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Item Contribution of the Ruhunu Kataragama Dewalaya for the 1818 Kandyan Uprising(4th International Conference on Social Sciences 2018, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Gunasinghe, H.C.Located in Southern Sri Lanka, Kataragama Dewalaya is believed to be holy because the renowned deity who is associated with it, known as Kataragama Deviyo. According to Hindu chronicles he is known for God of war, because the defeating his enemies and being victorious in battles. Kataragama Deviyo was venerated by Sri Lankan kings throughout the history. Kings such as Dutugamunu (161-137 BC) who ruled in the kingdom of Anuradhapura, had sought blessing from the Kataragama Deviyo before initiating his military conquests. In addition kings in the kingdom of Kandy, too had sought blessings from the Kataragama Deviyo. This historic narrative developed in the context of 1818 Kandyan Uprising against the British rule. In order to understand the contribution of the Ruhunu Kataragama Dewalaya, in shaping the 1818 Kandyan Uprising, literally sources were examined for this analysis. Before the 1818 Uprising began, Wilbawe the claimant for throne went on a pilgrimage to Kataragama as a Buddhist monk to seek blessings from the deity. When Wilbawe left the dewalaya, he took a sacred ornament from the dewalaya and a garment which had the portrait of the Kataragama Deviyo. It is said that he constantly venerated the sacred objects and the portrait he took from the shrine and made devotional offering to the deity. Even the Kapuralas and Bethmerala who were in charges of the dewalaya, blessed and supported to this uprising against the British. The general public too gave their support to the uprising, given the fact that Wilbawe had sought the blessing from the victorious Kataragama Deviyo. Thus, conclusively, Katargama Deviyo and Ruhunu Kataragama Dewalaya played a vital role in shaping 1818 Uprising against the British.Item Study on State of the Modern Technology used in Preservation of Palm Leaf Manuscripts in Sri Lanka(Department of Library and Information Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Senanayake, S.M.T.; Madusanka, W.M.H.; Gunasinghe, H.C.The extensive horde of palm leaf manuscripts are heir and could be considered as the prime storage of indigenous intangible knowledge which has been fostering for more than hundred decades.Though they were live source of knowledge in early years, most of palm leaf manuscripts today are not in use and subject to deterioration. The Palm Leaf Manuscripts Study and Research Library in the University of Kelaniya, which has been established with the objective of preservation of existing palm leaf manuscripts has been functioning since 2009. The prime objective of this research is to study on the state of the modern technology used by the Palm Leaf Manuscripts Study and Research Library in University of Kelaniya for the preservation of palm leaf manuscripts which contain indigenousknowledge. The study methods used were field study and observation. The preliminary method for storage and retrieval of palm leaf manuscripts available with temples and private owners in Sri Lanka by the Palm Leaf Manuscripts Study and Research Library. The digitization before that, it is compulsory to preserve them using traditional preservation methods and the digitized copies will be subject to library technology process. After the classification and catalogingprocess is over, the data will be uploaded to and maintained by the open source software named ‘D-Space’ used by the Palm Leaf Manuscripts Study and Research Library. This procedure facilitates to researchers to use the collection owned by the Palm Leaf Manuscripts Study and Research Library through internet online. The Palm Leaf Manuscripts Study and Research Library of University of Kelaniya is the only institute in Sri Lanka which provides facility of this nature for studyingon palm leaf manuscripts via online.