When I read the article below I thought that the theories forwarded by the Chamber of commerce using jargon that talks about U development and V development is quite confusing.
U theory or V theory can only be implemented only if the people representing V need to change their mindset from welfare state to productive state
We started with Janasiviya and later Samurdi and now 5000 Rs per month, can never make this country develop under U or V theory
When you see the queues formed in front of Grama Niladari’s office, you note that most of the women, in particular, are well dressed and well-fed with youngsters wearing blue jeans and designer clothes ( maybe imitations). I have no doubt that giving 5000 k for such person is not justifiable
If we try to cultivate a welfare state we will never make the people work for the development.
Agriculture development has been encouraged but you can see barely anyone trying g to cultivate crops in the home garden
In Jaffna, people are more sensible and they grow in lands where ever possible
I remember my father who comes from a farming family in upcountry telling us to grow as much as possible in the garden
He worked for the Irrigation department and his colleagues from Jaffna go home during the weekend , starting with wearing Veetti after Maho station. changing trouser and shirt and take his bicycle when he reaches home, go to his plot he grew vegetables
In Russia, young students in Universities are compelled to go to fields in summer to pluck cabbages and dig potato fields
Our office staff In this part of the country come home put on his sarong and either take, a shot of arrack or sit in front of the TV watching the propaganda or some vulgar music show
If we want to implement U or V, we need to change and be ready to carry the simple Mammoty and dig to cultivate
When you see the growing vegetables you get a satisfaction
and your morale goes up
Put the country into a Vaga Sangramaya after Covid war
and make the people understand that they need to contribute to
development
Suppose that an individual has been authorised to get rid of
an existing tree, which perhaps had been perceived by many as producing
unpalatable fruit.
Following such riddance, the replacement has been required to be made within a particular time.
However, subsequent unforeseen circumstances had not made it possible to carry out the replacement within the stipulated time.
It seems now necessary that the replacement is made as soon as possible.
As authorised by the constitution, the president has dissolved parliament and, as obligations arising therefrom, stipulated the dates of the election of new members and convening of the new parliament.
However, subsequent unforeseen circumstances in
Sri Lanka, arising from Covid 19, have rendered the obligations regarding the
dates not possible to fulfill. Accordingly, it is apparent that he is absolved
of the need to fulfill such obligations with regard to the dates.
The Parliament Elections Act (No. 1 of 1981), hereinafter
referred to as the Act, seems to have been based on Article 101 (1) of the
constitution and, in this Article, item (i) enables, among other things,
Parliament to enact law to make provision ‘…for other matters as are
necessary or incidental to the election of Members of Parliament….’
Of the Act, Section 24 (3), supported by Section 129, seems
to provide the elections commission with adequate authority to, in ‘unforeseen
circumstances’, postpone an election ‘in any electoral district’ and hold it
subsequently, and in the manner indicated therein.
Here, the terms ‘in any electoral district’ does not
appear to necessarily mean one particular district (several could be
involved).
In any case, the governing principle here seems to be not quantitative, but ‘unforeseen circumstances’. The whole purpose of this provision seems to be to enable the meeting of these circumstances and, therefore, could apply generally to all districts.
Additionally, in case of difficulties in effecting any of the provision in the Act, Section 129 therein essentially seems to enable the commissioner to issue all directions deemed necessary, for providing for any special or unforeseen circumstances or determining or adjusting any question or matter for which no provision or effective provision is made in the Act.
Thus, these sections in the Act seem to provide the
elections commission the necessary authority to postpone the general election
and conduct it as soon as it is conducive and in accordance with requirements.
In any case, ‘the doctrine of necessity’, in the face of the
unforeseen circumstances arising from Covid 19, seems applicable in providing
the necessary authority to the elections commission.
Upon conducting the election, it would be the responsibility of the president to convene the new parliament at the earliest possible date.
Orders formulation of detailed plans for every sector including tourism.
Colombo, May 7 (newsin.asia): Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is optimistic that the economy adversely affected by the COVID – 19 pandemic, could be re-built on a solid basis, a Presidential press statement said on Thursday.
The Presidential Task Force in charge of the Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication has been entrusted with the responsibility of formulating a new economic model to achieve this objective. The President directed the Task Force to prepare economic plans with specified targets for different areas that come under its purview and implement them.
The President expressed these views at a meeting with members of the newly-appointed Task Force held at the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday, to discuss modalities relating to the resumption of civilian life and work from May 11th.
The apparel and tourism sectors which make a huge contribution to the national economy should be revitalized to suit the changing situation, the President said.
He was of the view that new opportunities are now open to attract tourists from countries where the COVID – 19 virus has been subdued. Medical tourism can be promoted by highlighting the capabilities of the Sri Lankan indigenous medical system which was used for treatment of the virus infected people. In order to encourage high-spending tourists, visas must be issued to them supplemented by an internationally recognized certificate.
Some tourists prefer to stay longer than usual especially during the winter. The President highlighted the possibility of strengthening the tourism sector by attracting such long term travelers. Members of the Task Force were told to pay attention to promoting domestic tourism so that the local hotel industry could be saved from collapse.
The President also pointed out the possibility of attracting more foreign investors to invest in the Port City and the Industrial Zone in Hambantota. The Ministry Secretaries were entrusted with the responsibility of identifying opportunities for investments instead of seeking foreign loans.
During the last few weeks a number of new innovations have been made in the country. Steps should be taken to introduce these products to the global market.
Head of the Task Force Basil Rajapaksa said that the newly instituted Task Force has the capability of fulfilling its mandate with a new vision in order to achieve objectives set out by the President. The Task Force will support new businesses and will extend the fullest cooperation to already existing large, medium and small scale enterprises, he stated.
Although the private sector offices have been advised to resume work at 10.00 am daily from May 11th, industrial and production activities can be adjusted in accordance with their requirements. Basil Rajapaksa warned that no loss of employment should take place both in the state and private sectors while the country is moving forward.
Recalling recent requests by Sri Lankan students studying in other countries for repatriation the President remarked that its was an indication that a large number of students are going overseas to pursue higher education. This has caused an immense outflow of foreign exchange. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that measures should be taken to expand investment opportunities in the field of tertiary education in the country so that outgoing foreign exchange could be saved while providing educational facilities to foreign students, in Sri Lanka.
A large amount of money is being spent to import medicines annually. Most of these medicines can be manufactured locally. The Task Force was requested to prepare necessary background material to develop pharmaceutical production in the country.
The production of vegetable and other seeds required by farmers domestically, was also discussed.
Secretary to the President P. B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the Prime Minister Gamini Senarath, several Ministry Secretaries and a number of leading businessmen joined the discussion.
Modi says Buddha’s advocacy of selfless service is pertinent for fighting the pandemic.
Colombo, May 7 (newsin.asia): Addressing the Virtual Vesak Global Celebrations on Buddha Purnima day on Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Lord Buddha is synonymous with service and dedication.
Those who are engaged in the service of humanity at all times, day and night, are the true followers of Lord Buddha,” Modi said.
Indian Prime Minister recalled that he was part of the Vesak celebrations in 2015 and 2018 in New Delhi, and in 2017 in Colombo. This year, the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), a global Buddhist umbrella organization, organized a Virtual Prayer Event with the participation of all the supreme heads of the Buddhist Sanghas from around the world, a press release from the Indian High Commission said.
Prayers on the occasion were streamed live from the Sacred Garden Lumbini, Nepal, Mahabodhi Temple, Bodhgaya, India, Mulgandha Kuti Vihara, Sarnath, India, Parinirvana Stupa, Kushinagar, India, Pirith Chanting from Ruwanweli Maha Seya in the sacred and historic Anuradhapura stupa premises, Sri Lanka, Boudhanath, Swayambhu, Namo Stupa, Nepal apart from other popular Buddhist sites.
During the current COVID-19 global pandemic we are fortunate to see many people around us, who serve others, treat a patient, feed a poor person, clean a hospital, maintain law and order on roads/ They all are working round the clock,” Prime Minister Modi stated.
Every such person deserves a salute, a tribute,” he said.
Recalling the four truths of mercy, compassion, nonchalance in happiness or sorrow, and acceptance of people with their good and bad traits, Modi said that these continue to inspire India.
