Of Sri Lanka’s bears, buffaloes and boars, which animal is its Bach? Which its Bhrams? And which is its heroic Beethoven? It is all too easy to mistake what Sri Lankans might call the “Three Big B’s” for Mr Bandaranaike Senior, Mrs Bandaranaike Senior, and Mrs Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. But in fact, Sri Lanka’s Three Big B’s are not politicians. They are its bears, buffalo, and boars. And remarkably, each beast shares a close and initial affinity with those other, and st

Though occupying barely 1% of the world's total landmass, Sri Lanka hosts well over 2% of the world's recognised bat species. But are there 28 species here? Or 29? Or 37? How exactly do you count bats? Cryptology, fractals, even Einstein’s Theory of Relativity – they all pale into bashful insignificance when compared to bat taxology. Between the kingdom within which a bat might exist, and the species to which it is classed as belonging, there are at least eight level

Sri Lanka was once home to tigers, lions, rhinos and hippos. But where are they to be found today? And what might disappear next? The mind blanks at the glare,” wrote Philip Larkin “Not in remorse — The good not done, the love not given, time Torn off unused — nor wretchedly because An only life can take so long to climb Clear of its wrong beginnings, and may never; But at the total emptiness for ever, The sure extinction that we travel to And shall be l

It was a counterfeit lookalike king who presided over the bloodbath collapse of the Vijayan dynasty that had ruled Sri Lanka for over 600 years. How did things ever come to such a pass? It took a hundred and twenty-eight years for the last Vijayan kings to travel the final road to oblivion, years that made the mafia tales of the Prohibition era or a Shakespearean tragedy appear tame. But travel them they did – and with unforgettable horror – all eighteen monarchs, of

As a third and fourth Tamil invasion subjugated Sri Lanka, who were the feisty avenging kings who rescued it from the suspicion that things are never so bad that they can't get any worse? If ever there was a king who was entitled to get very cross indeed, it was Dutugemunu, one of the island’s standout sovereigns. Known, not unjustifiably as “The Great,” Dutugemunu was to rescue his car crash of a dynasty, only to watch it (albeit from the life thereafter) speed off the

Barely 300 years into its nationhood, Sri Lanka was invaded twice. Why was it that no one saw the turmoil that lay ahead, and who were its conquerors? Good advice is often nearer to hand than even the most foolish leader can imagine. Or be minded to seek. One hundred and fifty years earlier, and six thousand six hundred and one kilometres away, Thucydides, whose work, The Peloponnesian War, set such standards for history as to anticipate every conceivable future military

Two great Sri Lankan kings ruled in quick succession – Pandu Kabhaya and Devanampiya Tissa. How did this double windfall hasten the tiny kingdom to burst into a great state? In the previous 100 years, Sri Lanka’s little Vijayan kingdom twice risked absolute oblivion, courtesy of its carefree kings. But twice too, in the following 170 years, the self-same state would step up and prosper beyond all expectations, thanks to two other kings, both innate masters of nation-build

How did Sri Lanka, barely 7 decades old, survive the death of its founding father, Vijaya, and its first recorded civil war, which erupted over the death of Vijaya’s nephew? “If I want a crown,” remarked Peachey, hero of Kipling’s Man Who Would Be King, and unexpected alter ego of Prince Vijiya, Sri Lanka’s first monarch, “I must go and hunt it for myself.” If Peachey’s motivation was glory and riches, plain and straightforward, Vijaya’s was about raw survival, dodging a

Sri Lanka’s first recorded monarch established a family that would rule for over half a millennium, and a nation that flourishes to this day. But how did that all begin? Sri Lanka’s first recorded monarch founded a dynasty that would last over 600 years. Expelled from either Bengal or Gujarat (scholars argue, as scholars do) by his father, Prince Vijaya, the founding father of an eponymous royal family, arrived on the island in 543 BCE, his landing kicking off recorded Sing

Sri Lanka was ruled by hundreds of kings and a handful of queens for over 2,000 years. But which of them were among its six most egregious baddies – and why? The awful thing about wickedness is just how interesting it is. Kind and benevolent rulers; admirable warrior kings; even the fumbling but kindly nice ones who build hospitals and live blameless lives – they all pale into guilt-wrenching insignificance when set before a list saturated by the sinful, iniquitous, and de

Is death like checking in at The Ritz? Or is it more agreeable still? Damnit. I mean, honestly. Just damnit. This is the second time in as many weeks. One more such episode and you can call me obsessed, or, at best, dull. Either way, I am due a real wigging. Pining for the fjords. Playing the piper. Deep sixth. Toes up. Terminated. Death is like one of those mildly irritating guests present at most parties, eager to pass on to you the plot for his unpublished novel

Who was Chinta | And why does her death – and life – matter quite so much? Today is the saddest of days, for Chinta has died. The inexorable world will not stop its spin around the sun, nor will Sri Lanka pause to know this. Even in our little town of Galagedera, the news will affect just a few. But here on the estate, we all stop, deeply shocked, barely knowing how to react or what to do next. Chinta had been away from work for a day, complaining of being a little tired an

From people to orchids, lions to river fish – how was Sri Lanka first settled? And what happened to its earliest inhabitants? Adam’s Bridge was a bridge crying out for repair, even before the great storm of 1480 shattered it forever. Unpredictable and uneven, sailing had long been the better option. But for Sri Lanka’s first settlers – who had still to master boats – a short walk from India was all it took. And walking was what they did: Palaeolithic and later Mesolithic mi

The simple fact that Sri Lanka is an island has determined the country’s character; for “islands,” as Richard Dawkins remarked, “are natural workshops of evolution.” But how did this all happen? Rusty, derelict, and irresistibly optically challenged, the old Talaimannar Lighthouse is a gratifyingly improbable key to unlocking the start of Sri Lanka’s recorded history. It presents an even more unlikely clue to explain the profound differences the island shows compared to the

In almost every aspect of its existence, Sri Lanka defies logic - yet still it spins a potent and inexplicable magic. So how exactly did it get to be like this? What makes Sri Lanka unique? It took a refugee from Nazi Germany, with an interest in economics and Buddhism, to note the singular connection between two of the most apparent characteristics that distinguish Sri Lanka. “Small,” remarked E. F. Schumacher in his eponymous book in 1973, “is beautiful.” It was economic