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Born in Thailand, Dr. Nandana Chutiwongs received her B.A. in ancient art and archaeology of South and Southeast Asia, from the Silpakorn University in Bangkok in 1963. She obtained her M.A. in Indo-Iranian languages and cultures from the University of Amsterdam, and her Ph.D. from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. She has had a long career as a lecturer and a senior lecturer at the University of Amsterdam. At present, she is the curator of the Department of South and Mainland Southeast Asia at the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, and a regular guest lecturer at the Silpakorn University in Bangkok. She is currently involuved in many international research projects, especially in the fields of Buddhist art and cultural exchanges in China and Sri Lanka.

Udaya Meddegama is Associate Professor in the Department of Sinhalese at the University of Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. He graduated (First Class with Gold Medal) from the University of Ceylon and with a Ph.D from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. He has been a visiting professor of South Asian Studies in the USA at Swarthmore, Bowdoin and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He is the author of many studies focussed on Sinhalese literature and has published two anthologies of poetry. He is currently writing a novel based upon his many and varied experiences as a Theravada Buddhist bhikkhu.