Speaking about India’s approach to COVID-19, Modi said, …India is standing firmly in selflessness, without any distinction, with the person in distress, both in the country and throughout the world.”
Eighteen more persons were confirmed to have contracted the COVID-19 virus as of 11.55 pm on Thursday (07), while Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 cases count soared to 823.
With the detection of 18 new positive cases, the total number of patients who tested positive for coronavirus within the day has risen to 26.
In the meantime, coronavirus recoveries tally in the country has moved up to 232.
The Epidemiology Unit says that 582 active cases are currently under medical care at selected hospitals across the country.
The country’s death toll from COVID-19 stands at 09.
Sri Lanka saw the highest daily surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases on April 27, with 65 new infections. The tally went up from 523 to 588 just within 24 hours
At
the heart of Buddha’s teachings is the accountability factor. You and only you
are accountable for the good or bad one does. Following the Dhammapada – path of the Dhamma
we build ourselves a moral foundation. The core of that is the 5 precepts of which ‘hurting’
and ‘killing’ all sentient beings plays an integral part. Sri Lanka
has set an example for the rest of the world to follow. Vesak is not only a
festival of colour and lights but it is also a week that there is no slaughter
of animals. Just as we have followed customs of Abrahamic faiths, why not they
too consider declaring a slaughter-free religious festival?
Start with one festival and see the change.
All beings tremble before danger,
all fear death.
When a man considers this, he
does not kill or cause to kill.
All beings fear before danger,
life is dear to all.
When a man considers this, he
does not kill or cause to kill.
Whosoever tries to find happiness
through hurting other beings, will not find happiness.
Dhammapada
It is in reading these lines that we understand
that not just humans but animals also feel joy and pain, fear and sadness just
like humans. No arguments can oppose
this fundamental fact & truth.
Since age of discovery and Abrahamic invasions,
native cultures, traditions and rituals were not only replaced but they were
made to believe the later-day arriving new cultures and traditions were superior.
People followed them and many continue to do so too alongside their own rituals.
How about this time round, these Abrahamic faiths extend
their moral superiority to another level by drawing their attention to Buddha’s
humble call to give life to animals, at least by declaring they too will have slaughter-less
religious festivals and instead enjoy their festivities without denying the
life to an animal for their joy & meal.
Let the joy of any festivity manifest into giving
freedom of life to an animal. No ‘feast’ can be a happy event when an animal’s
life has been nullified for it. Festivals of this nature tragically cause death
not to thousands but to millions of animals.
Follow the magnanimous precedent set by Sri Lanka in
legally enforcing a closure of all slaughter houses and ban on sale of meat for
Vesak and also on Poya holidays. Two days of meat-free Vesak will do no harm
but it will mean the lives saved to millions of animals.
With COVID-19 man is forced to change his set ways.
One essential element of importance is that we can never return to a daily
routine we had been used to. Nature has again reminded us that humans are only
a guest and not the master. Animals are not invited guests either. Man and
animal need to coexist with compassion and humaneness.
Few days ago I was watching an interesting
program hosted by ITN between 10pm and 12pm where the National Innovation
Council chairman presented six innovations done by Sri Lankans. They were
mostly the solutions related to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The chairman
stated that about 250 innovation have been brought to the council in recent
times for assessment with a view for getting patents as well as funding
arrangements. The sudden upsurge in the interest towards innovations is a very
good sign that our youths want to catch up with the rest of the world.
The Chairman was even advising the
innovators not to divulge their ideas as sometimes one single innovation can not
only change the fortunes of that inventor but that of the whole country. I
fully agree with him. At the end of this write up I will give clues to two
innovations which I believe has great potential.
However the absence of any senior academic
at least to explain what they are engaged on was conspicuous. Does that mean that there is no
involvements of our academics from universities in the innovations?. I remember
reading a news report in one of the national news papers that some Peardeniya
dons got together and repaired a few ventilators that were not working and
handed over to the Ministry of Health for use in hospitals to fight Covid-19.
It was also mentioned that they could not repair few other ventilators due to
the lack of spare parts in the country. If the parts could be identified, then
they could easily order them from overseas or else they should be able to make
them locally. That is the type of innovations we are looking for from them. If
they can understand the functionality of the various parts of the system then
they can design and manufacture the relevant parts including the controller to
suit. I give below how one guy study the controller of a 3D printer and solve
the puzzle.
With only about three months reading of
books left behind by my daughter who did an IT course and hands on experience I
myself was able to do the logic analysis of a simple devise (a Real Time Clock
which I bought for Rs. 300) with a $12 logic analyzer and the results is shown
below:
Following video explains the process.
I am sure our dons with PhDs and so on can
easily do the replication of ventilator machines (or any other
dysfunctional machine, but they may be
too lazy to try it or are involved with trivial matters. For me this all
started when I wanted to reset data in the toner control chips of an expensive
printing machine few months ago. As they say the necessity is the mother of
invention.
In order to overcome the problem of lack of
sufficient number of well trained personnel on the field of digital technology,
I suggest we start teaching this subject right after the A’Level while they
wait for the results for uni admissions. This can be conducted via a series of
online classes from a central location. Six months of teaching will be more
than sufficient to cover the digital logic and the microarchitecture levels of
the computer organization. It can also cover the history of the computer
technology.
History of the making of the microprocessor
(or the digital technology based on silicon) is interesting. I give below an
account of its development.
Now about the two items of innovations
where there can be huge potential:
We have sea right round our country. And we
have probably hundreds of deep sea fishing boats going out to sea. They scour
the sea without much clue as to where the fish shoals might be. It seems
sometime they follow debris floating in the deep sea as possible locations
where fish can be found. The scanning systems available that can be fixed on
board so far can only do so beneath the boat in a small conical prism. So, some
scanning by sonar is probably the best to locate fish shoals within several
kilometers. There are products from big companies like HP for analyzing the
echo using the mathematical Fourier series. In fact these are used in oil
explorations. One can easily google and find out about that technology.
Then there is another one that I myself am
interested. A clue can be found in the following video:
This video is about how the 5G mobile
transmissions affect us all particularly the bees.
The Sri Lankan nationals were also booked under sections 14 and 14c of the Foreigners Act for violating the visa regulations by indulging in religious activities.
ALIGARH (UP): Thirteen Tablighi Jamaat members, including two Sri Lankan nationals, were arrested here for allegedly staying in a mosque in violation of the coronavirus lockdown orders, police said on Wednesday.
While the two Sri Lankan nationals have been sent to jail, the other 11 Jamaat members were released on bail, they said.
The Sri Lanka embassy in Delhi has been informed about the arrest of its two citizens, they added.
“The 13 were booked under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life),” police said.
The Sri Lankan nationals were also booked under sections 14 and 14c of the Foreigners Act for violating the visa regulations by indulging in religious activities, they added.
As per the guidelines issued by the Centre, religious places and places of worship will remain shut during the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The district authorities have launched a drive to trace all members of the Tablighi Jamaat who have been in “hiding” since the lockdown was imposed on March 25.
A gathering held at Tablighi Jamaat’s headquarters at Nizamuddin in Delhi in mid-March, which was attended by delegates from across India and also abroad, had become a key source for the spread of COVID-19.
At least 9,000 people participated in the congregation, after which many of the attendees travelled to various parts of the country.
District Magistrate Chandra Bhushan had issued an appeal that “it was in public interest that such persons are immediately traced”.
During the past two days, 72 such individuals, who belonged to different districts of the state, were identified, police said.
The district authorities with the help of some local Muslim leaders, including former legislator from Aligarh Haji Zameer Ullah, made the arrangements for sending these persons to their native places after completing medical formalities.
Zameer Ullah, in a statement, urged the UP chief minister to take necessary steps for the early release of the two Sri Lankan nationals on humanitarian grounds since they were the victims of the circumstances and also in view of the holy month of Ramzan.
We have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, BUT NARROW VIEWPOINTS. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.
We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, BUT LESS JUDGEMENT. more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, AND PRAY TOO SELDOM.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, LOVE TOO SELDOM, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years.
