The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 40, September 18, 2005, Article 17

A NUMISMATIC JOURNEY TO CEYLON

E-Sylum subscriber Karan Ratnatunga is on a trip across the
United States, and he is making stops at several towns sharing
the name of his native Ceylon. The Fairmont Sentinel of Fairmont,
MN published an article about his recent visit to Ceylon, MN.
According to the Wikipedia, "As of the census of 2000, there
are 413 people, 175 households, and 121 families residing in the
city." Wiki - Ceylon, MN.

"Kavan Ratnatunga is a Sri Lanka native, and remembers when
Sri Lanka was originally called Ceylon. Living in the U.S for
several years and preparing to go back to his homeland, he
decided to visit the towns in the U.S. that have his country's
namesake, including his weekend visit to Martin County.

"They changed from Ceylon to Sri Lanka in 1972," Ratnatunga
said. "But many people still refer to it as Ceylon."

Along with Ceylon, Minnesota, Ratnatunga visited Ceylon towns
in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania earlier this week.

"This is the biggest Ceylon town I've been to," he said.

His curiosity of the U.S. Ceylon towns started around 1997, as
he was looking up some information on the Internet.

"I came across an entry that said Walter Mondale was born in
Ceylon, and I thought, 'That can't be right,'" Ratnatunga said
with a laugh. "But it turns out it was Ceylon, Minnesota."

Intrigued by the town that had the same name as his homeland,
Ratnatunga looked up some listed e-mail addresses for Ceylon
residents. One e-mail address he contacted was that of Jerry
Rosenberg, who sent Ratnatunga a reply.

"He started giving me some of the history of Ceylon, how it
was named after the tea," Ratnatunga said.

Ratnatunga kept in touch with Orsenburg, and began collecting
items from Ceylon, including old tokens that were good at
Ceylon businesses.

"He has a bigger collection than I have," marveled Marlon Bents,
president of State Bank of Ceylon."

"During Ratnatunga's time overseas, he's also spent time in
Australia and Canada, and was a professor in astronomy at the
Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. But he is now planning
to go into semi-retirement in Sri Lanka.

"Before I went, I wanted to see the towns of Ceylon," he said.
"The Ceylon in Pennsylvania is only 50 miles away from D.C.,
where I was last week, so I went through there. On Monday,
I went through Ohio's Ceylon, Tuesday, it was Indiana, and
now I am here."

To read the full story, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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