separate department called “The department of Probation and Child care” for the benefit of these children. But the government alone cannot solve this problem. There should be benefactors for them. The chances of enjoying the Child’s rights depend on the generosity of the more affluent. The social services organizations and other voluntary organizations should extend their co-operation towards the government to solve this problem.

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A FOLK TALE.

August 16, 2008 · Filed under community · Tagged , ,

A folk tale is a story originating among the people and handed down by them. There are many folk tales in Sri Lanka. Here is one of them. This story is about the weaver bird.
Long ago, there was a skilled basket weaver. He was able to weave beautiful cane baskets. One day one of his friends came to his house and admired the beautiful baskets. Then he asked the weaver whether he could teach this craft to his son. Then the weaver gave the following reply.
“I can teach him how to weave, but he will have to help me in my work.” He agreed to that condition and after one week his son came to the weaver’s house and began to work with him. Everyday, the boy had to go to the jungle and bring back some cane. It was a very difficult task. But he did everything happily. Within a short time the boy learnt to weave beautiful baskets. He could work faster than the weaver.
The weaver was jealous of the boy. One night, the weaver killed the boy. God Sacra saw it. He was very angry. He disguised himself as an old man and came to the weaver’s house.
“Why did you kill that innocent boy?” he asked. The weaver thought for a while and decided to tell the truth.
“I was jealous of the boy. So I killed him” he said.
“You told me the truth. You will be able to weave beautifully, but I am going to change you into a bird” said God Sacra, The old weaver looked sad.
“You killed your friend’s son. Your enemies will try to harm your young ones. You will have to work hard to protect them” God Sacra said. At once, the weaver vanished. In his place there was a little brown bird. That bird is the weaver bird. It has to work hard to make its nest safe for its young ones. The entrance to the nest is at the bottom, so snakes cannot get into the nest. The weaver bird is able to protect its young ones.

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Kohomba tree

August 16, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged , , ,

The Kohomba tree has a medicinal value. The Tamils call it “Vempu.” The flowering season of the tree is between March and April. Every part of this tastes bitter. It has yellowish green fruits. It is used to make herbal oil. The speed is valuable as an insecticide some use the twigs of this tree as a tooth brush. The green leaves are insect resistant. They are kept in between the pages of books to prevent insects from destroying pages. This tree is considered as one of the most precious trees in the world.

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DRUG MENACE

August 10, 2008 · Filed under community · Tagged , ,

Written By:- Lasantha jayanath.

Drug menace has become a burning in Sri Lanka. The number of drug addicts is increasing day by day.

As described the Psychologists, drug addiction is a state of indiscriminate of herbs and herbal preparations, which enslaves the user to them. This is not something new in human society. What is new and alarming is the indiscriminate use of drugs on an unimaginably large scale which may be attributed to spiritual and religious value systems that kept man integrated as person and with his family and society.

Some of these drugs are Cannabis, heroin, brown sugar, cocaine, LSD and marijuana. It appears that the most widely used drug is heroin. Drug addiction is fast spreading in urban areas of our country. According to the Police reports 50% of all crimes in Sri Lanka are drug related. Dope peddlers earn a large sum of money through this business.

The drug addicts think only of their temporary satisfaction. They never realize its harmful effects. When a person takes drugs he abruptly becomes insane. He does not know who he is and what he is doing. He cannot identify even his own brothers and sisters. It is said that even school children are addicted to drugs. This is a very sad state of affairs. At present Counseling canters have been set up in several government hospitals to give free advice and treatment for drug addicts. Special programmers must be implemented throughout the country in order to make all keenly aware of the harmful effects of the drugs.

The government alone cannot solve this problem. All the social services organizations and voluntary organizations must extend their co-operation towards the government to eradicate the drug menace.

Smoking is also a baneful habit. It has been revealed that smoking is increasing in developing countries such as Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia. Despite the anti-tobacco campaign worldwide, global consumption of tobacco grows rapidly. Rate of smoking among the youth too has been increased. The World Health Organization says that tobacco use is a communicated disease, communicated through advertising and sponsorship of mainly sports. Tobacco advertising directly or means of sports helps persuade non-smokers to start smoking and helps dissuade smoker from quitting. Tobacco companies spend hundreds of millions of dollar every year into sponsoring sports events worldwide. Many athletes, sports fans and spectators of sporting events are young people and it is those young whom the tobacco companies are targeting through sponsorship and advertising. This is a very sad state of affairs.

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Pettigala Mountain

August 9, 2008 · Filed under Heritage · Tagged , ,

This mountain is the highest place in Balangoda. It is about 4500 feet above sea level. There are many trees in this area. There are Nadun, Dhamba, Mila, Kithul. Nelly, Siyambala etc.
This is a large forest and animals such as Monkeys, deer, and and bears wild live there. Inside the forest is very dark. There are Some caves also.
There are beautiful water falls and springs here. Balangoda town’s water supply depends on these water sourcers.
The villagers get kithul toddy and make honey and jugarry from the kithul trees in the forest. They do this in groups and they earn their living from this.
There are some big Rocks also. We can see the tops of some rocks. The top of one vast rock is octercal shape. Some times this should be the reason for it’s name “pettigala”.

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Sooriya Kanda

August 9, 2008 · Filed under Heritage · Tagged , , ,

Sooriya kanda is a part of “Sinharaja forest” this is a very beautiful mountain. There are mammals, reptiles, birds fishes also in the forest. The dangerous animals like leopards and bears also live there. There are many fruits and medicinal plants in this forest. The “Deniyaya” road goes across this mountain. T.V Towers are also situated in the forest. There are springs, caves and lots of valuable herbs in this large forest

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