We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space BUT NOT INNER SPACE. We’ve done larger things, but not better things. We’ve cleaned up the air, BUT POLLUTED THE SOUL.
We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait.
We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and SHALLOW RELATIONSHIPS.
These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, THROWAWAY MORALITY, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
By Sasanka Perera & Dev Nath Pathak Courtesy NewsIn.Asia
The multi-lingual broadcasts over Radio Ceylon culturally united communities divided into nation states after decolonization.
A young Sunil Dutt listening to Hindi film star Nalini Jaywant speaking over Radio Ceylon
New Delhi, May 6 (newsin.asia): Radio, in our view is not merely a matter of technology through which music, entertainment, information, news and increasingly fake news and many other forms of knowledge come to people. More importantly, by bringing all this, radio like all other forms of mass media also becomes a means of politics. When we refer to politics, we do not mean the contemporary popular understanding of the word that tend to denote divisive party politics in different national settings or across borders. Rather, we mean by it, a kind of social transformative politics of knowledge and ideas — whether actual programs on radio stations self-consciously tap into this potential or not.
And if there are intended politics by radio, there are also forms of cultural politics that come into being around radio. Such cultural politics engendered by radio programs, and listeners’ engagement with radio, could play a significant role in the formation of radio-communities across cultural contexts.
Communities of listeners in Sri Lanka, and in other parts of South Asia, could be bound by an invisible link created by waves of broadcasting. But this is not the same community that anthropologists have spoken of. The radio’s communities revel in partial anonymity, with partial unawareness of who all are tuned into radio to consume the same program. And yet, they are partaking on the same broadcast content, invisibly connected, and intangibly interacting with one another.
At times, the intangible interaction acquires tangibility as the anchor on the radio may announce the names of two or more listeners from different parts of the region sharing their sentiments and ideas.
It is in this latter broader understanding of politics that we would like to excavate two specific memories in this essay. One is the memory of Radio Ceylon itself and what it stood for in its time. The second is the iconic radio program, Binaca Geetmala, initially broadcast by Radio Ceylon, and later continued by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) when the former was renamed after the 1972 Constitution officially changed the name of the country. More specifically, what we have in mind is to explore briefly and reflect upon the cultural politics Radio Ceylon and Binaca Geetmala set in motion and to pose the question if such processes of politics is not possible in contemporary South Asia..
Cultural Politics of Radio Ceylon
Known as Colombo Radio, the precursor to Radio Ceylon was established in 1925 with the creative reuse of a radio transmitter ‘rescued’ from a sunken German submarine. It was effectively South Asia’s first public radio station. But the technical push that rapidly moved Radio Ceylon to write itself a more memorable history came in 1949 when the British military’s Radio SEAC managed by its South East Asia Command was moved to Colombo. Radio SEAC’s initial purpose was to entertain and provide information to British and allied troops in the region and beyond in the context of the Second World War.
In 1949, this World War Two military-cultural tool became Radio Ceylon. From this time onwards until its latter decline from the late 1960s onwards, Radio Ceylon’s sense of cultural politics and its interest in speaking to the world and to simultaneously bring the world of global culture to the region becomes apparent. It is in this context that V.S. Sambandan referred to this phase of Radio Ceylon as when Ceylon ruled the airwaves.”
Radio Ceylon’s sense of politics can be broadly identified in the following three ways:
1) First, to usher in a sense of professinal programing to radio in South Asia at a time such practices were literally unknown. In this context, and with particular reference to India Sambandan notes, for Indian radio enthusiasts of decades gone by, it was Radio Ceylon that set the standards” at a time when there were no commercial broadcasts in India for the purpose of entertainment. As such, listening to Radio Ceylon broadcasts was affectively taking a break from the monotonous, though informative, broadcasts of All India Radio (AIR)…”
2) Second, to speak to, entertain and inform the local population (in Ceylon) in Sinhala and Tamil and also in English.
3) Third, to speak to South Asia and particularly to India in English and Tamil (for India’s South, and particularly to what is known today as Tamil Nadu) and later in Hindi/Urdu (for the Hindustani belt) when Binaca Geetmala began. As noted by Sambandan, once tuned in, the listener was treated not just to music of the highest quality. The magnetic voices of broadcasters, Jimmy Barucha (English), Ameen Sayani (Hindi) and Mayilvaganam (Tamil), to mention just three, ensnared the listeners, taking Radio Ceylon to the top slot in the region’s radio network.”
At the height of Radio Ceylon’s popularity from the 1950s to 1970s, its following in India was considerable in addition to its local fan base. This was not only because of its offerings of Hindi movie songs via Binaca Geetmala as we will discuss later. But this was also because of the popularity of its English language songs and music from the West, which were not as readily available in India or elsewhere in South Asia at the time. As Nirupama Rao, the former Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka noted, I first heard The Beatles over Radio Ceylon. We grew up listening to songs over Radio Ceylon.”
It is this sense of cultural politics, which stands out as Radio Ceylon’s global cultural sensibility and cosmopolitanism. Its programs offered an opening to the country’s presence at the time as well as a window to global cultural fare. As Sambanadan notes, for Indians of the radio generation, Radio Ceylon was the first introduction to paradise-island and to the world of music.”
However since the late 1970s and more clearly since the 1980s there is a clear decline in Radio Ceylon’s and later Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation’s popularity both locally and in India. The reasons are quite similar.
The introduction of Vividh Bharathi, All India Radio’s commercial services offered an initial challenge to Radio Ceylon by presenting similar programs. It is no accident that Binaca Geetmala also moved to Vividh Bharathi and from Colombo to Delhi in 1989. On the other hand the cheap availability of prerecorded audio cassettes with popular music from 1970s onwards offered alternatives to Radio Ceylon’s programs, which people could listen to at their own time.
From the 1980s onwards the advent of television, private radio stations and finally FM stations also offered many more alternatives. These same conditions impacted the station’s local standing too. Equally crucially, over time, Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation could not live up to the standards Radio Ceylon had set in its own time. This was partly a matter of too closely entangling itself in the affairs of the state.
Also, as noted by Sambandan, SLBC lagged behind the times.” The ideal as he further notes should have been for SLBC to leverage its past and harness itself to the current developments in radio broadcasting.” This has simply not taken place.
Cultural Politics of Binaca Geetmala
The cultural politics of Binaca Geetmala has to be understood in the context the broader cultural politics of Radio Ceylon. Binaca Geetmala was a weekly program of radio countdown of Hindi cinema chart-busters blended with interesting infotainment on Hindi cinema anchored by Amin Sayani in what may be called ‘Hindustani,’ a mixture of Urdu and Hindi languages. It was aired via shortwave by Radio Ceylon from 1952 to 1988, and from 1989 to 1994 on All India Radio. Its peak however was during its run at Radio Ceylon.
The program had songs creatively interrupted by commentaries in the sonorous voice of Amin Sayani. The commentaries gave entertaining details of the songs, lyrics, and the singers. In other words, the songs were not merely presented for entertainment. They were also situated in their boarder socio-cultural context via the kind of information referred to above. The dramatic affect of the program was entrenched by fine editing and mixing. The songs that were added anew in each program were welcome with a bugle sound, which became iconic, and the songs, which stayed on in the program for many weeks, were also given an extraordinary bugle sound, an acoustic salute, referring to their longevity.
The memory of such an instance opens the locked secrets of cultural mobility beyond national territorial borders in South Asia. It also hints at the socio-cultural predilections toward something, which nation states might not have favored. After all, the Binaca Geetmala was not conceived by All India Radio (AIR), BBC, Voice of America or any other such national broadcaster of a powerful country with a variety of programs in different languages catering to linguistic communities across the world. These can only be seen as programs of power projection, which powerful countries have conventionally undertaken as in the case of BBC’s Sinhala, Hindi and many other language services and All India Radio’s Sinhala Service. Instead, Binaca Geetmala was a creation of Radio Ceylon, the national broadcaster of Sri Lanka, a country that had no interest or possibility of power projection across international borders. Nevertheless, in practice, Radio Ceylon, became a household name in the length and breath of India, which moved, The Hindu in a 2006 essay to describe the phenomenon as when Ceylon ruled the airwaves.”
