Safeguarding Sri Lanka's cultural and natural heritage

The National Trust celebrates its 10th Anniversary this month

The National Trust- Sri Lanka celebrates its 10th Anniversary in May this year. Founded in 2005 by eminent archaeologists Prof. Senake Bandaranayake and Dr. Roland Silva, this not-for-profit organisation fills a need to protect and safeguard the tangible and intangible cultural and natural heritage of Sri Lanka including sites, monuments, sculptures, paintings, artifacts, music, dance, fauna and flora of Sri Lanka which are not under the statutory authorities such as the Archaeology Department and the Central Cultural Fund.

The National Trust, through its own guidelines, would remain the intermediary between the institutions which have statutory jurisdiction over cultural property and the public to enable a comfortable zone of understanding. The Trust extends its support and consultancy services free of charge to outside organisations dealing with the subject of the preservation of heritage and in promoting international cooperation on heritage activities. It is associated with work in collaboration with public and private sector national and international institutions such as The Department of Archaeology, Department of National Museums, Urban Development Authority, Colombo Municipality and the National Physical Planning Department on various heritage projects.

Connected internationally through a prestigious international organisation gathering leading professionals from over forty countries all across the world, the Trust's current President is Professor Nimal de Silva supported by a distinguished Board of Trustees, all professionals, serving in a voluntary capacity.

The best known activities of the National Trust-Sri Lanka include its lecture series held at HNB headquarters auditorium on the last Thursday evening of every month at 6.30 p.m., which has become a popular cultural event. Recent lectures have covered diverse topics such as the Excavation And Conservation of the Royal Stupa at Uda Aludeniya- (Gampola Period) by Prof. Nimal de Silva, Maritime Archaeology in Sri Lanka by Somasiri Devendra, Malik Fernando and Rasika Muthucumarana, Kovils of Sri Lanka by Prof. S. Pathmanathan, Sri Lankan Heritage :A Gateway to the World Map by Dr. Gamini Wijesuriya and Cultural Mathematics by Prof. J.B. Disanayaka.

Natural Heritage is an area of focus for the National Trust and lectures have included Sri Lanka's Nature - Red Alert by Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala and Butterflies by Michael Van der Poorten while on the design side, Archt Tilak Samarawickrema has taken the audience on a Voyage in Sri Lankan Design.

There have been lectures on Sri Lanka traditional dance and music with live performances; Tissa Abeysekera traced the various strands which form popular Sinhala music of today through live performances by renowned artistes such as Ravibandu, Harsha Makalanda, Jananath Warakagoda and others, available by popular demand as a DVD. A lecture on the Evolution of Music in the Sinhala Theatre by Dr Jayalath Manorathne (2014) with live performance given by Dr. Jayalath Manorathne, Mahanama Wickramasinghe, Nissanka Diddeniya, Rathna Lalani Jayakody and Rodney Warakaula is also available as a DVD production. The National Trust has eight Scientific Sub-Committees such as Monuments and Sites, Moveable Artefacts, Natural Heritage, Intangible Heritage, Paintings, Sculpture and Visual Arts, Architectural Conservation, Cultural Routes and Industrial Heritage. The programmes implemented by these committees included research publications, workshops and seminars of heritage importance.

The National Trust is funded by membership fees, individual donations and proceeds of the sale of publications which are sponsored by reputed corporate institutions. As a public service, the publications are provided at low cost and offer a number of different areas of general interest. In the Prestigious Volumes coffee-table series, books available for sale include Birds of Sri Lanka by Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne - (2008), Heritage Buildings of Sri Lanka by Prof Nimal de Silva and Arch.D.P. Chandrasekera (2009), Sri Lankan Painting in the 20th Century by Prof. Senake Bandaranayake and Prof.Albert Dharmasiri (2009) Archaeology and Photography The Early Years 1868- 1880 by Arch Ismeth Raheem (2009), Coral Reefs of Sri Lanka by Nishan Perera (2011), Flowering Plants commonly encountered in Sri Lankan Habitats by Dr.Sriyanie Miththapala, Dr. Siril Wijesundara and Dr. Janaki Galappatti (2012), Maritime Heritage of Lanka: Ancient Ports and Harbours edited by Sarala Fernando (2013). In the Seven Arts of Sri Lanka series, publications available include The Sculptures of Tissa Ranasinghe by Neville Weereratne (2013) The Protection of Cultural Heritage and Cultural Property by Justice A.R.B. Amerasinghe (2007). Small size publications include the Architectural Heritage of Sri Lanka : Fortifications along the Kelani River by Archt D.P. Chandrasekara (2012) and Heritage Day Tours - Volume 1 by Archt Nilan Cooray(2014).

The National Trust also engages in special projects such as the Conservation of the Fort at Malwana. Here, the first stage of conservation has now been completed with funds provided by the Prince Claus Foundation of Netherlands and the proposal for stage two has been submitted. Work is also in progress for the preparation of an Index of Artifacts; the work on the first volume of 500 pages written by former Director General of the Museum S. Lakdusinghe, covering the artifacts in several temples in the Gampaha District is now ready for publication. Yet another project is on Lawton's Photographs aiming to provide support to the Department of National Archives for the purpose of the conservation of and compilation as a publication of the first photographic impressions of Sri Lanka in the 19 th Century

The Trust conducts a quarterly tour on the last Saturday in February, May, August and November each year for members where special sites are introduced and explained by experts. A booklet is published on each tour. A complete list of tours appears in the website of the Trust, at www.thenationaltrust.lk. The National Trust secretariat and book sales point is at the Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology, 407 Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7.