Dental Anthropology Research Project on Anuradhapura Vedda III

These are some of the casts that are collected from the people of Anuradhapura vedda villages. Now we have a collection of around 200 pairs of maxillary and mandibular dentiton and we are certainly planning to increase the number at least upto 300 or 400 pairs.

These casts are stored in the department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. We are in the process of investigating these plaster casts and collecting data. The preliminary results of this project will be presented at the 2012 Inter-Congress of International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) on "Children and Youth in a Changing World". The congress will be held at KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, India, during 26th to 30th November 2012. The Inter-congress shall be organized jointly by IUAES Commission on Children, Youth and Childhood and Centre for Children Studies, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), KIIT University.

Dental Anthropology Research Project on Anuradhapura Vedda II

We have so far visited about six viilages in Medawacchi division in Anuradhapura district namely, Diviyaudabendawewa, Kukulewa, Wanni-palugollewa, Kalawelpothana, Koppetiyawa and Pandiggama. We have done the field visits four times with final visit beign 11th and 12th May 2012 to cover the above mentioned villages.

We have taken impressions of upper and lower dental arches of around 200 individuals and made plaster casts from them. These casts are stored in the department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Perdeniya, Sri Lanka. We are very careful to select individuals who have the complete dention and minimal damage in their teeth with caries, attrirtion, abbrasion, etc.

In carrying out this work, we have to face many difficulties due to minimal facilities avalable in these villages. Hope this is evident by the photographs that we have published in this blog. However, we did our best to collect the impressions giving maximum care to those individuals who participated in the project.

We are palnning to continue the colection of dental cast and increase our sample size bt visiting some more villages in the future.

Dental Anthropological Research Project on Anuradhapura Vedda I

The physical anthropology reserch group of the Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka is currently conducting a research project in Anuradhapura districi, north central province of Sri Lanka. The sample population is a aboriginal vedda population in Anurdhapura district, commonly known as "Anurdhapura vedda" or "Vanni Sinhalayo".

We investigate the metric and non metric characteristics of the dentition and try to figure out the origin of these people, their pattern of migration and afinities to the other contemporary, historic and prehistoric world populations. This study will lead to the Mphil degree of Dr. J. A. Jayaweera of district hospital, Chilaw, Sri Lanka.

 
We visited the villages and took the information from the poeple like their three generation pedegree, language, religion, rituals, etc. before start collecting the impressions and casts of their dentition. They treated us very well and their hospitatlity was very impressive.

University of Peradeniya I - My work place

This is the view you can see when you look from the main administrative building the Senate. It is full of greenery and this view is quite different during April every year with trees getting full of flowers of University colour; the maroon, yellow and pink.

This is Professor Ediriweera Sarathchandra open air theater. It is also known as "Wala". When some event is performing on this theater all the university students can gather this memorable place together, as it is very large to seat over eight thousand people. My University is really a beautiful place to visit and these are only two of those beautiful places. I will bring to you more in the future.

32nd Asia Pacific Dental Congress 2010 - Colombo, Sri Lanka

32nd Asia Pacific Dental Congress (APDC) was held in Colombo from 12th to 16th of May 2010. There were many participants from south and east Asian countries at the congress. There were several guest speakers from Europe, America and Australia joined the event to make it a success as well. There was a dental trade fair which was joined by many companies. However, Indians were dominated the event by presenting many research papers, conducting work shops and participating at the trade fair.

I also presented a poster titled "Non metric tooth crown traits in a Sri Lankan aboriginal Vedda population: Comparison with other world populations". I am very glad to say that it was awarded as the best poster of the 32nd APDC 2010.

Several tours, golf tournaments, etc had been organized by the organizing committee especially for foreign participants. However, these events might have been affected by the heavy rain that we are experiencing these days in Colombo and other parts of the country.

Carrier Guidance programme 2009 for the passing out Dental Students of the Faculty of Dental Sciences

Last week we had the carrier guidance programme for the passing out dental students of the Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya.This is an annual event of our Faculty and this year I myself supposed to be the chairmen of the organizing committee of the event. The main purpose of this event is to guide the passing out dental students and to make them aware the opportunities available in the field of dentistry in Sri Lanka as well as in other countries. Then they have a very good chance of choosing the best option which is most suitable for them for their future carrier in the field of dentistry. We had some very fruitful lectures of different aspects of dentistry like research,private practice, government dental health service, dentistry in armed forces, etc. We also had a trade exhibition. Therefore, students and other dental doctors had a good opportunity to check out the modern techniques and materials available in the market for very competitive prices. As a whole the event was a success and students might have fully benefited.