In the political context in which Binaca Geetmala was conceived, it was a veritable godsend savior for Hindi cinema music lovers. In 1952, the same year that the program first aired, the government of India had banned Hindi cinema songs on All India Radio indicating its thinking on culture in extremely puritanical terms. B. V. Keskar, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was of the view that Hindi cinema songs will pollute the cultural sensibilities of post-independent India. At the time, it was state policy to encourage only what was thought to be pure, authentic, traditional, and classical music on the national radio in India.
It is in this specific context that the team of Binaca Geetmala approached Radio Ceylon, and quickly made arrangements to air the program from Colombo. Being hosted by the national broadcaster of Ceylon owned by the Ceylonese government, and that too to broadcast a genre of songs and music self-consciously banned by the Government of India on its own airwaves was quite a bold decision. It showed that democratic and independent decision-making was possible in Ceylon at the time even when it came to issues that literally crossed international borders.
Crucially however, this was the realm of culture and not politics as it is popularly understood. Nevertheless, the decision to broadcast Binaca Geetmala was clearly a political decision as it was also a subversive decision on the part of a government-owned radio station of a small country. It was a matter of very casually disregarding publicly stated cultural sensitivities of its bigger neighbor across the ocean.
The songs of Hindi cinema that Radio Ceylon broadcast were also received well by Sri Lankan listeners as well as audiences across India to whom the program was specifically targeted. This is in addition to secondary audiences in Nepal, Bangladesh and elsewhere in South Asia where short wave radio could reach, and where a taste for Hindi cinema songs was already established.
The growing listenership in Sri Lanka is particularly intriguing where Hindi is neither spoken nor understood. But it is Radio Ceylon’s Binaca Geetmala that played the most crucial role in popularizing Hindi film songs in Sri Lanka. In turn, this also ushered in another important dynamic of cultural politics. That is, the wholesale adaptation of the melodies of the most popular of these songs, to which Sinhala lyrics was introduced. For a short time in the 1960s the Sri Lankan government explicitly banned the practice of adapting Hindi movie song melodies for Sinhala lyrics. But given the porousness of the realm of culture, this was not a ban that could be sustained over time.
But the popularization of Binaca Geetmala and Radio Ceylon in India arose for different reasons. At one level, this phenomenon was not surprising since there was already a practice of Hindi language announcers joining Radio Ceylon to work in its Hindi service since the early 1950s. Partly, this was a lingering practice from the colonial era where colonial citizens could travel across to any country in the empire and particularly the region without much of a difficulty. This was also the time, the kind of restrictive nationalisms that took root in the region later, had not yet made its presence. So crossing borders and working across borders, particularly in the realm of culture was not embedded with the kind of anxieties one would experience today.
Also, as the earliest radio station in colonial South Asia, Radio Ceylon was a signpost for many artists willing to contribute to the realm of sound-art. Among many, Sunil Dutt was one of the announcers in the Hindi Service of Radio Ceylon. Later, Dutt became a well-known Hindi cinema star when he joined the film industry in Bombay. In other words, for listeners in India (not only in its Hindi belt, but in other language regions too), Hindi programming from Ceylon was a matter of ‘listening to the sounds of home’ and familiarization of the comfort-zone of home that were nevertheless emanating from beyond the borders of home.
More crucially, when this popular genre of songs was banned on All India Radio in 1952 as referred to above, Radio Ceylon was the only publicly accessible service, which offered such fare.
Besides all this, such a program also meant the production of commercial jingles for various products sold in India that added to the revenue of the government of Ceylon and later, Sri Lanka. On the other hand, Radio Ceylon also offered to Indian listeners music of the world through its very cosmopolitan English language service as referred to in the earlier section.
The transnational significance of the Radio Ceylon mapped a popular soundscape of South Asia. The popularity of Radio Ceylon and its presentation of popular Hindi cinema songs forced the cabinet of Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru to rethink its ban on cinema songs on the All India Radio. As a result, it decided to reinstate film songs on AIR in 1957. Moreover, All India Radio also started a special service called Vividh Bharti, which was dedicated to the songs of Hindi cinema was a direct response to the challenge from Radio Ceylon.
One of us (Dev Nath Pathak), as a growing boy in a small town in remote northern Bihar has anecdotal memory; Listening to radio was an important, and generic aspect of growing up; and amid various radio programs, it was particularly important to listen the Radio Ceylon. More importantly, the channel never appeared to be non-Indian and Ceylon seemed more like another town located somewhere very near though territorially afar. And despite the return of Hindi cinema songs on All India Radio later, Radio Ceylon remained popular among listeners until its pronounced decline.
Concluding Comments
In his 2006 essay on Radio Ceylon, Sambandan begins his discussion with the following observation and question: Once the pride of the region, Radio Ceylon is today a fading memory. Can the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation regain its lost glory?” Sambandan’s reflections are an apt place to conclude our own thoughts.
There is no doubt that Radio Ceylon’s and Binaca Geetmala’s pioneering role in the soundscape of South Asia and particularly in India have been overtaken by radical cultural and technological transformations as briefly explained earlier. In this context, Radio Ceylon’s contemporary manifestation in the form of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, has become irrelevant in the South Asian soundscape since Binaca Geetmala went off the air in 1994.
Nevertheless the memories and histories of these earlier institutional innovations can be the ground for fertile thinking in the larger scheme of South Asia today. One source of memory is various recordings of Binaca Geetmala (particularly) which appeared in cassette and LP record forms, and now available on online music portals. These recorded programs remind a listener of what happened then. They concretize the listeners’ sense of nostalgia.
Even now, the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation continues to have a Hindi Service and continues to receive letters from India requesting songs. But unlike in the past, the service now plays older songs produced before the 1970s and its listenership’s general age is about 50 years. The youth are not a part of its depleted fan base.
This brief history reveals a number of issues. One is a typical commonsense anxiety that popular music is a threat to traditional forms of music such as the folk and the classical. The nation state as well as some sections of the public operated on the premise of this anxiety. Efforts were made to protect what was thought of as the ‘authentic-traditions’, as in the case of the Indian example of banning Hindi cinema sings referred to earlier. The second alludes to the industry as well as a creative radio station such as Radio Ceylon, despite being owned by the Ceylonese state, catching up faster with the pulse of people than hegemonic and conventional national politics. This was evident from the soaring popularity of Radio Ceylon and its programs including Binaca Geetmala in India and Sri Lanka in particular and elsewhere in South Asia more generally. And the third refers to the fact that popular music travels across borders, and is capable of carving a sizable fan following, and also synergized diverse locals.
These three issues, put together, underlines the trans-local implications of what Radio Ceylon once stood for. It created a dynamic soundscape of South Asia inspite of the borders thrown up by nation states and the boundaries of minds. Radio was a window to the world and to the self. Radio Ceylon’s history, if understood within the nuances it offers, would provide and ideal basis to engage in cultural politics in contemporary times, albeit taking into account and addressing prevailing conditions, tastes and modes of broader politics.
( Authors Sasanka Perera & Dev Nath Pathak are from the Department of Sociology, South Asian University, New Delhi. This essay, drafted to organize the preliminary ideas for broader research project by the authors was initially published in Guvan Viduli Sameeksha, Volume 3; February 2020 published by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Sri Lanka)
Acting Inspector General of Police has ordered the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) to conduct a thorough investigation into the Non-Governmental Organisation, headed by lawyer Ejaaz Hizbullah, who is in the custody of the CID, as a suspect in connection with the Easter Sunday attacks.
The investigation into the NGO was ordered since it had been largely funded by two of the suicide bombers, who carried out the Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels, on 21 April 2019, Police headquarters sources said.
It has been revealed that the head office of the NGO is located in a building, purchased by the bombers.
The CID has received several reports that Mohammed Zahran Hashim, who planned the suicide attacks, on Easter Sunday, last year, had visited the building. The CID is conducting an investigation into the incident. The TID has been assigned to investigate the activities of the NGO.
Investigations have revealed that about six million rupees was credited to this NGO’s account, annually, and the NGO has spent a similar amount yearly. The account now has less than Rs. 20,000 and the cash flow, to the account, has ceased after the Easter Sunday attacks.
