25-653: Colombo Racecourse ( Sinhala : කොළඹ තුරඟ තරඟ පිටිය ) is a historical harness racing course in the Cinnamon Gardens , Colombo . During the Second World War , it was used as a temporary airfield. In 2012, it was redeveloped as the Colombo Racecourse Sports Complex to become the first International Rugby Union ground in Sri Lanka to host all the national rugby union side's home matches. In 2014,
50-424: A Sri Lankan sports venue is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sinhala language Sinhala ( / ˈ s ɪ n h ə l ə , ˈ s ɪ ŋ ə l ə / SIN -hə-lə, SING -ə-lə ; Sinhala: සිංහල , siṁhala , [ˈsiŋɦələ] ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( / ˌ s ɪ n ( h ) ə ˈ l iː z , ˌ s ɪ ŋ ( ɡ ) ə ˈ l iː z / SIN -(h)ə- LEEZ , SING -(g)ə- LEEZ ),
75-731: A supposed former abundance of lions on the island. According to the chronicle Mahāvaṃsa , written in Pali, Prince Vijaya of the Vanga Kingdom and his entourage merged in Sri Lanka with later settlers from the Pandya kingdom . In the following centuries, there was substantial immigration from Eastern India, including additional migration from the Vanga Kingdom (Bengal), as well as Kalinga and Magadha . This influx led to an admixture of features of Eastern Prakrits. The development of Sinhala
100-624: A totalisator was installed becoming the first race course in the East to have one. The Colombo Turf Club was based here with its own pavilion and clubhouse next to the grandstand. In late 1941, World War II began in the East. After the fall of Singapore the Royal Navy 's East Indies Station was moved to Colombo and then to Trincomalee . Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Ceylon with Air Vice Marshal John D'Albiac as air officer commanding , No. 222 Group RAF which
125-653: A Dravidian origin for this word. ), dola for pig in Vedda and offering in Sinhala. Other common words are rera for wild duck, and gala for stones (in toponyms used throughout the island, although others have also suggested a Dravidian origin). There are also high frequency words denoting body parts in Sinhala, such as olluva for head, kakula for leg, bella for neck and kalava for thighs, that are derived from pre-Sinhalese languages of Sri Lanka. The oldest Sinhala grammar, Sidatsan̆garavā , written in
150-722: A period of prior bilingualism: "The earliest type of contact in Sri Lanka, not considering the aboriginal Vedda languages, was that which occurred between South Dravidian and Sinhala. It seems plausible to assume prolonged contact between these two populations as well as a high degree of bilingualism. This explains why Sinhala looks deeply South Dravidian for an Indo-Aryan language. There is corroboration in genetic findings." In addition to many Tamil loanwords , several phonetic and grammatical features also present in neighbouring Dravidian languages set modern spoken Sinhala apart from its Northern Indo-Aryan relatives. These features are evidence of close interactions with Dravidian speakers. Some of
175-473: Is a conspicuous example of the linguistic phenomenon known as diglossia . Sinhala ( Siṁhala ) is a Sanskrit term; the corresponding Middle Indo-Aryan ( Eḷu ) word is Sīhala . The name is a derivative of [[[:wikt:सिंह|siṁha]]] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script ( help ) , the Sanskrit word for 'lion'. The name is sometimes glossed as 'abode of lions', and attributed to
200-584: Is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka , who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also spoken as the first language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about 2 million speakers as of 2001. It is written using the Sinhala script , which is a Brahmic script closely related to the Grantha script of South India. Sinhala
225-479: Is divided into four epochs: The most important phonetic developments of Sinhala include: According to Wilhelm Geiger , an example of a possible Western feature in Sinhala is the retention of initial /v/ which developed into /b/ in the Eastern languages (e.g. Sanskrit viṁśati "twenty", Sinhala visi- , Hindi bīs ). This is disputed by Muhammad Shahidullah who says that Sinhala Prakrit branched off from
250-412: Is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, alongside Tamil . Along with Pali , it played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. Early forms of the Sinhala language are attested as early as the 3rd century BCE. The language of these inscriptions, still retaining long vowels and aspirated consonants, is a Prakrit similar to Magadhi , a regional associate of
275-700: The Middle Indian Prakrits that had been used during the time of the Buddha . The most closely related languages are the Vedda language (an endangered, indigenous creole still spoken by a minority of Sri Lankans, mixing Sinhala with an isolate of unknown origin and from which Old Sinhala borrowed various aspects into its main Indo-Aryan substrate), and the Maldivian language . It has two main varieties, written and spoken, and
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#1732858583666300-576: The UNESCO National Commission of Ceylon According to Wilhelm Geiger , Sinhala has features that set it apart from other Indo-Aryan languages. Some of the differences can be explained by the substrate influence of the parent stock of the Vedda language . Sinhala has many words that are only found in Sinhala, or shared between Sinhala and Vedda and not etymologically derivable from Middle or Old Indo-Aryan. Possible examples include kola for leaf in Sinhala and Vedda (although others suggest
