Which IPL Team Soliyas Mendis Plays For? He Can't Play in Chennai! He Can't Draw in Ajanta!

Mark Twain:

‎"So much blood has been shed by the Church because of an omission from the Gospel: 'Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is.' Not merely tolerant of it, but indifferent to it. Divinity is claimed for many religions; but no religion is great enough or divine enough to add that new law to its code."

Oren Harman:

"Aristotle was a cynic. Sure, the Bible exhorts to “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” but he knew better. “The friendly feelings that we bear for another,” instructed his Ethics, “have arisen from the friendly feelings that we bear for ourselves.”"

Manoj Joshi, The Hindu, April 27 2013:

"In March 1954, the Union Cabinet met and decided to unilaterally define the border of India with China. The colour wash was replaced by a hard line, and the Survey of India issued a new map, which depicts the borders as we know them today. All the old maps were withdrawn and the depiction of Indian boundaries in the old way became illegal. Indeed, if you seek out the White Paper on Indian States of 1948 and 1950 in the Parliament library, you will find that the maps have been removed because they too showed the border as being “undefined” in the Central and Western sectors.

What was the government up to? Did it seriously think it could get away with such a sleight of hand? Or was there a design that will become apparent when the papers of the period are declassified? Not surprisingly, the other party, the People’s Republic of China, was not amused and, in any case, there are enough copies of the old documents and maps across the world today to bring out the uncomfortable truth that the boundaries of India in these regions were unilaterally defined by the Government of India, rather than through negotiation and discussions with China."

Year 2013 has been characterized by a lot of negative news flow on Sri Lanka in Indian media. And on China and on Pakistan...Marathi media, particularly on China-Pakistan, have become even more bellicose than their Hindi/English counterparts..."India has been always been peaceful but should not be taken for granted etc"...


John Keay:

"...The classic expansion of Chola power began anew with the accession of Rajaraja I in 985. Campaigns in the south brought renewed success against the Pandyas and their ‘haughty’ Chera allies in Kerala, both of which kingdoms were now claimed as Chola feudatories. These triumphs were followed, or accompanied, by a successful invasion of Buddhist Sri Lanka in which Anuradhapura, the ancient capital, was sacked and its stupas plundered with a rapacity worthy of the great Mahmud...When, therefore, Rajendra I succeeded Rajaraja and assumed the reins of power in 1014, his priority was obvious. Sri Lanka was promptly reinvaded and more treasures and priceless regalia seized; prising open even relic chambers, says a Sri Lankan chronicle, ‘like blood-sucking yakkhas they took all the treasures of Lanka for themselves’..."

('INDIA A HISTORY: From the Earliest Civilisations to the Boom of the Twenty-First Century', 2000/ 2010)


I was stunned seeing pictures of Buddhist art of Sri Lanka in Frontline dated April 19 2013. I think some of the art gives Ajanta run for its money.

Apsaras, Mural, Sigiriya, c. 5th century.

Artist: Unknown

Photo Artist: Benoy K. Behl

And I didn't even know that such art existed...I have often wondered: Why do I know so little about my neighbourhood while I seem to know 'so much' about a country thousands of miles away? Have I really achieved freedom?

Sanghamitra brings the holy Bodhi Tree to Sri Lanka

Artist: Soliyas Mendis, Mural, Kelaniya Vihara, early 20th century. 

Photo artist: Benoy K. Behl
 
"The painter Soliyas Mendis travelled to India in the end of the 19th century to study the paintings of Ajanta. When he returned to Sri Lanka, he created a new style of art, which has its roots in the gentle expressions and exquisite grace of the Ajanta paintings. His work represents a valuable link and continuation of the ancient style of Buddhist paintings. The paintings also display a close affinity to the style of the Sigiriya paintings and are distinctly Sri Lankan."