Investigators have also raised suspicions whether those involved in the Easter Sunday attacks also deposited the money in the NGO’s account, since the deposits made to the account ceased abruptly, after the attack.
It has been revealed that the Madrasa School, in Madurankuliya, was also started by the NGO, under investigation.
Investigations have revealed that the orphans were enrolled in the Madrassa school.
A senior CID officer said the orphaned children had been given jungle combat training and the CID had raided the training centre, in Wanathavilluwa.
The CID investigations have revealed that several politicians have worked closely with this NGO.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa states that he is optimistic that the economy adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic could be re-built on a solid basis.
The Presidential Task Force in charge of the Economic Revival and Poverty Eradication has been entrusted with the responsibility of formulating a new economic model to achieve this objective. President directed that the Task Force should prepare economic plans with specified targets in different areas that come under its purview and implement them.
President expressed these views during a meeting with the members of the newly-appointed Task Force held at the Presidential Secretariat today (06) to discuss modalities relating to the resumption of civilian life and work from May 11th.
Apparel and tourism sectors which make a huge contribution to the national economy should be revitalized to suit the changing situations, President said.
President’s Media Division stated that the President is of the view that new opportunities are now open to attract tourists from countries where the COVID-19 virus has subdued.
Medical tourism can be promoted by highlighting the capabilities of an indigenous medical system that was used for the treatment of the virus-infected people. In order to encourage high-spending tourists, visa must be issued to them supplemented by an internationally recognized certificate, President noted.
President highlighted the possibility of strengthening the tourism sector by attracting long term travelers.
Members of the Task Force were directed to pay attention to promote domestic tourism so that the local hotel industry could be saved from collapse.
President also pointed out the possibility of attracting more foreign investors to invest in the Port City and the Industrial Zone in Hambantota. The Ministry Secretaries were entrusted with the responsibility of identifying opportunities for investments instead of seeking foreign loans.
During the last few weeks, a number of new innovations have been made in the country, and steps should be taken to introduce these products to the global market, said the President.
Head of the Task Force Basil Rajapaksa said that the newly instituted Task Force has the capability of fulfilling its mandate with a new vision in order to achieve objectives set out by the President. The Task Force will support new businesses and will extend the fullest cooperation to already existing large, medium and small scale enterprises, he stated.
Basil Rajapaksa stated that no loss of employment should take place both in the state and private sectors while the country is moving forward.
Recalling the recent requests by Sri Lankan students studying in other countries to return home, President remarked that it was an indication of the large number of students going overseas to pursue higher education. This has caused an immense outflow of foreign exchange income, he noted.
President Rajapaksa said that measures should be taken to expand investment opportunities in the field of tertiary education in the country so that outgoing foreign exchange could be saved while providing educational facilities to foreign students within Sri Lanka.
A large amount of money is being spent to import medicines annually when most of these medicines can be manufactured locally, said the President. The Task Force was requested to prepare the necessary background to develop pharmaceutical production in the country.
The production of vegetable and other seeds required by farmers domestically was also discussed at the meeting.
Secretary to the President P. B. Jayasundera, Secretary to the Prime Minister Gamini Senarath, several Ministry Secretaries and a number of leading businessmen also joined the discussion.
Sri Lanka Navy has not withdrawn from any operation pertaining to the anti-coronavirus campaign carried out in the country, Sri Lanka Navy said issuing a press release.
It points out that false information that the Sri Lanka Navy has temporarily withdrawn from the Covid-19 Control campaign is being circulated on several social networks and news websites.
However, it is emphasized that Sri Lanka Navy has not quit any operations carried out by the Navy in the national mechanism of controlling COVID-l9 and is doing its utmost contribution for the endeavor, said the Navy.
In addition, the press release also read that the Sri Lanka Navy has taken legal action against institutions and persons who published such false information.
A Fundamental Rights (FR) petition has been filed challenging the Gazette notification issued by the Election Commission declaring the General Election on June 20 as well as the Gazette notification on the dissolution of Parliament.
The General Secretary of Jathika Samagi Jana Balawegaya and former UNP Parliamentarian Ranjith Madduma Bandara has lodged the said petition.
The Attorney General in lieu of the President, Election Commission’s Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya and its members President’s Counsel N.J. Abeysekara and Prof.S. Rathnajeevan H.Hoole and the Attorney General have been cited as the respondents.
Mandatory provisions have been provided by the Constitution to fix a date for the parliamentary election and convene the new Parliament not later than 3 months from the dissolution of Parliament, the petitioner has said.
Accordingly, the President had published a Gazette notification on March 02, dissolving then-Parliament and the General Election was subsequently declared to be held on April 25, the petitioner stated, adding that the Election Commission later decided to postpone the poll to June 20 due to the local outbreak of COVID-19 virus.
However, the new date set for elections by the Election Commission is against the provisions of the Constitution, he has explained.
In addition, the Gazette issued by the President is invalid due to the failure to convene the new Parliament within 3 months of dissolution of the previous Parliament, the petitioner has argued.
According to the Appropriation Bill passed by the Parliament on the 23rd of October 2019, the current government is authorized to disburse state funds only until April 30, he argues further.
The petitioner went on to say that the President has rejected the requests made by the Joint Opposition to reconvene the dissolved Parliament and to approve necessary funds.
It is unconstitutional for the government to expend state funds without the approval of the Parliament, he added.
Hence, the petitioner seeks the Supreme Court to deliver a verdict that the government has violated fundamental rights through its actions.
He also requested the Supreme Court to rule that holding the General Election before the threat of COVID-19 is eliminated is a violation of fundamental rights.
The petitioner further urged the Supreme Court to issue an interim order declaring the temporary invalidation of the two gazette notifications on the dissolution of Parliament and holding the General Election on June 20.
Three persons who were previously identified as COVID-19 patients have been declared as COVID-19 negative today (06), stated Director-General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe.
Two residents of Rajagiriya and Kolonnawa and a nurse of Colombo National Hospital were identified to have contracted the novel coronavirus, yesterday (05).
However, following more testing as per protocol, it has been determined that the aforementioned individuals have not been infected by the virus, said Jasinghe.
Therefore, the Ministry of Health removed them from the registry of COVID-19 infections in the country, he added.
Considering the prevailing situation in the country, the Department of Railways has initiated a program to provide transport facilities for the employees who report for essential duties in the public and private sectors.
This scheme will be valid only for public and private sector employees who have obtained monthly or quarterly season tickets from both public and private sectors, said Deputy General Manager of Railways V. S. Polwattege.
Relevant tickets could be obtained by applying through the Heads of Institutions, he added.
However, passengers who are to receive the service should report to the station in advance, he further said.
Violent
extremism is easier to deal with. Authorities can locate venues of training and
gather groups being trained and even rehabilitate them. However, the task is
not simple when the masterminds of
violent extremism are disguised and camouflage themselves as high profile
persons, accepted & respected by society, holding powerful positions and
people who have by their actions built a name for themselves as model
personalities. When such an aura has been built around them, it is very
difficult for anyone to accept the news that they could even remotely harm a
fly. In such a scenario, there are many who may never believe, the high profile
persons linked to the Easter Sunday terror attacks in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is
dealing with an absolutely new phenomena of terrorism never before experienced.
Not only will Sri Lanka’s investigators have to investigate the likely next
targets but more troubling is to go into the minds of un-profiled personalities
and unveil their diabolical plans that are
camouflaged by their professions and the roles they play in society.
When
multiple acts of mass murder took place on 21/4 the attention and condemnation
automatically fell on the suicide bombers. In so doing, it emerged that the suicide bombers were rich, some foreign
educated and people who were from families respected in society. It was a
puzzle to all why rich & educated
Muslims living a good life would harbor so much hatred to destroy the lives of
people they did not know, people who did not harm them in any way.
It
was equally puzzling to those that knew them how they could have hidden their anger portraying themselves
differently. Their true face had been kept hidden. It is natural for many
to have doubts. People cannot be faulted for harboring doubt either. People
they never dreamed would harm another committed mass murder because of an
ideology they were following. But, the
most dangerous lot are disguised and camouflaged under various roles &
faces. They continue to drum a murderous ideology into the minds of others.
