The Amavatura is one of the works of Gurulugomi, a figure of classical Sinhala letters who has been described as one of the rare masters of Sinhala classical diction and style. He was proficient in Pali, Sanskrit and Prakrit, and the Amavatura stands alongside the Dharmapradipika as the work by which he is known. Both belong to the older stratum of Sinhala prose.
This is an edition of that text, issued in Colombo by Godage Publishers and catalogued under Sinhalese literature. It is an edited edition with front matter preceding the text proper.
The book is in Sinhala. There is no English translation or parallel text here, and the front matter is in Sinhala as well. Buyers outside Sri Lanka should know this before ordering: the edition is intended for readers of Sinhala, whether students working through the classical prose, those studying the language at an advanced level, or households keeping a copy of the text at home.
Godage Publishers is an established Colombo house publishing in Sinhala and English, with a long list of Sinhala literary and classical titles. Editions of the old prose works form part of what they keep in print, and this Amavatura sits in that part of the list.
Classical Sinhala is not easy reading, and this edition does not pretend otherwise. What it offers is the text itself, set out in a modern printing for readers who want to work with Gurulugomi's prose directly rather than through summary or paraphrase. For anyone studying Sinhala literature seriously, or building a shelf of the classical works in the original, it is the kind of edition that belongs there.
- Author: V.Nanda Perera
- Publisher: Godage Publishers
- Language: Sinhala
- Pages: 256
- ISBN: 955-20-7240-9
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