325-713: The University of Colombo , the northern portion to the Department of National Archives while others to the Royal College Sports Complex , Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club and sporting bodies. The Grandstand and the Colombo Turf Club building were neglected and used for different purposes. The Sri Lanka Army used it as a temporary garrison from time to time as well as the Sri Lanka Air Force used what
350-464: The 13th century CE, recognised a category of words that exclusively belonged to early Sinhala. The grammar lists naram̆ba (to see) and koḷom̆ba (fort or harbour) as belonging to an indigenous source. Koḷom̆ba is the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo . The consistent left branching syntax and the loss of aspirated stops in Sinhala is attributed to a probable South Dravidian substratum effect. This has been explained by
375-700: The Eastern Prakrits prior to this change. He cites the edicts of Ashoka , no copy of which shows this sound change. An example of an Eastern feature is the ending -e for masculine nominative singular (instead of Western -o ) in Sinhalese Prakrit. There are several cases of vocabulary doublets , one example being the words mæssā ("fly") and mækkā ("flea"), which both correspond to Sanskrit makṣikā but stem from two regionally different Prakrit words macchiā (Western Prakrits) and makkhikā (as in Eastern Prakrits like Pali ). In 1815,
400-743: The Hurricanes of No. 11 Squadron to deploy and intercept the Japanese raiders. The Royal Navy (RN) also established a naval air station here during the Second World War. It was transferred from the RAF on 1 September 1943, then known as Royal Naval Air Station Colombo Racecourse , (or RNAS Colombo Racecourse ) and then commissioned a month later as HMS Bherunda on 1 October, under the command of Captain A.F. Campbell, OBE , RN. 797 Fleet Requirements Unit and 742 Communications Squadron were stationed at
425-629: The Royal Naval School of Malarial Control and Tropical Hygiene, and close by the Royal Naval Air ;Ceylonese Training Establishment Maharagama and the Royal Naval Air Motor Transport Depot, Nugegoda. The airbase ' paid off ' on 30 November 1945. List of first and second line squadrons, station flight and other flying units based at this location: Following the end of the war the airfield was dismantled, racecourse
450-629: The airbase, along with accommodation and training facilities for disembarked squadrons, including Fighter Direction training. There were also a number of sub-units in Colombo including use of the local Rowlands Garage which was acquired for aero engine repairs and the fixing of aircraft wings, and became the Royal Naval Aircraft Repair Depot, Colombo. Additionally there was the Naval Aircraft Embarkation Unit, Colombo,
475-507: The features that may be traced to Dravidian influence are: ඒක ēka it අලුත් aḷut new කියලා kiyalā having-said මම mama I දන්නවා dannavā know ඒක අලුත් කියලා මම දන්නවා ēka aḷut kiyalā mama dannavā it new having-said I know "I know that it is new." ඒක ēka it අලුත් aḷut new ද da Q කියලා kiyalā having-said මම mama I දන්නේ Nuwara Eliya Racecourse Too Many Requests If you report this error to
500-478: The ground went through a major renovation, which included the installation of floodlights and the conversion of a substantial part of the grandstand into a shopping and dining complex. The ground hosted the 2022 SAFF U-17 Championship . Officially opened for horse racing in 1893 after it was moved from the Colpitty Race Course , as one of the best in terms of design, facilities, and size in the East. In 1922
525-590: The island of Ceylon came under British rule . During the career of Christopher Reynolds as a Sinhalese lecturer at the School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London , he extensively researched the Sinhalese language and its pre-1815 literature. The Sri Lankan government awarded him the Sri Lanka Ranjana medal for his work. He wrote the 377-page An anthology of Sinhalese literature up to 1815 , selected by
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#1732858583666550-630: The premises of Royal College Colombo . Two squadrons of the Royal Air Force (RAF) were based at the racecourse. They were No. 258 Squadron RAF with Hawker Hurricanes and No. 11 Squadron RAF with Bristol Blenheims . When the Easter Sunday Raid occurred the Japanese bombed the RAF units at RAF Ratmalana yet passed over the Racecourse Airstrip without knowing it existed. This allowed
575-587: Was based in Ceylon. The order was given to construct an airfield at the Colombo Racecourse. D S Senanayake , Minister of Agriculture and Lands (later the 1st Prime Minister of Ceylon) was given the task of its construction. Consisting only of a single runway, station headquarters and the officers' mess were set up in the bungalows in Cinnamon Gardens and were serviced by a newly established military hospital in
600-558: Was left of racecourse grounds for landing transport helicopters . In 2011 the Urban Development Authority commenced the renovation of the Grand Stand and the Colombo Turf Club building. The structures were renovated by the 6th Engineer Services Regiment and Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau. The remaining grounds were redeveloped into Sri Lanka's first international-grade Rugby Union grounds. This article about
625-471: Was reconverted back to a horse racing track. This was greatly affected after gambling and betting were banned in the country in 1956. This resulted in horse racing stopping completely in Colombo thereafter along with Nuwara Eliya Racecourse (which re-opened in 1981). The Colombo Racecourse, the Colombo Turf Club and its grounds were taken over by the government and its large land extent was segmented and distributed to government entities. Southern parts went to
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