Ideological extremism taking the form
of disguise is the most dangerous threat to a country & its citizens. The entire society is made vulnerable. We do not
know the enemy. It is like COVID19. We cannot determine its shape or form. When
it hits us, it is too late. That’s what happened on 21/4.
The
rise in Islamic radicalism in Sri Lanka is nothing anyone can claim ignorance
of. Even the most ordinary citizen was watching the Muslims that once lived as
a co-partner with the heritage of Sri Lanka and embracing its ancient culture
slowly carving out a separate identity via dress, food, banking, marriage laws
and behavior. The problem took a political dimension after establishing the
SLMC and the increase in foreign funding together with foreign preachers most
of whom were preaching their own version of Islam and drew their following by
the power of the money they disbursed.
The community-clan protective shield was
adopted every time their motives and actions were brought to light by flagging global
slogans ‘hate speech, racism, minority discrimination’ to prevent action being
taken against them while at the business and political levels the threats were ‘you
will lose our vote’ ‘don’t expect political funding from us’. So the country was sitting on a volcano as a result
of these actions & inactions.
The
majority of terrorist organizations thrive in poverty stricken nations drawing
poor who take to arms as a means of livelihood and to gain a power over society
that they did not yield before. A good look at the terrorist groups operational
globally, it is not difficult to comprehend the poor backgrounds of the Islamic
terrorist groups and even the poverty of the Islamic terror victims. This is
indeed a very sad scenario. Confounding the situation is the reality that all of
these terror groups are being manipulated by non-Muslims giving arms to Muslims
to kill Muslims. However much, anyone may argue, this is the reality. So, we
have a group supplying the arms, another group supplying the training, another
group doing the radicalization, another group drawing the followers, another
group doing the promotions…likewise the groups increase but no one knows who
are the real figureheads manipulating some or all of these entities.
The frightening aspect is that those manipulating people
to kill are personalities we would least imagine.But, as the
Easter Sunday debacle will soon reveal the masterminds behind the mass killing
are people who were functioning under a disguise, pretending to be what they
are not and plotting to harm us while presenting to us that they are our
friend. Very frightening scenario for non-Muslims and even Muslims
The
question relevant and puzzling to all of us in Sri Lanka is, why did foreign
educated, rich and socially accepted set of Muslims decide to turn suicide
bombers and commit mass murder? How many more are waiting in disguise? How
volatile is the situation for the rest of the citizens? The situation should
worry both Muslims and non-Muslims for the simple reason that out of the blue a
group of people planned a commit mass murder. Even Muslims perished on Easter
Sunday. Their ideology did not wish to even protect their own!
One year on not only do we still not
know who are the real masterminds behind this but more importantly we do not
know why. At least, with LTTE
suicide bombers, we know they were indoctrinated to fight for a separate state.
Right or wrong, they believed they could achieve that through violence, terror
& gun. The same indoctrination spurred JVP to attack the State in 1970s and
1980s. But, this Islamic terror situation is baffling all of us and in reality
is the worst scenario. We do not know who among those we move around with can
be harboring hidden hatred to the extent of wanting to blow up people. There
are some who would jump to say such fear is exaggerated and unwarranted.
Ignoring 97 warnings is what led to the mass murder that took place on 21/4 and
we have every reason to not only be worried but translate the doubt and fear
into taking every precaution.
People
had every right to feel anger at what ensued on 21/4 Easter Sunday at multiple
locations. The discoveries of swords, detonators, satellite equipment, army
uniforms, mobile SIMs, revealing of radicalism in school textbooks, the
madrassas curricular etc increased their fear.
Given that the masterminds were
disguised & holding high-profile roles or were associated with nefarious
entities, they mitigated that fear by internationally and locally presenting a
rise in hate speech and racism to drown attention getting directed to unveiling
their roles in it. They were masters
at turning any bad situation to their advantage because they had the power,
funds and people in various roles to execute the task.
The
natural fears of people were quickly suppressed by spreading a notion that the
minority Muslims were being attacked. Such cover-up is not doing any good or
helping Sri Lanka to unearth other manifestations that may be cooking or
gathering momentum. Once, an attack of this nature has been committed no one
can expect things to be looked at in the same way as that took place before. Even
LTTE was supported by plenty of Tamils & non-LTTE and even after demise of
the LTTE there are many who continue to support LTTE fronts for separatism by
pen.
A
year after mass murder took place, we are seeing some shocking arrests and
disclosures. What is shocking is to come
to terms with the fact that very high-profile people were masterminds of Easter
Sunday. That they have people coming forward to defend them is either
through ignorance or they too are part of a cartel that are Satan’s
missionaries. The signatories darting to
defend the arrested, are the same names that rallied to defend LTTE separatists
or destabilizing operations in Sri Lanka.
What
should be shocking to all is that there are people who are disguising their
true intent working for or associated with global and socially accepted entities
and by virtue of that they are either globally defended or it becomes more
difficult for society to accept their true colurs. It is also a tedious task
for intelligence services to uncover their true intent & expose them.
It
is a real pity that none of those darting to defend the arrested never thought for
once to offer their services to the victims of the Easter Sunday, many who lie
crippled in hospital, on death bed or with no means to survive and traumatized
over what took place.
Ideological extremism, being promoted by people hiding their plans by high profile roles & using their positions to hide their extremism and advance their extremism is the danger Sri Lanka is now faced with. How does society deal with this new aspect?
Those masquerading as hr activists, academics, professionals, lawyers etc … and drilling murderous ideology are far more dangerous than those that commit suicide and carry out their orders.
Prior to the Presidential election, there were two main arguments, viz. 1. Abolition of Executive Presidency and 2. After 19A, the role of the Executive Presidency has no powers.
The abolition of EP is now a lost cause. In fact, the emerging facts and the ground support rallying around the EP, the incumbent Gotabaya Rajapakse is taking the nation towards the next level. Unlike in the past, Gota’s photos are not displayed on the walls of government departments and state corporations. He does not address the nation or issues special announcements on a daily basis. The key element of a Leader is the ability to delegate. President Gotabaya is a clever delegator and he selects the Right Person for the Right Job at the Right Time and put in Right Place.
Corona came in as a shock for the nation. The opposition gave no support to handle the situation. But President Gotabaya stamped his authority over the local political enemies and anti-Sri Lankan international forces to establish him as Leader of the nation, without the support of the Parliament. Mr. Jayayampathy Wickremaratne, a national list MP and a dual citizenship holder attempted to ruin the country with Ranil and foreigners. He failed. He is now hiding in Switzerland, the country that attempted to destroy the image of President Gotabaya by using Siriyalatha alias Gania Banister.
The
second argument that the 19A reduced the powers of the EP was a valid argument
for those who narrowly looked at 19A ignoring the Powers of EP
incorporated in the constitution. In addition, the way in which former
President Sirisena conducted his affairs eroded the role of EP to the level of
a street urchin.
Surely, we need to reduce or reallocate the powers of the Speaker, Election Commission, IGP, and Parliament, going forward. This will be discussed in a future article.
For now, with or without 19A, President Gotabaya is capable of delivering the goods.
This was a
unique cultural event held at the University of Toronto’s prestigious Robarts
Library, from May 21 to 30, 2005, to mark firstly, Vesak”, the most holy and venerated
time of the year for Buddhists, and secondly, in commemoration of 100 years of
Buddhism in Canada.
Vesak full-moon day, which usually falls in May, has threefold significance for Buddhists, namely, the birth of Prince Siddhartha the Buddha to be, his attainment of enlightenment and his final passing away referred to in Buddhism as the Buddha’s ‘mahaparinibbana’. For people of Sri Lanka, Vesak also marks the beginning of the Buddhist New Year and the arrival in Sri Lanka of Prince Vijaya, the founder of the island’s mainstream Sinhala community. Vesak has been the primary national festival of Sri Lanka since the 3rd century BCE, for almost 2300 years.
THE EXHIBITION
The highlight of this unique cultural event
held in Canada for was the Photographic Exhibition and Documentary Film show on
Sri Lanka’s rich Heritage of Buddhist Paintings. This public event was facilitated
by the University of Toronto, and was organized and presented by Dr. Daya
Hewapathirane and a team of enthusiastic
Buddhist youth volunteers from the University of Toronto, York
University and Ryerson University.
