Alumni Travel Reading Lists 2020: Sri Lanka

Introduction to the history of the island nation located just off the southern tip of India.

Delves deep into the nation's story, and provides us with an astonishing, multifaceted portrait of the island today.

Sri Lanka : Sumitha Publishers, 2007

Dissanayake presents findings on prehistoric residents of Sri Lanka

The best of contemporary Sri Lankan short fiction.

Set among the upper classes in the world of 1920s Ceylon, this tells the intertwined stories of two extraordinary characters.

This select anthology of poetry brings to you representative works of some of Sri Lanka's most respected poets.

Over 32 pages of colour photographs of Sigiriya, the palace in the sky of King Kassapa.

"[T]he only publication that provides a clear picture of the colonial city of Galle and its transition to date." Read more here and also here.

This book answers some important questions about Geoffrey Bawa, Sri Lanka's pre-eminent architect, and his legacy.

The exhibition and the catalogue are the outcome of several years of intensive fieldwork and research into the art worlds of Sri Lanka and their historical, socio-political, economic, and cultural backgrounds.

Looks at the many facets that modern architects and laymen would be interested in-conservation of wood, the flooring, the tiling, termite control, ventilation and even the locks and hinges.

This is the story of the man, Velupillai Prabhakaran, who defined the armed struggle for an independent Eelam for over three decades.

Articles by scholars covering Sri Lanka’s early history and archaeology, tracing the patterns of trans-regional trade and cultural contacts across the Indian Ocean, and exploring the contribution of the island’s strategic resources, including its nautical traditions.

Provides ethnographic insight into two important groups of internally displaced people: northern Sri Lankan Tamils and Sri Lankan Muslims.

This collection of essays discusses the impact of the Dutch on the society and economy of Ceylon.

In Sacred Modernity, Jazeel argues how everyday non-secular experiences of the natural world in Sri Lanka perpetuate ethno-religious identitarian narratives.

Describes how the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 changed social identities, economic dynamics, and political structures.

Explores the sojourns of gay visitors from the late 1800s to the modern day, providing a history of homosexuality, travel and cultural encounter on the island.

Explores the culture, politics, governance and economics of cricket in the 21st century, this book dispels the age-old idea of a gentle game played on England's village greens.

Penn professor Jim Sykes, tells Sri Lanka's music history as a story of giving between humans and nonhumans, and between populations defined by difference.

The legend of the Sacred Tooth Relic is steeped in ancient Buddhist thought and culture. This object has become a national symbol and an item of deep religious and cultural significance to all Sri Lankans.

Examines culture, religion and polity in the context of Buddhism.

Examines the assimilation, transformation, and subordination of the Hindu deity Visnu within the contexts of Sri Lankan history and Sinhala Buddhist religious culture.

Ethnographic and historical study of Hindu castes, matrilineal family structure, popular religious traditions, and ethnic conflict.

Documentary following Tamil Hindu and Sri Lankan Vedda pilgrims as they walk to Kataragama on the pada yatra, an ancient 300 km foot pilgrimage down the east coast of Sri Lanka.

Presents the lived experience of women and men working in agricultural, migrant, and intimate labor sectors.

Find out more about Maxwell Fernando and the Tea of Sri Lanka at the Fernando archives.

Journey through Sri Lanka's traditional foods, its family-orientated culture and its colourful approach to life.