The 205-year-old ban imposed by the British colonial rulers on popular traditional martial art ‘Angampora’ will be lifted shortly with the issuing of the relevant gazette notification.
The British, who occupied the whole country by 1815 (and who had full control of it by 1818) issued a gazette banning the practice in 1817 with harsh punishments for flouters, paving the way to its decline.
The Cabinet of Ministers who met on Monday approved the proposal presented by the Sports and Youth Affairs Minister to publish in a gazette notification the lifting of the ban imposed by the English colonial rulers.
Cabinet approval had been granted in 2019 as well to lift the ban on the martial art Angampora. However, the relevant gazette notification has not been published so far.
A spokesman for the Sports Ministry said the Ministry will take steps to promote ‘Angampora’ as a traditional national sport locally and internationally.
The Martial Art “Angampora” will also be promoted as a national heritage of the country.
Angampora is an ancient martial art form practiced in Sri Lanka since thousands of years ago. It receives its name from the angam arts which involve hand-to-hand combat forms; and the ilangam arts which incorporate traditional weaponry such as the Urumi (ethunu kaduwa), swords, battle axes, staves, daggers and maces.
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