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A great epic reaches out to wider audience
The Mahawamsa - A Simplified English Summary by Dr. Bandu Edusuriya - Sarasavi Publishers: Rs. 200. Reviewed by Lester James Peries

Dr. Bandu Edusuriya has succeeded in giving us in simple language a summary of each of the 37 chapters of the Mahawamsa - the great chronicle of Sri Lanka.

He describes his effort as a simplified English summary which is a precise description of the book's scope and intention. It is not meant to be a scholarly essay on a formidable classic, one of the earliest recorded chronicles of an ancient civilization and culture - our own Sri-Lanka from 480 B.C. to 300 A.D.
For the student of history, the oriental scholar, for archaeologists, for academics in pursuit of a doctoral thesis, the Mahawamsa is mandatory reading. There is a common assumption in certain rarefied quarters that every patriotic Sri Lankan should read the Mahawamsa. But, alas, how many of us can truly say we have read the great chronicle, every page and every chapter however difficult it may be if only to gain that spiritual upliftment - as each chapter is compiled for the "serene Joy and emotion of The Pious".

Personally I must confess that every attempt of mine to grapple with this formidable literary-historical classic, ended with a certain degree of frustration - particularly as the Pali original is referred to by Wilhelm Geiger as " a work of art created by a man who deserves the name of poet". It is certainly not like reading "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", another historical epic written with the narrative thrust of a great novel.

The author frankly admits that he found reading the original Mahawamsa tedious. He also adds that before he could write his simplified summary he had to read both Professor Wilhelm Geiger's and Dr. Guruge's more recent English translation from the Pali original. With characteristic modesty the author says his target audiences are foreign visitors to the island, the Sri Lanka Diaspora all over the world and those of us who count ourselves as the common reader. I should imagine that the primary virtue of Dr. Edusuriya's book is that a great and difficult classic is now accessible to a wider public.

Dr. Bandu Edusuriya F.R.C.S. - D.L.O, the well-known E.N.T. Surgeon served in the General Hospital, Kandy for 25 years. He was President of the E.N.T. Surgeons’ Association and Chief Examiner of the Board of Study in E.N.T. at the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine. He is also a short story writer.
It is my earnest hope that the book will find its way to school libraries where it should be a source of inspiration to mature students. A Sinhala translation should be invaluable.

The best tribute to the book comes from our pre-eminent historian Emeritus Professor of history Dr. K.M. de Silva. In his introduction he writes "Dr. Bandu Edusuriya has provided the general reader with a summary of the contents of the Mahawamsa, written in a simple and understandable style.

“He is likely to increase the numbers of readers of the Mahavamsa and to strengthen the popular appeal of the Mahawamsa. Works of this nature attempted by Dr. Edusuriya are more difficult to undertake than is generally believed."

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