The exhibition highlighted the richness of Sri Lanka’s visual arts inspired by Buddhism and the Buddhist tradition. It displayed over 300 enlarged photographs of spectacular Buddhist works of art found in a wide assortment of Buddhist shrines located across Sri Lanka, thereby providing a comprehensive perspective of the island’s rich heritage of Buddhist art, spanning over a period that exceeds 2200 years. Exhibits were displayed chronologically, in the form of a visual pilgrimage to a wide assortment of Buddhist sites of Sri Lanka, including its World Heritage Sites” containing exquisite ancient Buddhist works of art.
In parallel with the Exhibition was the
screening in the University of Toronto theatre, of a Documentary Film titled Arts of the Ancient
World: Heritage of Buddhist Paintings of Sri Lanka”, produced by Dr. Daya
Hewapathirane, with the outstanding Art
Direction of Arjuna Samarakoon of
Trillion Design Inc. of Toronto. For
many who saw it, this film was an exciting experience, eliciting vividly the
richness of imagination, creativity, aesthetic sense and inspiration of Sri
Lankan artists.
This event was planned as a place where
people could see, appreciate and learn; a place that stimulates a sense of
pleasure, pride and discovery; as an experience, which provides an aesthetic
challenge resulting in a greater cultural awareness and discernment. Buddhist
paintings are among the most gentle and sublime art of mankind. They are among
the oldest surviving art of the historic period in the Indian subcontinent from
the 3rd century BCE when the Great Indian Emperor Ashoka was instrumental in
the spread of Buddhism to Sri Lanka and all over Asia. Sri Lanka became the
centre of the earlier Theravada Order of Buddhism from where the Buddhist
tradition traveled to the countries of South-East Asia. The religion and the
art associated with it had a transforming effect on the countries which it
reached and, till today, the art heritage of Buddhism flourishes in the Asian
continent.
Buddhism, which was introduced to Sri
Lanka in the 3rd century BCE, was the primary source of inspiration and
influence for artists, sculptors and architects of the country. Paintings form
a dominant component of the heritage of Sinhala Buddhists. A spectacular
collection of ancient sculpture and architecture further adorns the conspicuous
elements of the island’s Sinhala Buddhist culture. For some 2500 years, the Sinhala
people inhabited Sri Lanka as its dominant community. Up to the 16th
century, they accounted for over 99% of the population and all were Buddhists. They
form 75% of island’s present population and about 95% of them are Buddhists.
BUDDHIST
SITES WITH PAINTINGS
Innumerable ancient sites with paintings are scattered throughout the country – north, south, east and west, in the hill country and the coastal areas. The large majority of Buddhist paintings are found in Buddhist ‘vihara’ (shrine) and monasteries, the best known are those in ancient cities such as Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla, Sigiriya, and Mahanuwara (Kandy). All these cities were designated by the UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, owing to their artistic treasures, considered as masterpieces of human creative genius. Paintings found in ancient cave temples are over 2000 years old and some more than a 1000 years. Most of the earliest paintings are found in a fragmentary form. Among the oldest paintings are those on rock surfaces in caves, and walls of relic chambers inside ancient ‘dagoba’ or ‘stupa’ (pagoda). Most of these sites are ‘Raja Maha Viharas’ or Buddhist temples established by Sinhala kings, or which received their patronage in ancient times. UNESCO has identified 1037 shrines with paintings which are more than 100 years old. Paintings are found on ancient cave and rock surfaces, walls, ceilings, doors, wooden surfaces, statues and other sculpture, pottery/earthenware and on cloth or textiles. Paintings were done on a layer of plaster applied over these surfaces. Material used on all surfaces were natural, obtained from the immediate environment. Some of these products were boiled and processed in different ways in order to obtain necessary shades of colours.
The predominant themes of ancient
artistic pursuits were the life of the Buddha, ‘Jataka Tales’ based on former
lives of the Buddha. Some narrative paintings are reflective of the teachings
of the Buddha. Paintings reveal the great adoration the artists had
towards the Buddha and the strong inspiration drawn from the Buddha’s life and
teachings. Buddhist
paintings have a strong impact on one’s inner spirit, transforming your mind to
a state of innocence and overflowing compassion, joy and peacefulness.
According to the Buddha’s teachings, developing tranquility of mind is
fundamental to the development of wisdom.
PERIODS OF ART
(from 3rd century BCE to 21st century)
Based on general differences in art traditions the
following major periods of art can be identified:
(1)
Classical Period
(a) Anuradhapura Period : 3rd century BCE to 10th c.CE
(b) Polonnaruwa
Period : 11th to 13th c. CE
(2) Period of Changing Capitals : 13th to 17th c. CE
(3) Mahanuwara Period : 18th to 19th c. CE
(4) Modern Period: 20th century onwards
The Classical Period
The classical
style of Sinhala art is naturalistic, exemplifying a transformation of nature
by imaginative contemplation. Paintings show a highly tasteful use of a variety
of colours and a skilful depiction of facial expressions of the figures. With the exclusion of Sigiriya, most of the
surviving ancient paintings of the Classical Period such as those of the Tivanka Pilimage in
Polonnaruwa, are found in fragmentary form. Most were destroyed when foreigners
invaded the Sinhala kingdoms of Sri Lanka.
Period Of Changing Capitals
Political instability of this period had
a negative impact on people’s artistic initiatives. South Indian invaders
plundered local settlements and inflicted widespread damage to Buddhist temples.
Mahanuwara (Kandyan) Period
Paintings exhibit a predominantly
stylized form, referred to by art professionals as ‘abstract symbolism’. It is
a unique art form of great appeal, with its own dynamics and structural
properties.
The Modern Period
Enchanting modern paintings are found the
Kelani Raja Maha Vihare, Gotami Vihare, and Bellanwila Vihara. Also, several
modern artists and photographers have contributed to the conservation of
ancient paintings by producing near perfect reproductions on canvas and some
commendable photographic reproductions.
SERENE JOY AND EMOTION
The exhibition and film show were occasions for those interested generally in art and art history, and for creative artists in general, to enjoy and draw inspiration from, an array of work of art ancient and modern, that are of great aesthetic appeal and artistic value. It was an occasion where art enthusiasts interacted freely and were sharing observations and feelings on Sri Lankan art. The exhibition and film show provided considerable opportunities for intercultural dialogue and appreciation by the diversity of visitors. Besides, judged by the reaction of some visitors, this event generated a good amount of interest in conserving and promoting these priceless treasures. Being a Canadian of Sri Lankan descent, initiatives of this nature which Canada encourages, inevitably makes me feel good about being a Canadian. Canada has been the meeting place of all cultures of the world and also a place where these cultures are well nurtured. Our sense of Canadian identity derives from an understanding of our shared cultures and the richness of our collective histories. We are hopeful that our endeavors will generate increased awareness of the richness of this cultural heritage, and lead to greater interest in its conservation.
The festive inauguration of the Exhibition Documentary Film show on May 21st 2005, was marked by a Buddhist Cultural Festival, attended by a large number of people, including Buddhists representing all Buddhist traditions, and non-Buddhists. Among the special invitees were dignitaries from the Toronto City, Universities and cultural establishments. This Cultural festival included musical recitals, traditional drumming, an assortment of traditional dances performed by youth and children, and a slide show on ancient Sinhala sculpture and architecture. The active participation of reputed performers and artists of the Ontario Sri Lanka community was a welcome addition to this spectacular cultural event (Latha Dissanayake (singing), Sampath Edirisinghe(singing and Music), Praneeth Alawatte (traditional drums), Dhuwaraka Sivathasam (table), Mitra Ramlakhan, Bakthi Deeyadaha (dance), Janani Nithiyeswaran(dance), Natalie Garth(dance), Rebecca Hettige(dance) and Keesha Jinadasa(dance).
Dr. Daya Hewapathirane
COMMENTS MADE
BY VISITORS
• A most impressive photo
documentation. Completely unique – We
had a detailed tour by Yoshani DeSilva.
