Ceylon Blue Book

Author : Sarath Amunugama
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199096155
Total Pages : 466 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (99 download)

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Download or read book The Lion’s Roar written by Sarath Amunugama and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-08-12 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933) was a leading Sinhalese Buddhist reformer and national activist who ranks high among the makers of modern Buddhism. The Lion’s Roar is one of the first detailed accounts of Anagarika Dharmapala’s life and the pioneering role he played in the Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism at a time when resistance to colonial rule was mainly confined to the elite. The book explores his lifelong struggle for re-establishing Buddhist management of their own sacred places under Hindu control, particularly the Mahabodhi site in Bihar, India. Dharmapala’s association with the Bengali intelligensia, the ‘bhadralok’, and close interactions with Gandhi and Nehru in India, where he spent a greater part of his life, form an interesting part of the narration. Using a rich variety of primary sources, most importantly, Dharmapala’s diaries, the book situates his life within the socio-political and cultural ethos of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and chronicles the zealous efforts of a Buddhist crusader and monk who wished to reform the religion in his native land and propagate it in the Western world.