BUDDHIST VIHARAS AND EELAM Part 20e
Posted on June 30th, 2024
KAMALIKA PIERIS
A strong Buddhist lobby should be set up to support the return of Buddhism to north and east. That lobby should firstly ensure the protection of Buddhist ruins in north and east. That will not be easy, because there are so many ruins and they are scattered all over, but the Buddhist Lobby must at least try.
These Buddhist ruins were searched out and damaged by the Tamil Separatist Movement during the Eelam war. Ven. Ellawela Medhananda said that each time he visited a ruin, he found further damage. He saw increasing damage on his three visits to Kurundi too.
The ruins in Jaffna and elsewhere are in danger, said Medhananda, speaking in 2009. In 2011, it was observed that when the Archaeological Department went to Jaffna peninsula in the 1960s there were still remains of the Buddhist sites cited in the 16th century Nam pota. By 2011 these have been gradually built over with Hindu Kovils. All the kovils are new ones, they said.
Attacks on the Sinhala heritage, are going on everywhere in Sri Lanka, said observers in 2019. Buddhist ruins and inscriptions are in danger, they said. This has been going on for several decades now. We have this problem all over the island, confirmed the Department of Archaeology in 2022.
Medhananda in 2009 wanted the Department of Archaeology to take control of the Buddhist ruins in the cleared areas of the Vanni. In 2023, at a demonstration organized by Kurundi supporters in Colombo, a member of the public accosted the demonstrators and said that issues like Kurundi would not have taken place if the Department of Archaeology had done its job properly and gazetted each of the Buddhist ruins as a protected archaeological reserve. His observation was a valuable one, but it was ignored and he was pushed aside. I saw this on television news.
In 2010 after the Eelam war ended, the Department of Archaeology went to the north and prepared a list of the Buddhist ruins there. At a presentation of their findings, the audience asked Wont these ruins disappear now that they have been identified,” the officer replied. ‘That is why we have put them on the website, so now they cannot do away with them’.
The team had obtained GPS positions for all the sites. The audience wanted to know; when you give GPS locators won’t that help people to destroy these places. The team replied that most of these places are in high security forests or high security zones. Also we have not publicized the GPS locations.
The Department of Archaeology said that it has become necessary to protect rock inscription in the north and east from willful damage. At a talk I attended on new findings in archaeology, officers from the Department of Archaeology said they had found new inscriptions in the east which they hid. An observer reported in 2024, that Eelamists have employed Tamil youths to erase the writings in stone inscriptions in the jungles with the aid of machine grinders.
Tamil Separatist Movement has destroyed many Buddhist monuments in the north and east .No action has been taken regarding this, said Medhananda. But action has been taken recently against Sinhalese for breaking down an ancient palace.
On 16 July 2022, the Mayor of Kurunegala had demolished Buwaneka Hotel in Kurunegala, for a road development project. He claimed that the Road Development Authority had given its approval for the demolition. The Department of Archaeology filed a complaint claiming that building dates back to the 13th century and is presumed to be the King’s Court of King Buwanekabahu II. The site had been listed under the provisions of the Antiquities Ordinance. This Mayor and four others were found guilty over the destruction and removal of the ancient ‘Raja Sabha Mandapaya’ (King’s Court) in Kurunegala and sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment.
Nainativu, considered to be the solosmastana’s Nagadipa, also has a Hindu temple, Nagapooshani Amman Kovil. A mythical history has been invented for this temple. It has a well publicized annual festival , helped by the Sri Lanka navy. When Buddhists go to worship in the Buddhist temple, they also visit the kovil. When I went on a package tour to Jaffna, my companions who went to Nagadipa told me, placidly, that they had also visited the Hindu temple there. They were not complaining.
Buddhists are not in the least interested in the Hindu philosophy and they do not visit the Hindu temples in their own towns, but they are now taken to see select Hindu temples in the north and east when they go on pilgrimage. They are greatly impressed by these temples, specially the ornate gopurams, the gaudy colors and the buxom statues.
A group of us went to Trincomalee some years back. My companions emerged from Koneswaram temple, impressed by its size, statues and colors .Great, they said, approvingly. A few months ago, a group from Ambalangoda, led by my Mason Baas”, went on a Buddhist pilgrimage. In addition to the Buddhist temples, they had also visited Nallur temple in Jaffna and Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee. They were greatly impressed by the grandeur of these two temples .Hari lassanai, he said.
The attack on Buddhism in the north and east is often made by Christian commentators. They have been recruited by the Tamil Separatist Movement hoping to give an air of objectivity to the matter. Instead, another layer of grievance has been added to issue. Christians in Sri Lanka are deeply resentful towards Buddhism. Christians are unable to accept that Christianity has failed to replace Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Complaining about Buddhistization of the north and east is a welcome outlet for that resentment.