Bible Rock

“Batalegala Kanda” or commonly known as bible rock is situated in Kandy and visible as you reach a area called Kadugannawa. It can be seen, shrouded in thick jungle from time immemorial. It has been named as bible rock by British rulers at that time when Sri Lanka was ruled by them probably because of its shape. It is rectangular in shape as you see in the picture and they might have seen that like a book or bible for that matter. However, today it is being transformed into a Buddhist place of worship. To the traveler proceeding from Colombo to Kandy, the magnificent spectacle of the rock stands as a collosurs dwarfing the surrounding landscape.

Peradenyal University Reasearch Sessions (PURSE) 2008

Peradeniya university research sessions (PURSE) for 2008 was held last week. It is the main scientific meeting of the year in our University. Approximately 200 research papers in various fields of study such as agriculture, engineering, health sciences (medicine, dental and allied health science), biological and physical sciences and humanities and social sciences were presented at the meeting.

The meeting was held at the faculty of science, university of Peradeniya. His Excellency Choi Ki Chul the ambassador of the republic of Korea was the chief guest for the occasion. The meeting was a success and very productive.

Dental health camp

Last week end we had a health camp organized by JICA (Japan International Corporation Agency) Alumni Association. It was basically an eye and dental camp for the people lived in a very remote area called Rajanganaya in the north central province of Sri Lanka. This area belongs to the ancient capital of Sri Lanka, Anuradhapura. It is the first kingdom of Sri Lanka. It belongs to the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Therefore, the temperature usually touches 35 degree centigrade or above. However, as this is the rainy season in Sri Lanka, it was little cooler than usual.

We as Sri Lankans, love to visit the area at least once a year because there are lot of ancient ruins (Buddhist temples, Castles, etc.) which reminds us the work of our ancestors. However, Rajanganaya where our health camp was held is about thirty kilometers away from Anuradhapura main city.

It was a very successful health programme. Eight dental surgeons (all my colleagues working at Dental hospital (Teaching) of University of Peradeniya) including myself and four dental nurses participated. I was the co-ordinator for the event from the Faculty of Dental Sciences side. We examined and treated around 500 patients, mainly school children. There were Japanese volunteer workers working in different parts of Sri Lanka also attended the event. Therefore, I had a rare chance of speaking with them and polishing my Japanese speaking abilities.

Nothing better than home

It is nice posting in the blog after some time and I apologize for being silent during past couple of months. However, there is a reason for that. I return to Sri Lanka and commenced duties at my University two months ago after a long stay (5 years) in Japan Therefore, I needed some time to settle down. Nevertheless, as a new beginning I hope to introduce my home town, Kandy this time.

Kandy is the Sri Lanka’s hill capital, strong hold of the Sinhala kings as well as one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is 488 meters above the sea level and next to Colombo is Sri Lanka’s most visited place. The valley of Kandy is surrounded by hills and a colourful pageant takes place in Kandy, annually.

Our home is located facing the Knuckles mountain range in the Dumbara valley. The Knuckles range; its name describes its outline and consists of the Knuckles massif, the Knuckles range and the Knuckles peaks. The Knuckles massif is about 90 square miles in extent and is a detached block of the central highlands separated from the main highlands by the Dumbara valley. There are 35 peaks rising to more than 3000 feet (915 meters) in the Knuckles range.

We have a beautiful view of the Knuckles and Dumbara valley from our living place. The area is called “Dumbara” because it covered with clouds like smoke most part of the day. When I come home after work from the busy city of Kandy, I feel like I have come to a different world. It is so relaxing and beautiful. I think my friends who had visited our place may agree with me as well.

Bonsai

Bonsai is one of many things, I am very curious about in Japan. You may be able to look at a potted Bonsai tree for many hours without being fed up. It is so gorgeous. However, it is not an easy task to make and maintain a bonsai tree. It needs a lot of commitment and patience.

