The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017
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Item Railway to the Sacred City and Pilgrims from the South: This presentation envisages the connection between building railways and pilgrimage to Anuradhapura(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) de Zoysa, A.From a larger research on the “Rediscovery of Anuradhapura” by the British Orientalists and its elevation from a “Buried City” to a “Holy City”, I wish to present how modern transport enhanced pilgrims to visit Anuradhapura which triggered off events that finally led to the Anurdhapura Riots in 1903. I also argued in this study, that maybe the most affluent “new Buddhists” from the maritime mercantile sector of the coastal region from Chilaw to Colombo, supported this venture and not the Buddhists of the Upcountry Kandyan or Sabaragamuwa Region. During the times of the last Kandyan Kings only a few sites such as the Sri Maha Bodhi and Ruvanveliseya were visited by pilgrims. As there were no excavations of Auradhapura prior to the British occupation of Ceylon, the city remains as recorded in the writings of colonial administrators as a “buried city” that had to be excavated? In 1890 the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon undertakes the clearing of the sites and in 1894 four years later, publishes its first to seventh progress reports with actual drawings of embellishments on pillars and ground plans of stupas by Hocart. This marks the earliest endeavors to re-discover Anuradhapura from a “Buried City” of the mid eighteenth century to a “Ruined City”. Walisinha Harischandra’s (1876-1913) advent to the Buddhist Nationalist Movement seems to mark lobbying for the liberation of Anuradhapura to reclaim the city for the Buddhists and rebuild it for the pilgrims in its past glory, challaging the British who wished to preserve it as an archeological park of ruins. In 1894 Anagarika Dharmapala proposes Harischandra to take the position of secretary of the Mahabodhi Society branch in Anuradhapura. Harischanda seems to be following the trials of the colonial administration using Western knowledge, not the vernacular handed down by the pilgrims to Anuradhapura, in his initial quest to discover the city unknown to the western educated Sinhalese of the coastal region. Harischadra visits Anuradhapura for the first time as late as in 1899. He, like all other westernized Buddhists living on the coastal belt, does not seem to have acknowledged the value of the first capital till then. Just as Dharmapala wished to institute a “Holy City” in Bodhgaya, Harischanda was to make Anuradhapura the “Holy City” in the island. In 1902 the ‘Ruvanvälisēya veli chaitya Samvardhana Samithiya’ was inaugurated as the focal point for more organized activism independent from British intervention. The next year of the performance of ‘Sirisanga Bō Charitaya’ (1903) by John de Silva in Colombo gives the “Emotional fundament” for English speaking Buddihists in the quest of a National History of the Sinhalese. The Anurdhapura riots irrupt the same year. In 1904 there seems to a train service to Anuradhapura - one in the morning from Colombo and the return in the evening. Accommodation for the pilgrims seem to have been built by Mrs. S. S Fernando of Colombo and Mr. Simon de Silva of Negambo by already in 1897. The train service transports supporters from Colombo to Anuradhapura. I have also pointed in my research of an emergence of nostalgia of the glorious past was supported by other historical plays at the Tower Hall by John de Silva and Charles Dias. One may add the fact that by 1909 the Lankālōka press was publishing ‘Anuradhapura Puvat’ informing the Buddhists of the latest activities of the liberation of the city – using the print media in Sinhala to mobilize Buddhists. Momentum seems to gather in the turn of the century when trains transport printed newspapers and pamphlets from Maradana. Harischandra makes use of archaeological evidences and translations of inscriptions to substantiate the claim for the “Sacred City of Anuradhapura”. Harischanda in his ‘The Sacred City of Anuradhapura’ (1908) gives instructions to pilgrims to proceed from one place of interest to another. Into this proposed itinerary he weaves in the history of the city as narrated in the Mahāvaṃśa and photographs from the Skeen Collection. This presentation will trace the “Round Pilgrimage” (Vata Vandanava) suggested by Harischandra comparing it with the itinerary suggested in unpublished Vandanakavi from the archives of the Library of the National Museum.Item Transport & the Shaping of Sri Lanka’s History(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) Kumarage, A.S.History is shaped by diverse factors, among them the access to land, its occupation and use.Sri Lanka’s own history underlines the impact that emerging transport technology had on government, settlement and trade. Being an island country, the influences of maritime transport have had the greatest impact spanning several centuries. Thus, the Chinese, the Indians, the Malays and later the Europeans all left their mark on shaping Sri Lanka’s conomy and culture.Much has been discovered on the ports and the maritime economy that made Sri Lanka and its geographical location important to the world over the years. Much less is documented on the land transportation that connected these ports and the capital cities that rose and fell with the different kingdoms and Chola invasions. The nature of the use of waterways and the horse tracks connecting the length and breadth of the land is also yet to be fully understood. The development of internal transport technology in ancient Sri Lanka and its global comparison is an area of immense research importance to determine its contribution to the formation of our history. Modern Sri Lanka is also intensely shaped by transport technology. The current economic concentration in the Western Province stems from the strategic use of Colombo as the gateway to Europe and its internal connectivity to a network of over 200 km of inland waterways including canals, lakes and rivers. The spice and coconut industries that supported this export economy continue even to-date as a significant economic contributor. The emergence of Colombo as the modern capital of Sri Lanka was further consolidated with the subsequent hubbing of land transport networks centered on Colombo and the port. The opening of new land to further develop the export economy of value to the Europeans was the primary basis for the development of the railway and subsequently the road transport networks. The attention on accessing the hill country and the neglect of areas of traditional economies such as paddy farming especially in the dry zone meant that transport technology was a key