KAMALIKA PIERIS

 When the Eelam war ended in  2009, the government made no attempt to integrate the north with the rest of the country. Instead they paid puja to  its Tamil-Hindu culture, ignoring the fact that this was one of  the arguments used for waging the Eelam war.

In 2009, soon after the war ended Peoples Bank announced the opening of 5 new branches   in Jaffna district.   The advertisement, 12 inches by 8, in the Daily News showed a Hindu kovil.

In 2010 Mahinda Rajapakse went bare bodied to Nallur when he went electioneering to Jaffna. The German Ambassador participated in the Thai pongal festival at Nallur, bare bodied, in 2010 .   In the same year, observers complained that the Central Cultural Fund was engaged in projects depicting Sri Lanka as a Hindu country.  In 2011 the government indicated that it planned to give Kovils such as Thirukeetheswaram recognition as National monuments.

Kovil building received state support. In 1997 Rs 22 million had been released to rehabilitate three Hindu religious sited on order of President Chandrika. In May 2000 The Kathiresan Hindu kovil at Anuradhapura was renovated and restored on the directive of President Chandrika and was opened with a special a pooja attended by dignitaries of all religions.

There will be a cultural renaissance in Hindu temples in Kegalle district, said the media in 2003. 20 Hindu temples will be given funds for maintenance; Hindu cultural Ministry has allocated Rs 8 lakhs for the project.

The Tamil Separatist Movement made it a point to set up kovils all over the country. The intention was to present Sri Lanka to the world as a Hindu country. There was an explosion of kovil building from 1999 onwards. In 1999 Hanuman temple was  constructed in Nuwara Eliya, facing Sri Pada and overlooking Kotmale.

The small insignificant Sita Eliya temple has been developed into a conspicuous edifice patronized by persons going along the Nuwara Eliya- Badulla road. This is now presented as a tourist attraction. Buddhists go there eagerly.The idea is to create a Hindu base for Nuwara Eliya and the Hill country. The construction of this temple was assisted by Forces commander Rohan Daluwatte in order to promote good relations between Tamils and Sinhala. It was done by workmen from Tamilnadu on visas.

 A new kovil appeared in Akkaraipattu in 2000.  A  Kovil was constructed over night in Trincomalee on Orrs Hill, constructed in one day, reported the media in 2002. A large kovil was getting built on the Kandy Colombo road during this time.

Jaffna was not left out of this kovil activity. All the kovils in Jaffna are new ones, said Susantha Goonetilaka who had lived and worked in Jaffna some time back. In 2016 ‘Nan’ reported that she went to Jaffna and saw new kovils in very many places, including Kayts and Karainagar. 

 In 2016 it was announced that Shiva Sena in Mumbai has extended its support to a  Sri Lankan Tamil outfit called Siva Senai, a group of Hindus in Vavuniya led by Maravanapulavi Sachithananthan. This is Sri Lanka’s first right wing Hindu organization.  It accuses the government of supporting a Sinhala Buddhist colonization to undermine the importance of Hindus. (Island 15.10. 16 p 3)

 Hindus agree that Hindu religion is highly decentralized. There is no central control over the practice of the religion. There is no higher authority which gives orders, and no control whatsoever over the   setting up of kovils and the appointment of priests. A Hindu priest is not selected or certified by any central authority.  He is accepted as a Hindu priest by his community if there is evidence of training, preparation and competence.

Village deities have been accepted into mainstream Hinduism, but   kovils dedicated to these deities are not officiated by Brahmin priests. The traditions of those kovils are often morbid including the practice of blood sacrifices and ritual slaughter.

However, Hinduism is not completely without controls. There are standards and requirements for the Hindu priests officiating in the well recognized temples. The primary responsibility of a Hindu priest is to conduct daily prayers (puja) at the local temple and officiate in Hindu rituals and ceremonies.

 .In order to perform a puja, the priests are required to have prior skills and knowledge. To be a qualified priest, they must know the required chants (mantrams and stotrams) fluently in Sanskrit, and be familiar with the materials required to perform the puja for various ceremonies and rituals. From an early age, they are trained to memorise hymns in order to chant them during rituals and ceremonies.

There are rules and regulations for building Hindu temples as well. This is to be expected.There are conditions laid dowon for the selectin of the site, the way the foundation is laid, there are rituals when insstllign the main deity and inviting the god to  occupy the statue. 

 I have not been able to find an authoritative book on Hinduism,  telling me all I need. I have therefore   used sentences from authoritative statements obtained from Google. I trust that I have not hurt Hindu sensibilities in the above short account. 

Hinduism in Sri Lanka has started to impact on Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Buddhists need to start looking     deeply at the status of Hinduism in Sri Lanka .There are no legal provisions for registering Hindu temples in Sri Lanka said K.C. Logeswaran.  

 Hindu temples in Sri Lanka belong to two categories, he said. One where there was a Brahmin priest to conduct the ritual of the temple. These are less than a thousand in number. Other category is small temples under rule of madaalayam where no Brahmin poosaries and pandarams officiated.  Over 70% of the Hindu temples in Sri Lanka were these, he said.   I think Madalayam in this context means chapel.

In India courts have ruled that the temples belong to the gods, in Sri Lanka courts have ruled that the Hindu temples belong to the trustees, said K. Kanag Iswaran.  In Sri Lanka the ownership of the Hindu temple is vested not in the priests but in the persons who built the temple and pays for the rites, observed the anthropologist B. Pfaffenberger. The owner of the temple  got the donations, such as produce, etc which came not only form worships but also request for passing exams,  journeys etc.  (Continued)