Sunday Times 2
RAASL lecture on Vedda people
View(s):The Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (RAASL) will have its first public lecture for 2026 on Monday, January 26 at 5.30 pm at the Council Room of the RAASL, No 96 (first floor, Mahaweli Centre), Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 7.
Chinthaka Ranasingha, Senior Lecturer at the Sinhala Department, University of Kelaniya will talk on ‘The Re-Examination of the Identity of the Vedda People through a Hermeneutic and Positivistic Approach’.
Link to join online: https://learn.zoom.us/j/91341501593?pwd=qu9r4b51oKu8CIrvLFPHtc2VUXYBVN.1
Meeting ID: 913 4150 1593
Mr Ranasingha will present the results of his research on selected areas in the Uva and Eastern provinces, begun in mid-2024 to identify and examine the identity of the Vedda people in selected parts of these provinces.
The concept of identity among the Vedda has been examined by scholars such as Nandadeva Wijesekere, Seligman and Gananath Obeyesekere in the first half of the 20th century and the early 21st century.
This research specifically focuses on examining the nature of relationships between the Vedda people and others in their areas – the sharing of lands, collaborative activities, cultural attitudes and other various activities.