Bonsai is the art of aesthetic miniaturization of trees by growing them in containers. Originating in China, Bonsai is a Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Penzai. The word Bonsai has been used by the west as an umbrella, term for all miniature trees. Bonsai are not genetically dwarfed plants. They are created from nearly any tree or shrub species and remain small through pot confinement and crown and root pruning. Some specific species are more sought after for use as Bonsai material. This is because they have characteristics that make them appropriate for the smaller design arrangements of Bonsai.

There are many different styles of Bonsai exist. The most common styles include; formal upright, slant, informal upright, cascade, semi-cascade, raft, literati and group/forest. In addition, there are root over rock style, broom style, multi trunk style and growing in a rock style. Traditionally, Bonsai are shaped from temperate climate trees kept outdoors as they require full sunlight and a winter dormancy period at near freezing temperatures. In the artificial environments of a home, these trees will become weakened and die.

Recently, I visited a Bonsai museum near Tokyo. There were hundreds of Bonsai trees of different types, styles and ages. The oldest one was considered more than 1000 years old. Isn’t it amazing?

Ume blossoms

Sakura (Cherry) blossom is coming up shortly in Japan. Before that, especially in late January and February Ume blossoms can be seen all over Japan. The Ume is a species of Asian plum in the family Rosaceae. The tree originates from China and was brought to Japan and Korea later. The tree is cultivated for its fruit and flowers. In Chinese, it is called mei or meizi. The Japanese name is ume while Korean name is maesil. The flowers are typically white though cultivars may have rose or deep red flowers.

Ume blossoms are often mentioned in Japanese poetry as a symbol of spring. Unlike the Japanese, however, the Chinese see the blossoms as more of a symbol for winter. It is precisely for this reason that the blossoms are so beloved, because they bloom most vibrantly amidst the winter snow, after other plants have shed their leaves, and before any other flowers appear. Because they blossom in winter, the ume, the pine, and the bamboo together have been called the “Three Friends of the Cold” .

Cold winter 2008

Now it is almost spring in Japan where it is getting warmer gradually. Last winter was the final winter of my present stay in Japan. I found, it was much colder than any other winter seasons I had experienced. It was further evidenced by some heavy snow falling days especially to Tokyo. Therefore, 2007-2008 winter in Tokyo was quite different from the pervious one when it hardly had any snow.

When looking at the world weather, this cold weather pattern seemed to be common especially to the east. In China, there were series of winter storms characterized by heavy snows, ice and cold temperatures causing extensive damage and transportation disruptions. According to scientists at China’s National Climate Center and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes (IPCC), these winter storms in China have been mainly related to abnormal atmospheric circulation and La Nina, and are not directly linked to climate change.

Flea market

A flea market or swap market is a place where vendors come to sell or trade their goods. The goods are usually inexpensive and range in quality depending on several factors. In Japan, at the beginning of every season, there is a flea market in almost every community. The vast majority of flea markets sell goods that are second-hand. Larger sections of newer but usually inexpensive items can be found at some of the larger or more urban flea markets. There are many kinds of goods ranging from clothing, shoes, handbags, fragrances, toys, ect.

The original flea market is likely to be the Marche aux puces of Saint-Quen, Sein-Saint-Denis, in the northern suburbs of Paris. It is a large, long established outdoor bazaar, one of four in Paris. They earned their name from the flea-infested clothing and rags sold there. From the late 17th century, the makeshift open-air market in the town of Saint-Ouen began as temporary stalls and benches among the fields and market gardens where ragpickers exchange their findings for a small sum.

During my stay in Tokyo, one of most expensive cities in the world, I found that flea markets are cheap and convenient, especially if you stay for a short period. Some times, you may find some interesting items and good souvenirs for cheaper prices. However, you have to be there as early as possible to find best things.

Mikan in Japan

Mikan is one of my favorite fruits in Japan. Commonly grown in autumn and winter, Mikan, which is known as Citrus unshiu, is a seedless and easy pealing citrus mutant of Chinese origin. In Japan, it is known as Unshu Mikan. It is also often known as “seedless mandarin”. Its fruit is sweet and usually seedless, about the size of other mandarin oranges, smaller than other orange. The Mikan originates from Wenzhou, a city in Zhenjiang province in China. It was introduce to Japan by the Buddhist monk, Chie.

You would find a Mikan tree in most of old Japanese gardens. When they are full in fruits, it gives a beautiful site with orange colored Mikan hanging among green leaves.