The Line of Lanka – MYTHS & MEMORIES OF AN ISLAND

To the uninitiated, it is a true delight to watch Sunela Jayewardene come up with a quick sketch for a house design on an empty and often desolate plot of land. 

With unerring instinct and bold, sure strokes she sketches in rooms, verandas, living and private spaces which maximise natural airflow and sunlight, masterfully succeeding in making it all look aesthetic in a vernacular or culturally appropriate sense. Perhaps she should rename herself a ‘cultural architect’ rather than ‘environmental’ as her visiting card proclaims. 

In a few minutes her work is done and she will drag you off to explore Lanka’s forgotten heritage. Not the much hyped, concrete paths of the cultural triangle but unheard of footpaths off unchartered roads which lead to un-named drip-ledge caves which retain vestiges of a lost civilisation. While you marvel at who may have built and lived in these still marvellous ruins, she’s probably noted wind and weather patterns and can speculate on why your ancestors chose that particular spot.

Tracking Lanka’s heritage for as long as she can remember, meticulously recording her observations, listening to tales of village and jungle folk, it is a natural step forward to come up with a travelogue chronicling the path of our civilisation – not using the meagre empirical historical data at our disposal but drawing instead on the rich store of myth and legend that surrounds us to conjure theories on who or what we might have been. As always, there never was just one Lanka – her people, deities, customs and traditions are as multifaceted and varied as the geography of our relatively small nation. 

Since enough of us are convinced of lost glories and the magnificent City of Lanka of the Ravana legend, Jayewardene begins her tale in the myth-heavy Matale District, intrepidly trekking through forest and mountain, reaching for Ravana. Choose Sunela as your guide, crack open your copy of ‘The Line of Lanka’, lean back in your arm-chair and get swept along in Lanka’s lush countryside and traditions that pulse to the beat of an unseen drum. 

You may have climbed Adam’s Peak/Samanala Kanda/Saman Kuta, but climb again listening to Jayewardene recount stories she’s heard. Discover the remarkable story of four precisely positioned shrines under the dominion of the oldest Lankan god Lak Sumana Saman – lord of the mountains and forests of the island of Lanka. 

In case you may have forgotten, the Aryans were not the only people to colonise or rule Lanka. Re-acquaint yourself with our Naga civilisation and their stronghold in the Kurunegala district; or move up to drought-ridden Minneriya where water-cutting ceremonies still hold high reverence before the dancing forest god. Or tease out our ancient peoples – veddas who still live in Gal Oya or even the lesser known Nittaewo – Lanka’s Hobbits who persist in popular legend but about whom documentation is weak. 

Wonder about the unexplained – how did ponies get to Delft? Have they evolved differently or are they an unusual breed? Read about the hidden world of mystic Sufi mendicants and the gentle spiritual Islam they practice. 

And of course as we close our journey bidding farewell to our guide, explore the last stronghold of the kings of Lanka before we yield to colonialism – the magnificent citadel of Kandy.

(Sam Perera is a partner of the Perera-Hussein Publishing House which publishes culturally relevant stories by emerging and established Lankan and regional authors – for a primarily Lankan audience. Ph books are available everywhere books are sold and through www.pererahussein.com.)