KAMALIKA PIERIS

The Tamil agricultural laborers who migrated to Jaffna in the 17th century, probably set up shrines to the village gods they worshipped back home. The Bhakti religion  had incorporated local gods into its philosophy. Due to their low caste  they would  not have been allowed into the major temples that  existed  at the time in Tamilnadu. They  probably knew  nothing  about Siva or Vishnu.  

This group  could not have  developed a strong Hindu culture in  the North. They were an ignorant, low ranking,  subordinate group of   labourers, ruled by the Dutch. The Dutch  were trying to push  their  own brand of  Christianity. They would not have encouraged village Hinduism.

 A small but strong Hindu community  was created in Jaffna, much later,  by Arumuka Navalar (1822-1879).The religious awakening among the Tamil Hindus in Jaffna was largely due to the pioneering efforts of Arumuka Navalar,  said analysts.

When the American  missionaries started converting Tamils to Christianity in Jaffna,  Arumuka Navalar started  to do the same for Hinduism. He established Hindu secondary schools and published books on Hindu theology and Hindu practices.

According to journalist Chelvatamby Maniccavasagar, Arumuka  Navalar also encouraged the building of Hindu temples  The Naga Pooshani Ambal temple at Nainativu was erected by Arumuga Navalar in 1882, Chelvatamby  said. The first Kumbabhisekam of Durga Devi temple, at Tellipalai, Jaffna   was performed in 1829. The poojas were performed by priests from Kanchipuram.  In 1894, local Hindus led by Arumuga Navalar built the present temple.

Arumuka Navalar only taught the elite Tamils in Jaffna, he was not prepared to   teach Hinduism to the low castes.  The resulting Hinduism was therefore   heavily caste based.

Low castes could not worship in high caste temples.  Maviddapuram Kandasamy temple is one example of a high caste temple which chased away low caste Hindus. The situation is the same today. A few temples  allow low castes to come into certain sections  of the kovil,  but most are continuing to worship village deities.

Hinduism entrenched itself in Jaffna and the north in the mid 19^th century. Hindus seem to have worshipped both Vishnu and Shiva. The 1871 Census the Hindus were  listed as Saivite and Vaishnavite, not Hindu.  

 Tamils have given an ancient origin to the Hindu temples in north and east. Hindu writers declare that the north-east had Hindu temples of ancient origin. Sri Lanka was blessed with five of the most ancient shrines of Lord Siva, they said.

Of these 5 temples Thirukoneswaram, (Trincomalee ) Thiruketheeswaram (Mannar) Munneswaram (Chilaw) and Naguleswaram (KKS) are functioning  today.  Nakuleswaram Temple in Jaffna is the oldest Siva temple in Sri Lanka. 

 Thirukoneswaram temple in Trincomalee was a great centre of Saiva worship said commentators.  Religious songs were sung in honour of it by Saint Thiruganasampanthan in the 7th century. Thirukoneswaram (Trincomalee)  and   Thirukeetheswaram  (Mantota)  were part of the nine  sacred sthalams of Hindus. The other seven are in India.  

The origins of these prehistoric temples are shrouded in mythology.  Commentators  therefore felt free to say anything. One  writer said that Vijaya promoted Hinduism in Sri Lanka and ordered five Shiva temples to be built in the four corners of Sri Lanka .

Another  spoke of a local myth which states that a temple named Maviddapuram Murukan temple was built by a Pandya princess who was cured by the Keerimalai springs.  This temple was destroyed by the Portuguese ‘but memories of the temple have existed in the minds of the people’. 

However, there is  no evidence to support the existence of these Hindu temples. Two   explanations are offered for the lack of any  archaeological evidence  for these ancient kovils. One explanation is that the Portuguese destroyed all  the kovils, the other is that the  all the kovils  fell into the sea. In Koneswaram the original temple fell into the sea during a flood and is still there said  historian S. Pathmanathan in his book ‘ History of Hindu temples of Sri Lanka .

The  bland statement that Portuguese destroyed all the   Hindu  temples  in  Jaffna cannot be accepted. The Portuguese did not destroy  the Buddhist temples  which they  found in abundance everywhere they went.  The argument that the kovils somehow managed to slide off into the sea cannot be accepted either.  It is much more likely that these kovils never existed.  

Hinduism as well as Islam got entrenched  in Sri Lanka    during British rule.   There is no mention of Hindu Kovils and Muslim mosques in the Udarata Kingdom.  The British rulers gave special recognition to the three religions that believed in God, namely Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.

During British rule,  Churches, mosques and kovils came up all over the island. Many of the Hindu temples we see today were built during British rule.  Hindu temples were constructed on an unprecedented scale in the 19th century, said .Pathmanathan.  The American missionaries in Jaffna had commented on this.  

 Old Hindu temples in Jaffna, Trincomalee and Batticaloa were restored” in British times, continued Pathmanathan.  British administrators have readily and unquestioningly accepted Tamil statements as to the antiquity of these temples. C. Pridham in his book ‘Historical, political and statistical account of Ceylon’ (1849) wrote about Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee, saying it was regarded with great reverence by its devotees. It is one of the peaks of the legendary Mahameru.  

The idea of finding and restoring the Thirukeetheswaram temple came from Arumuga Navalar.  He initiated the search for the site. He wrote a tract where he said that Illankai is fortunate to have two temples for Siva worship, Thirukeetheswaram and Tirukoneswaram, mentioned in hymns ‘sung by our saints.’ So many temples are coming up in different parts of Sri Lanka now, why are the Hindus not interested in Thirukeetheswaram, he asked.  