Sinhala Buddhism cannot be propagated in the Tamil region without the military, said Tamil Separatist Movement, triumphantly. The Sinhala Buddhist heritage was secured through a military victory, they said.
Certainly, Buddhist sites need army protection today. Kantarodai is under army protection in Jaffna.The Buddha statue at Sambaltivu, Trincomalee was under police protection in 2016. There are two security posts at Kurundi and the Sinha regiment is nearby A police post was set up at Oddusuddan to protect Kurundi by Cyril Mathew in the 1980s. When the Tamil Separatist Movement broke up the relic enshrining ceremony at Kurundi in 2023, television news showed soldiers stationed around the stupa, in the evening, standing alertly.
The Tamil Separatist Movement has taken a strong, aggressive stand against Buddhism in the north and east. They did so long before Eelam war started and have continued to do so after the war ended. When we visited Gokanna vihara, Trincomalee in 1960, we faced much opposition, said Medhananda. Today the Buddhist viharas are challenged in all sorts of ways. Bhikkhus complain that they have no freedom of movement.
The state is not supporting Buddhistization. Buddhists are doing this on their own initiative and Buddhistization is made to look like a rogue activity. Therefore government officers are reluctant to get involved officially. But as Buddhists, they wish to support the effort and do so secretly. Santhabodhi said that government officers helped him when he was conserving Sapumalgaskada, but did so in secret. They did not want their names mentioned anywhere. [1]
It is outrageous that we should have to fight for the Buddhist ruins in the north and east, and make out a case for Buddhism in those two provinces. Buddhism is not something new and alien to the north-east of Sri Lanka . A strong Buddhist lobby should be set up to support the return of Buddhism to north and east, without delay.
There is already a move to make a list of the important Buddhist archaeology sites in the north and east. This seems to be the common starting point of all groups interested in the matter. Hope they will not get stuck there.
The Buddhist lobby cannot and should not try to conserve every Buddhist monument in the north and east. But the lobby should help the Department of Archaeology gazette all strategic Buddhist monuments in the north and east as archaeological reserves, giving the extent of land as well. They could ensure that the survey work is not obstructed by the Tamil Separatist Movement.
The Buddhist lobby must get the Solosmastana Nagadipa transferred from Nainativu to Jaffna peninsula, because Jaffna is the real Nagadipa. This is a return, not the introduction of something new. The authorities and the Maha Sangha can decide where to locate this temple. They could transform an existing temple or build a new one.
The temple in Nainativu must continue. Nainativu kept Buddhism alive in the north and east all these years. We must not forget this historic contribution. The chief priest in Nainativu could be asked to administer both temples, in Nainativu and in Jaffna.
The Buddhist lobby must select a few strategically important Buddhist temples and support them. Those temples are, in my view, Nagadipa in Jaffna, Kurundi in Mullaitivu, Girihandu seya (Tiriyaya) and Seruwavila in Trincomalee. The Buddhist Lobby must ensure that these temples are given sufficient land to expand. They must help with buildings, funds and other support.
These four temples are located in the politically most important section of Eelam, Jaffna in the north, Trincomalee in the east and Mullaitivu in the middle, connecting the two. Trincomalee harbor is the most important part of Eelam. Trincomalee was always the prize. Jaffna is projected as the seat of Tamil culture in Sri Lanka . Both places are well known. Mullaitivu was not well known , (except of course for the final Eelam battle), until Kurundi Vihara caught media attention.
Later on, the Buddhist Lobby must see that Gokanna vihara returns to its original location which is presently occupied by Thirukoneswaram Kovil. Another branch of the Buddhist Lobby must move downwards and support Mangalarama in Batticaloa. Dighavapi in Ampara seems to be well looked after and may not need the attention of the Buddhist Lobby.
The Buddhist Lobby must thereafter start a pilgrimage tradition, which will include the temples in the areas mentioned earlier. The pilgrimage must start with Nainativu , then the new Nagadipa vihara in Jaffna, after that Kurundi and Sapumalgaskada in Mullaitivu, and lastly Tiriyaya and Gokanna in Trincomalee .These pilgrimages should be conducted twice a year. They will of course include Anuradhapura as well.
There are other Buddhist temples in North and East which are bravely helping to entrench Buddhism, while facing much opposition from the Tamil Separatist Movement . I have described these temples elsewhere. The Buddhist Lobby must help them too.
Finally, the Buddhist Lobby must engage in Buddhist celebrations in the north and east. But there is no need to even suggest this. Tamil Separatist Movement is already complaining bitterly about the Wesak celebrations conducted in Jaffna. The Buddhist Lobby could add a Poson celebration to this and later the government could have the state celebration of Wesak in Jaffna or better still, in Trincomalee .The Tamil Separatist Movement will promptly have a heart attack. On that note, I bring to an end these essays on Kurundi Vihara. ( Continued)