KAMALIKA PIERIS

Dhanesh Wisumperuma has researched into Religious Use of Elephants in Ancient Sri Lanka (Gajah 37 (2012) 16-21). He provides the following information.

Elephants were first used in Buddhist ceremonial processions, to receive and transport Buddhist relics from one place to another.  King Devanampiyatissa   used the state elephant to carry   relics to be enshrined in the Thuparama.

Parakramabahu I went mounted on his favorite beautiful elephant”, to receive the Tooth and Bowl relics when they were brought back from the south where they had been sent for safety during the Chola  wars.  Other elephants as well as horses were also part of this event.

In addition to relics, the    Pujavaliya (13 century) was also taken in procession on the back of the royal elephant, to show veneration, since it was a book on Buddhist religious offerings.

 The Mahavamsa shows that the Anuradhapura kings regularly had peraheras for the temples. I find it difficult to believe that elephants were not a part of these, everybody else seems to have been included. But there does not seem to be any documented reference to elephants in peraheras during this period.

When the Mahathupa was restored during the Polonnaruwa period, the procession included elephants illuminated with lamps. Parakramabahu II (1236-1270) held a seven day festival for the Tooth Relic, for which he used many elephants and horses in the procession. Vijayabahu IV (1270-1272) organized a procession to transfer the Tooth and Bowl relics of the Buddha from Dambadeniya to Polonnaruwa. The relics were taken on a chariot and the perahera included rows of highly caprisoned elephants.

King Mahadathika Mahanaga (7-19 AD) was the first king to donate an elephant to a temple. The tradition continued thereafter. Parakramabahu IV   celebrated a festival for Tooth and Bowl Relics by gifting elephants, as well as other items, to the temple.

The decision to get a tusker to carry the Tooth relic in a procession seems to have developed much later. Dalada Sirita (14 century) contained a manual for the conduct of festivals for the Tooth Relic. Dalada Sirita says for a procession during public displays of the Tooth Relic, the relic must be enshrined in a casket and placed on a decorated chariot, pulled by a tusked elephant with auspicious marks.

Ama H. Vanniarachchy has   researched into the tuskers who carried the Tooth relic at the Esala Perahera of the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy. The Relic Casket is carried and paraded only on a majestic tusker, accompanied by two other tuskers besides him, said Ama. Out of all the tamed tuskers of the country, only few are chosen as suitable enough to carry the Relic Casket. Not only their physical looks but also their personality and intelligence is considered, she added.

 She provides a comprehensive list of the important tuskers who graced the Kandy Esala Perahera with emphasis on those who    carried the relic casket in Kumbal and Randoli peraheras.

The first mentioned is Maha Raja owned by Clifford Ratwatte, 13 feet in height with perfectly proportioned body. He carried the casket from the 1920s until 1940s. After Maha Raja, the   Idampitie tusker owned by the Mawanalle Idampitiya Walawwa carried the casket.

Then it was the turn of Maligawe Raja. Raja was captured by Umeru Lebbe in 1925 under permit at Eravur. He was bought by Mampitiye Disawe in 1925 and in 1931 was     gifted to the Dalada Maligawa. Raja’s first Dalada Perahera was in 1937. He was the leading tusker in Dalada Peraheras till 1987.

He was declared a National Treasure by President J.R. Jayewardene. Raja’s picture was printed in the thousand rupee note and a 75 cent stamp was also released with the picture of Raja. This was the first time in Asia that a stamp was released in honor of an animal. Raja received a State funeral when he died in 1988.

Wewaladeniya Raja was a majestic tusker captured in 1974 at Agunakolapalassa area.  He carried the casket from 1986. Heiyanthuduwe Raja was caught at Hambantota Kattakakaduwa forest in 1945.  He had 11 feet long tusks.  He carried the Relic Casket form 1991 to 2000. His skeleton is displayed at the Colombo National Museum. 

Millangoda Raja was caught in 1945 at, Anamaduwa area in Puttalam. Millangoda Raja owned the longest tusks of South Asia.  When he died, his body was preserved and is now at Molagoda Millangoda Walawwa.

Kataragama Vasana was captured in a forest near Anuradhapura and given to the Zoo. He was gifted to the Kataragama Devale when he was 5 or 6 years old. He is the lead tusker at Kataragama Perahera and lives in Kataragama. He comes up to Kandy for the Esala perahera in a special truck. He has carried the Relic Casket in several peraheras.

Sinha Raja, when a baby was separated from his herd, during the civil war in the North. He was   found in the forests in Vavuniya by the Sinha Regiment and brought to the Peradeniya Veterinary hospital for treatment for his injuries. Once he was cured he was gifted to Dalada Maligawa. Noted for his intelligence and grandeur Sinha Raja   has carried the Relic Casket at Dalada Peraheras. As at 2020, he is the sub leader of the elephant troop at the Dalada Maligawa in 2020. 

From the earliest times the Sri Lanka elephant has been depicted and glorified on temple and palace walls in sculptural or in painted form, said Ashley de Vos. Paintings of elephants, datable to the Anuradhapura period have been found at Dimbulagala and Kotiyagala. There is a painting of a happy, smiling elephant at Mara vidiya cave at Dimbulagala.   https://si.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drawing_of_an_elephant_from_Dimulagala_Mara_Vidiya.jpg.

Elephants figure prominently in cave paintings at Miella in Kotiyagala. We noticed four .One elephant is engaged in water sports, another is carrying a lotus in its trunk. A third gives the impression it is ready to run. Lastly the frontal view of a moving elephant is shown. In the middle of an intricate ceiling design, there is also an elephant within a circle with its tail bent, reported the team at Amazing Lanka.com”.  https://amazinglanka.com/wp/en/miella/

Paintings perish, but, there are plenty of stone sculptures of elephants still remaining. https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/sri-lanka-temple-elephant-carving.html. Elephants are featured on moon stones, walls, ponds and entrances. The moonstones in Anuradhapura are well known. Moonstone from Magul Maha Vihara, Lahugala depicts a row of tamed elephants with a rope across their belly and two mahouts.

Continuous freezes of sculptured dancing elephants are a pleasure to behold, observed Ashley de Vos. They can be seen at Ruvanveliseya. There is a row of elephants in the palace wall  in Polonnaruwa .There are several elephants carved in stone at Gadaladeniya, two free standing  at the entrance and a third in the wall.

We have all seen Isurumuniya’s delightful bas relief carving of elephants frolicking by a small pond at the entrance. One young tusker is shown already in the water looking forward to the others joining him. Ranmasu Uyana which is adjoining Isurumuniya also has similar frolicking elephants in one of the pools.

 Isurumuniya has other elephant carvings. There is an elephant carved on the outer wall of a Korawakgala. This is a standing tusker with a prominent kumbasthala. It is at the entrance of a cave shrine. Also, two tuskers can be seen seated on the side of the two guard stones at this entrance. 

 HCP Bell reports a full relief rock carving of an elephant, on the banks of the Mahaweli River. This has now disappeared.

“This piece of animal sculpture is probably unique in Ceylon. Cut in full round from a rock, life-size, are the head and shoulders of an elephant whose feet the river washed when low. The elephant stands in the water, looking slightly upstream, as though hesitating to cross. At present the river in semi-flood reaches its eyes. There are signs of ‘sets’ for some building’s foundations on a boulder adjoining, but no ruins or inscriptions are known likely to afford a clue to the object of this solitary tour de force of a skilful sculptor concluded Bell.” Unfortunately this rock sculpture no longer exists, having been blasted probably by fishermen dynamiting fish, said Jayantha Jayawardena.   (Continued)