Education
PhD in Mathematics
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
2020
MPhil in Sanskrit
University of Peradeniya
2015
BA (Hons) in Sanskrit
University of Peradeniya
2009
Royal Pandit
Oriental Studies Society of Sri Lanka
2005
Current Positions
Head - Deparment of Classical Languages, University of Peradeniya
June 2024 - To Present
Warden - Sangharamaya and Kehelpannala Bhikshu Hostels, University of Peradeniya
2023 January - To Present
Senior Treasurer - Student-monks' society, University of Peradeniya
2022 June - To Present
Senior Student Counsellor - Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya
2022 - To Present
Departmental representative (Sanskrit) - Faculty Quality Assurance Cell, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya
2020 - To Present
Postgraduate Programme Coordinator (Sanskrit) - PGIHS, University of Peradeniya
2020 - To Present
Senior Lecturer - University of Peradeniya
Jun. 2018 - To Present
Positions Held
Part-time Senior Academic Sub-warden, Kehelpannala hall - University of Peradeniya
2022 January - 2022 December
Lecturer - University of Peradeniya
June 2013 - June 2018
Temporary Lecturer - University of Peradeniya
Dec. 2009 - Jun. 2013
Memberships
Associate - New Zealand South Asia Centre, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
2020
Member - Medicine, and Technology in New Zealand Association, University of Auckland, New Zealand
2017
Life member - Royal Asiatic Society, Sri Lanka
2012
Life member - Oriental Studies Society, Sri Lanka
2012
Awards
Prize of Honourable Mention for PhD thesis - Division of History of Science and Technology, International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
2021
Rutherford Discovery Scholarship for Doctor of Philosophy - University of Canterbury, New Zealand
2015
Gate Mudaliyar A.G. Thilakarathne Fellowship for Master of Philosophy - University of Peradeniya
2011
Dr. Edmond Hewawitarana Memorial Prize for Sanskrit (greatest competence) - University of Peradeniya
2009
Publications
The Candrārkī of Dinakara: A text related to solar and lunar tables, with Aditya Kolocana and et al, Journal for the History of Astronomy, Vol.49(3), 2018, pp.306-344
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0021828618787556
A critical edition of the Candrārkī of Dinakara, with Aditya Kolocana and et al, History of Science in South Asia, Vol.6, 2018, pp.127-161
https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/hssa/index.php/hssa/article/view/35
Computation of Sines in Nityānanda’s Sarvasiddhāntarāja, with K. Ramasubramanian, Clemency Montelle, Sources and Commentaries in the Exact Sciences, Vol. 17, SCIAMVS, Kyoto, 2016, pp.1-52
iPURSE 2021, University of Peradeniya
URCFA-2021, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya
https://arts.pdn.ac.lk/main/downloads/general/URCFA-2021%20-FINAL-ARTS-PERADENIYA.pdf
Conferences
International seminar on ‘Science and technology in Sanskrit texts’
Recreational mathematics in India (via Zoom)
Department of Sanskrit, Assam University, Silchar, India
20 December 2022
UPenn Sanskrit Day
śrīpateḥ gaṇitatilakasya saṃkalanopāyaḥ (in Sanskrit via Zoom) with Sahana Cidambi
South Asia Center, University of Pennsylvania, USA
11 June 2022
5th International Conference on the Humanities 2020/21
Potentiality of Vāstuśāstra in Modernity, Panel session on "Application of Vāstuśāstra principles for future perspectives"
University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
30 July 2021
26th International Congress of History of Science and Technology
Some traditional astronomical teachings from Lalla to Bhāskarācārya through Śrīpati (via Zoom)
Division of History of Science and Technology of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, Prague, Czech Republic
25 July – 31 July 2021
Annual Symposium 2020
Ṣaṭpratyaya: the procedures of mathematical rules used for manipulating metres in prosody (with reference to the Vṛttaratnākara) (via Zoom)
New Zealand South Asia Centre, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
01 December 2020
‘Perspectives on South Asia’ Annual Symposium 2019
The scientific style of Śrīpati
New Zealand South Asia Centre, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
03 December 2019
‘Reading Ancient Mathematical Texts’ SPHERE Seminar
Reconstructing algorithmic procedures involving fractions in the Gaṇitatilaka, a 11th cent. CE mathematical text in Sanskrit
