Sarath Lal Kumara has touched on a theme that is not very commonly discussed in Sri Lanka with his latest book, Nivunnu (Twins).
The history of twins in Sri Lanka dates back to the Prince Vijaya era. Sri Lanka's historical chronicles says, Prince Vijaya who established the first kingdom in Sri Lanka (according to written history), is a twin.
His mother and father Sinha Seevali and Sinha Bahu were twins as well. His mother gave birth to 16 pairs of twins and Prince Vijaya and his brother Sumitta were the eldest pair.
In a keynote speech at the launch of the book, media personality and author Saman Athudahetti said, "the story of twins as well as this interesting detail about our history in Sri Lanka remains fairly unknown. "No one talks about it, we have known the Sinhala race descended from Prince Vijaya and it ends there. No one celebrates the role the twins had played in the making of our history," The book, a work of meticulous research by Sarath Lal has tried to shed some light on Sri Lanka's famous twins who have excelled in Sri Lanka's society.
And also he strives to give the reader some insight into their lifestyles, feelings and common dilemmas. At the book launch the author said, being a twin had its advantages as well as disadvantages. "As a mischievous boy with a well mannered brother who is your identical twin, I could always escape punishment in school, the teachers did not want to punish the wrong child," he said.
The book launch was symbolically held on February, 22 at the Mahaweli Centre auditorium. It was sponsored by 'Sri Lanka Twins' organisation and was attended by a large gathering of twins, young and old, and from all walks of life.
- Manjula Fernando