Families have their stories, anecdotes, traditions and their unique identities, as all families do. But the Weerasooriyas of Dodanduwa, an illustrious clan that has produced many noteworthy sons and daughters, have taken a bold but commendable step of producing a sleek, professionally elegant titled SOORIYAKATHA. It chronicles the sum and substance of the proud heritage of the Weerasooriyas whose history is rooted in Dodanduwa.

Recently launched at the Dodanduwa Weerasooriya Family Welfare Association (DWFWA) Annual General Meeting, Sooriyakatha is a wonderful blend of the old, the new, and the in between that brings together a clan flung far and wide across the world. General Srilal Weerasooriya, former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and former High Commissioner to Pakistan Prof. Tilak Weerasooriya, Dean of the Medical Faculty, University of Ruhuna, Major General Lohan Gunewardena, former Chief of Staff, SLA, Professor Amal Kumarage of Moratuwa University, Asoka Weerasooriya, Lawyer, and Cricketer Aravinda de Silva are some of the well- known Weerasooriyas of today - Puisne Justice H W R Weerasooriya, David Paynter, Ven. Sri Piyaratana Tissa Maha Thero, Dr J H F Jayasuriya, Chris Greet, Salvation Army pioneer Arnolis Weerasooriya, Crown Proctor and Author Hubert Weerasooriya, among others, have been members of the Clan whose contributions to Sri Lanka have been well-known and recognized.

Sooriyakatha makes wonderful reading not only for the Weerasooriyas and those married into the Clan but also for those who will find the narrations. The anecdotes, the stories from the past and the present fascinating.

There are stories on the family's well-known heritage in Dodanduwa that dates back to Dutch times, the life-transforming experiences of David Weerasooriya and his son Arnolis Weerasooriya and daughter Anagi Weerasooriya who married Rev. Arthur Paynter. Sooriyakatha relates the story of how Anagi once on a mission trip in Philadelphia, USA, was not allowed to enter a tea cafe until she chose to stand on a table and announce graciously that she came from the country that produced the tea everyone in the cafe was drinking. And it's replete with many more stories and experiences of the family members living here and overseas.

According to the DWFWA Committee (2007/2008), Sooriyakatha was a vast project ably steered to fruition in a few months, under the stewardship of DWFWA President Tennyson Rodrigo. Also lending a hand was Nayomini Ratnayake Weerasooriya, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of the well-known Satyn magazine. The entire Committee shouldered a massive effort in gathering stories and profiles of many members and designing, editing, funding and printing a 116-page magazine that makes interesting reading from cover to cover.

"Sooriyakatha, marks a time in Sri Lanka when a single family so largely spread, has managed to stay in touch and keep its core intact, imbibe its values and traditions - Weerasooriyas love their pork, their outdoor-life and merry-making, among other things - and presents many facets and pictures of what makes them the Dodanduwa Weerasooriyas - from its oldest contributor, Tom Mendis who's aged eighty-nine years to its youngest, Akarsha Weeerasooriya who's a ten-year old student at St. Thomas' College Mt. Lavinia.

It's a magnificent effort worth recording and reading - perhaps for posterity" says a spokesperson for the DWFWA Committee.