Université Paris Diderot, France
17 June 2019
Indological Workshop on the Interplay Between the Traditions of Jyotiḥśāstra and the Purāṇas
Śrīpati’s critique of cosmography in the Purāṇas and some other philosophies
Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
20 May 2019
‘Traces of the Past’ Annual Symposium 2018
Kuṭṭaka, the Indian method of solving the indeterminate equation of first degree: a comparison with Diophantine method and Euler’s method
New Zealand South Asia Centre, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
21 November 2018
New Zealand mathematics and statistics postgraduate conference
Kuṭṭaka: The Indian method of solving the indeterminate equation of first degree (with special reference to Srīpati’s rule)
Massey University, New Zealand
18-20 November 2018
Research Group Conference on “The Day Unit in Antiquity and the Middle Ages”
Measuring time in India: A day in Sanskrit sources, (with Clemency Montelle via Skype)
Israel Institute for Advanced Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
04 July 2017
International conference on Exploring the History of Indian mathematics
Problems pertaining to the determination of direction, place, and time in Śrīpati’s Siddhāntaśekhara
Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, India
06 December 2017
"History of Science in India" International symposium
A review of the terminology employed by Śrīpati in the mathematical chapters of the Siddhāntaśekhara
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
19-20 April 2017
“Discovering de Jong: a scholarly legacy, asset and resource” International symposium
Literature, Language, and Art (Some Buddhist Materials in De Jong Collection)
University of Canterbury, New Zealand
23-24 November 2016
“Pali and Indian Culture” International conference
Musicology in the Tripiṭaka and its commentaries
Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
22 March 2014
Influential figures in learning or Meditation in Theravada Buddhism in 19-20th centuries
sirilaṅkādīpe vipassanābhāvanaṃ pattharaṇe atipūjanīyassa rerukāne candawimalamahātherassa dāyakattaṃ (in Pali)
Shan State sangha council, Veluwan Monastery, Shan State, Myanmar
18-19 December 2014
2nd International Meditation Conference
samānattatāya satipaṭṭhānabhāvanā (in Pali)
International Buddhist Meditation Center of Mahachulalongkonrajavidyalaya University, Thailand
08-10 January 2013
Specialization
Sanskrit language and literature
Teaching
SKT 608 - Sanskrit works on arts, crafts, and sciences
Postgraduate Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences
2022 - To Present
SKT 607 - Editing and translating Sanskrit texts
Postgraduate Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences
2020 - To Present
Research Interests
Sanskrit Śilpa Literature (architecture, sculpture, and paintings)
Astro-Mathematical Literature in Sanskrit
Theories of Aesthetics
Research Grants Received
Overseas conference fund, Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya, 2021
Research project grant for History of Indian Science and Technology, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, India, 2019/20
Other Academic Contributions
Guest speaker: International seminar on ‘Science and technology in Sanskrit texts’, Department of Sanskrit, Assam University, Silchar, India, 19 December, 2022 (via Zoom)
Invited speaker: "Sanskrit literature and Indian mathematics", Department of Languages Studies, Bhiksu University of Sri Lanka, Anuradhapuraya, 27 September 2022 (via Zoom in Sinhala)
Invited speaker: "Sanskrit śilpaśāstras and Creative-work", Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka, Western province, 23 November 2021 (via Zoom in Sinhala)
Invited speaker: "The technology of arts", National Institute of Education, 26 September 2021 (via Zoom in Sinhala)
Invited speaker: "Sculpturing Buddha statues: art and technology", Curia Historica History society, Department of History, University of Peradeniya, 13 September 2021 (via Zoom in Sinhala)
Invited speaker: "Texts on tracking on the motions of heavenly bodies in the language of gods", Mathematics Society, Department of Mathematics, University of Sri Jayawardhanapura, Sri Lanka, 29 January 2020 (in Sinhala)
Invited speaker: "Three questions: methods of determining the direction, place, and time in Śrīpati’s Siddhāntaśekhara", Danish Society for the History of Science, Copenhagen, Denmark, 28 May 2019
