Talk:Ratnapura

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 It is requested that a photograph or photographs be included in this article to improve its quality, if possible.
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[edit] Photos

I think we should include the photos of the clock tower, Gem fort, a gem pit, Places of woship such as Buddha statue on the hill Peter-Paul church etc. I am currenlt not in the country if some body in town can take this pictures it will increase the quality of the article.

Trengarasu 05:11, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] cat's eyes?

What gem or gems were meant with cat's eyes? I removed cats-eyes (sic) because cat's eye (=chatoyancy ) is not a specific gem but a reflective property of certain gems. --Espoo 21:38, 8 June 2006 (UTC)

At this point I have to agree with you but I some body in the gem trade has to clear the ambiguity in the Cat’s. Because I am from Ratnapura, and I know of a gem stone called cat’s eye apart from the “reflective property of certain gems” as Espoo said. If some one has a good reference book to support this please upload it.
Another matter is the name of gem stones vary with country to country and place to place. Therefore the “cat’s eye” I know may have a different name in the scientific community. --Trengarasu 03:52, 9 June 2006 (UTC)
Did you look at the list of gems mentioned at the link (chatoyancy)? Apparently "cat's eye" is a colloquial term for different gems in different places, so what is colloquially called by that name in Ratnapura is most likely one of those listed at that link, i.e. tiger eye quartz, cat's eye chrysoberyl, beryl (especially var. aquamarine), tourmaline, apatite, or scapolite. Just call the gem museum in Ratnapura and ask them which is meant by the imprecise colloquial expression in this case. By the way, since you're from Ratnapura, why is there no mention of this apparently even internationally amazing museum? In fact, the article doesn't mention any museums; are there others? --Espoo 09:35, 10 June 2006 (UTC)
About the Gem museum it is a privete owned one so will it be ok to pu it here. town has nothing to do with it.i did not include it because it is a business plaace if it is ok with Wiki I will add some details. --Terrance 12:11, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
No problem at all writing about any company in Wikipedia as long as it's of general interest and not advertisement. There are entire articles about many companies, and the gem museum in Ratnapura would definitely deserve its own, but it should definitely be at least described in this article too. --Espoo 09:10, 18 June 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Etymology

//The modern name is derived from the Portuguese name Rapadura for jaggery, the palm candy produced traditionally in this region.// I dont think this is correct. can some one claryfy.--Terrance 03:29, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

The modern name is supposed to be derived from Ratna+Pura, Ratna a Pali word for Gems and Pura=city, hence the fanciful derivation, 'city of gems'. Although it seems quite logical in modern Sinhalese there is no historical basis for such a derivation. The name originates in Portuguese times.--Wikramadithya 05:21, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
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