The British administration was contacted. The   British officials seem to have believed what they were told without asking for evidence. P de Hoeft, referred to as ‘Colonial Secretary’, visited the ruins several times in 1894-95 and wrote up his findings. ‘There was a low wall which was pointed out as a relic of the temple. And some broken pierces of sculpture of Hindu saints. . 

 W.J.S. Boake, AGA Mannar reported in 1886 that Thirukeetheswaram is one of the 64 sacred places of the Hindus. Its temple rivaled that of Rameswaram and was probably built at the same period. Nothing remains above ground except a few fragments of sculpture.

W. Twynam, Government Agent, Northern Province reported in 1887 that ‘there is a tradition that this temple was large and Hindus made pilgrimages to it from all parts of India as they now do to the temple as Rameswaram. The Portuguesa had destroyed it. Some images were found at the site.  

This shows that the so-called ruins at Thirukeetheswaram were movable items that could have been brought there from    elsewhere. Archaeologists would not accept such items as evidence. The British administrators accepted such   flimsy   evidence because they wanted to bring      the northern coastline under ‘Ceylon Tamil” control.

S.Vaithilingam, Thambaiyah, Mudaliyar of Colombo made an application for the purchase of the site of the temple, so that it could be rebuilt.   The Government Agent   put the land up for sale in 1893 and 44 acres were bought by R.R. Palaniappa Chettiyar. Excavations started under the supervision of Pasupathy Chettiyar in 1894.   The original location of the temple was found and the southwest corner wall located.   A small temple was erected and consecrated in 1903.

Thereafter the project was managed by the Nagarathar, a Chetty community residing in Madampe but the temple came under the control of the Kathiresan temple in Colombo. The central shrine was improved in 1921 by Hindu public servants working in Mannar. A ‘Society for the restoration of the temple at Tirukketisvaram’ was set up in 1948 and work commenced under the guidance of Sir Kanthiah Vaithianathan.   A new design was developed in 1952 and the building completed in 1969. In 2009 under Uthuru Vasanthaya the   government renovated the temple.

Nallur Kandasamy kovil originally had a cadjan roof and two main halls. It was rebuilt for the fourth time in 1734 by Ragunatha Mappana Mudaliyar who worked at the Kachcheri. He had persuaded the Dutch to let him rebuild it. Descendants of Ragunatha continued the work.

Arumuga Mapaana Mudaliyar built the first bell tower in 1899.   The main hall was refurbished using rocks in 1902. The fortified wall which demarcates the large kovil was built by him in 1909. It was renovated in 1964 ‘to have the present attractive and grand look’. Kumaradas Mudaliyar, the tenth custodian, is credited with restoring this kovil to its present position as the largest Hindu kovil in Sri Lanka, said journalist Dishan Joseph.

Coomaraswamy Mudaliyar, father in law of Ponnambalam Arunachalam, belonged to the first generation of Tamils to settle in Colombo.  He was the first Tamil representative in the Legislative   Council.  A staunch and devoted Hindu hailing from Manipay, Jaffna,   and Coomaraswamy Mudaliyar built two Hindu temples in Colombo, Kathiresan temple at Gintupitiya and Muttuvinayakara temple. Muttuvinayakara was built in Sea Street in 1856.   Nattukottai chettiars   gave the money.  The Nattukottai chettiars   were wealthy money lenders who spent large sums on religion. They built several Saivite temples in Ceylon,   mainly dedicated to Kathiresan and Kataragama gods.

The Arulmihu Sivasubramaniya kovil was initially in Dam Street, built in 1822. The property was acquired by the British around 1867. They gave 500 pounds, a very big sum at the time, to Ponnambalam Mudaliyar, father of Ponnambalam Arunachalam to construct a new temple at another site in Colombo. Ponnambalam Mudaliyar built the new temple at Kew Road, Slave Island in 1870 and named it Kathiresan kovil. Ponnambalam Ramanathan enlarged it in 1902 and re-named it Shri Sivasubramaniya swamy kovil. A Board of Trustees was appointed in 1942. It was renovated in 1975. A gopuram of 82 feet was constructed in 1995   and a golden chariot in 1998. This kovil is a tourist attraction today.

The Ponnambalavanesvara temple in Kochchikade,  near St Anthony’s   Church was built in 1856  and consecrated in 1857.  Dharmavan Ponnambalam Mudaliyar bought the land, originally a coconut plantation, using his own money.  He constructed a small temple on the site in 1857,  built modestly with lime and mortar.  The indenture of 1857 gave the responsibility of the temple to the Arunasalam Ponnambalam family.   

When Ponnambalam Mudaliyar died in 1887, the trusteeship devolved on his son Ponnambalam Ramanathan. He   got down experts from India, started the renovation in 1907 and completed the temple in 1912.  It was constructed entirely out of black granite from the Veyangoda quarry.  The temple is similar to those in South India with gopuram and gateways facing east and west. 

Mention must also be made of the four Hindu temples in Bambalapitiya practically adjacent to each other, ending at Vajira Road. Two are Pillayar temples, the other two Kathiresan. The total extent of land is around five acres or so, it extends from Galle Road down to  Duplication Road. This huge extent shows that the land was probably given to these temples during the British administration.

Hindu temples were built in towns elsewhere in the island during British rule.  Bandarawela Sri Sivasubramaniya devasthanam was built in 1837 by A.S. Muthiah Pillai   and others.  Pullaiyar kovil in Kandy, near Police station was built in 1840.  Nuwara Eliya Hindu kovil was   built in 1850.  The Arulmigu Sri Muthumari Amman kovil in Matale was built in 1874 by the Hindu community in Matale, mostly traders who came from Tamilnadu and Kerala to do business in and around the tea estates.     (Continued)