means that led to the shaping of the current economic and social profile within Sri Lanka including the inequities arising from same. The post-independence period in Sri Lanka saw rural road construction as a means of redressing these issues followed up with an extensive bus transport network that in many ways restored the quality of rural living. If indeed such measures contributed towards Sri Lanka not having experienced the global trend of heavy urban migrations in the latter part of the 20th century remains unexplored. At the same time, the political focus on rural access was not without negative issues, as both urban transport and inter-regional transport infrastructure stagnated for several decades. It is only in the last two decades that a new highway network is being built. However, if the planning of such a network is adequately visionary to exploit new economic opportunities including the promotion of domestic trade is not well understood. The neglect of urban transport technologies including upgrading of rail and bus transport has resulted in the depletion of quality of urban life and economic competitiveness. The recent attention on public transport including the railways and bus transport augurs well for restoring a more sustainable development of transport in Sri Lanka.Item Beginning and Expansion of Transport in the Human Society(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) Udayakanthi, T.G.D.Within human Social evolution, social development link with transport. Accordingly, transport means the mobilization of living and non-living goods from one place to another. The main service of a mode of transport is to carry a person, an animal or an item from one place to another. The transport expanding worldwide in line with the rapid development through modes and in various shapes is a vital achievement of human society. Accordingly, the problem of this research was to investigate how transport system has affected to the social development. The main objective of this Research was to identify the impact of the transport for social development. Other objectives of this study were to identify means of the transport and beginning and the expansion of transport. In addition this study was conducted to identify the connection between society and transport. This study was mainly based on secondary data. The data collection sources were books, newspapers, magazines and internet. The transport creates a magnificent change in human society. It influences every social institution directly. Transport is one of the main factors of the infrastructure in any country. As main means of transport, by air, water, rail, cable, pipeline and space can be identified. For that, standard routes and ways have been decided. The roads, railways, airways, waterways, canals and pipelines may be named as the established ways of transport in relation to transport infrastructure. The evolution of transport displays the biggest technological transformation of human civilization. Transportation became important to maintain personal relations and to transport the commodities needed by the people after the spreading of human settlements in various parts of the word. There is a strong link between transport and development. Transportation is an important entity in human social evolution. Every step of social development is linked with transport. Among the modes of transport, land transport can be identified as one the most important modes of transportation which affects social ,economic, political and environmental sectors. When social, economic and political influenced were being discussed, most of the time positive impacts could be noted rather than in environmental.Item TUK- TUKS(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) Sandakumari, W.D.I.; Sandakumari, W.D.I.The arrival of the first three-wheelers in Srilanka was not 3decades ago, as many people think, but in the 19th century. Gradually radio taxis were introduced for Colombo residents, alongside auto-rickshaw three-wheelers imported from India. Presently three-wheelers are popular in rural villages; highly in the hill country. The fact that we called a TUK-TUK today is known in India as an auto rickshaw is a clue to its descent in design and convenience from the hand-pulled rickshaws of the late 19th century. Rickshaws were popular with early 20th century visitors for sightseeing. The rickshaw gave its name to the auto rickshaw (which is commonly known as TUK-TUK or three wheeler in SL). The recently introduced new model 4-stroke auto-rickshaw with three wheels has actually descended from the popular two wheel Italian-made scooter, the Vespa. In 1926, Jamaal Bajaj, an adopted son of Mahatma Gandhi, founded the Bajaj Auto Company in India. In 1956 a cab was added to the design and the three-wheeler became known as the Piaggio Ape. Three wheeler transport mode is very popular in cities. Some people add the various sayings behind the three-wheeler. Three wheeler transport mode has a culture. Some three-wheelers are used to promote tourism. Today the three-wheeler taxi or ‘TUK -TUK’ is the transport of Sri Lankans or tourists who want to get somewhere in a hurry.Item Pack Animals for Transportation(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) Kothalawala, C.Pack Animals such as camels, goats, elephants, mules, donkeys, horses and yaks are used by humans to transport goods, humans, etc. All the weight bears on pack animals’ back. In ancient time, animals such as camels, goats, yaks, water buffaloes, elephants, mules, donkeys and horses were used for transportation. Most of the pack animals are ungulates. Elephants were used for carrying logs. Pack animals are filled with pack saddles. From the sixteenth century, pack animals have been used for carrying goods. The maximum load for animals is normally a ¼ of their body weight. The term ‘pack animals’ is traditionally used and is contrast to draft animals. Working animals pull loads such as pillows, carts or heavy logs. Rather than carrying cargo directly on its back, the pack saddle is designed to be secured on the back of horses, mule or other working animals. They can carry heavy loads such as luggage, firewood, small cannons or other weapons which are too heavy to be carried by humans. Pack saddles consist of wooden blocks, and breast collars which holds the saddle on the animals’ back. In Sri Lankan history, according to professor Paranavithana, there were horse trainers and elephant trainers. Elephants were captured from Sri Lankan jungles and horses were imported from India. Also, in the past, essential things like rice, coffee and fertilizers were transported using bullock carts. “Tawalama” is the famous load carrier in Sri Lanka. Elephant cart was used to transport good. Donkeys were also used for transporting goods.