Robert
Siebelhoff
• Thank you for such a wonderful
introduction to Sri Lankan Art. The tour was informative, the people receptive
and pleasant to talk to. We look forward to seeing the documentary film
tonight.
Razmiera
Justin (ineligible)
• Thank you so much for the personal
tour of the exhibition. You have inspired us to visit these wonderful sites ourselves
as soon as we can. Your images of sculpture and paintings are truly
stunning! With Thanks
Mary
& Ron Dergh (inelligeble)
• This is really fantastic. I enjoyed
it very much. Great work.
Loles (inelligeble)
• A really powerful display. Pity my
students can’t attend as a group for the great learning experience – self
identity and self esteem!
M.
Chang
• Wonderful exhibit! Students very
helpful and enthusiastic!! Spread this cultural exhibit throughout Canada for
others to enjoy.
B…
(inelligeble)
• I found the exhibit overwhelming – a
revelation, not only the beauty and
elegance – the sheer extent and variety – and exuberance and vitality.
James
Beckmann
• I enjoyed the documentary film
tremendously. The use of colour and the beautiful design work are simply
wonderful. I have two suggestions for editing. 1. the music in the first
section employing the mail narrator drowns out his voice. 2. the word capitals
is misspelled several times. Best wishes to you in finding a venue for future
exhibits.
Michelle
Farell
• Both events were very enriching and
have opened my eyes to such an artistic and spiritual culture. The movie was
very informative and detailed towards Buddhist art and culture and has kindled
a greater interest in understanding the different symbols and representations
used in Buddhist art work. Participating in the art exhibition was truly and
honour and privilege.
Mitra
Ramlakhan
• Excellent presentation. Very
interesting, informative and beautiful work.
Angela
Colm
• Wow! I was very impressed about the
quality of the production
(inelligeble)
• Good luck guys!!! You were moved from
the heart in undertaking this project. (keep it up)
Michael
Banate (inelligeble)
• Very educational and personally
interesting to learn about Buddhist history and art in Sri Lanka. A very good
documentary and surprising that it is a pioneer effort. I’m impressed about the
talent of everyone who worked on this project
Sujhan
P. (inelligeble)
• As an artist I am overwhelmed by the
time it took to paint all these surfaces. I have been reading and studying
Buddhism for the past year and finally found the spiritual outlet I needed – I
thank you for the tour and much enjoyed this exhibition.
Cynthia
Lineel (inelligeble)
• It’s wonderful! To get in the
buddha’s realm through the exhibition! Best wishes to keep going on! The
compassionate heart
Luat
Tran
• It’s good to see something which is
spirituality instead of just high technology and science. This exhibition
brings me one more step forward towards Buddhism. Nowadays people really need
this kind of information though they don’t think so. Keep going!!
Alan
• The most beautiful paintings of love,
peace, enlightenment, devotion and all that is good in our world. Thank You.
Peace, love and Blessings
Kathy
Mstapha- Ali (CTS Television)
• Thank You very much for letting me
have a good chance to view all these valuable historical remains. I am a visual
artist, so you will understand how I appreciate this exhibition. Also as a
Buddhist this exhibition is very important to me – educationally and in terms
of appreciation of art. Thanks for all you hard work and look forward to see
you next year.
Miranda
Mak (Canadian Multicultural Links Association)
• I am moved by the delicacy of detail,
the richness of colour, texture and motif and the endurance of the materials
over time
Mosa
Meshma Mcnelly (inelligeble)
• Quite encouraging. Lots of efforts
put. Thanks…., we viewers speak for you
Nishtha
Rajiv Dhiman
• A wonderful experience seeing the
photos was almost being in front of the images. May this exhibit continue to
delight and inform wherever it can go.
Dr.
Carol Farkas (inelligeble)
• This is really fantastic. I enjoyed
it very much. Great work.
Loles
(inelligeble)
• Really powerful display. Pity my
students cant attend as a group for this great learning experience it could be
for self identity and self –esteem!
• The photographs are amazing. Sorry I
missed the documentary film. Hopefully the documentary film contains the
history of the rich culture.
Loretta
Wong
M.Chang
• A wonderful exhibit! Students were
helpful and enthusiastic! Spread this great cultural exhibit throughout Canada
for others to enjoy!
B.
(inelligeble)
• We appreciate the art at you exhibit.
It is great job and big success to Sri Lanka.
G.
(inelligeble)
• Impressive exhibition.
Evelyn
Chan
• Thank You very much for the
comprehensive exhibit that are exquisite and informative and educational.
Enjoyed the Tour given by Yoshani and Discussion with Daya
Frank
Yong
• I really enjoyed ancient Buddhist
Paintings and Statues in Sri Lanka. These are all beautiful and attract my
interest. For sure I would travel to Sri Lanka to see them in an year.
Takashi
Igarashi
• Very informative and extremely
interesting. A spectacular exhibition! I would definitely recommend this show
case to friends and family who take interest in the Buddhist Tradition in South-East
Asia.
Sydney
Trang
• I would like to keep in touch about
future exhibitions. I belong to an art gallery and interested in various art
work
Kathy
Mac Isaac
• Please send me information on Jataka
Al
Karim Dharsee
• It’s a one of a kind exhibit, rare
historic serene images photographed in one of the most remote areas of the
world for all of us to enjoy and appreciate.
Neal
Van Meter
• Excellent Presentation. Should be
shown on Program Opening Night” Thursday Night on CBC.
(inelligeble)
• Excellent visual quality and contour
supports the magnificent contents of the film. Minor auditory problems in
presentation – could not always understand the male voice in early part of the
film – I think technical problems with the equipment. Otherwise, its perfect.
Neil
Van Meter
• Thanks for this wonderful film you
enabled me to see. Such an impressive and spiritual art of Sri Lanka. As a
person interested greatly in Buddhism I
was really impressed on all the art and I’d only encourage people to
visit Sri Lanka. Thank you so much.
Christine
Hiratsuka
• Wonderful! Best Wishes to success
& spiritual harmony
Luat
Tran
• Magnificent cultural and religious
achievements. Deserves greater knowledge!!
Robert
Siebelhoff
• Very interesting. I had not known any
of the history of Sri Lanka it’s art. This gave me some of both.
George
Bacon
• Very interesting and fascinating. I
enjoyed the documentary very much. It is very interesting to see Buddhist art
to compare to those of China. Thank you. Great work.
Lery
Lieng Chun (inelligeble)
• It is a wonderful exhibition. Third
time I saw in Toronto. Promoting our culture to the world through our Buddhist
Photos of Paintings is unique venture. Sri Lankan’s must be proud of your
scholarly works. All the best in your future endeavors too.
C.S
Poolokasingham (Consul General, Sri Lanka in Toronto)
• Once again, you’ve have done us Sri
Lankans living here as one Nation, proud! The Show you have put up this time
around is even greater and better! But the greatest thing about your flashing
vision is that now it has got wings and there’s a whole community to help you
soar… for the love of the country that have all of us, you and me, a name and
identity! Congratulations and Best Wishes.
Aloy
Perera
• I think I would underestimating my
feelings if I say that you have done a fantastic job, organizing an exhibition
of this nature. At times I was simply spellbound – to say the least. Please carry on the good work. We wish you
well.
Anonymous
Sri Lankans
• It’s a pleasure to be here today and
enjoy this incredible Buddhist painting exhibition after a long time. With
thank you so much for taking us 2500 years back and sharing the historical
information.
Anushka
& Bimal Abeywardena
• I was highly impressed by the great
work you have done. Even though I’m a Sri Lankan by origin and have tried to
visit most of these temples while I was there, there was so much that we missed
and I should note that some paintings that were exhibited were very rare ones,
those of which caught my mere attention. It made me realized ones again of the
great heritage we do hold but are not aware of. In a time where ancient things
are fading away gradually and especially in a foreign country, what you have
done is marvelous. But also the short but really factual and interesting
lectures, gave me a glimpse of many things I didn’t know. This step taken by
you to value our ancient Buddhist paintings is both a great asset to us Lankans
and foreigners living here. How beautiful these paintings are I simply feel
inexpressible to describe them. They so attractive and thank you so much for
all your hard work valuable time and money you spent in order to make this
event a success.
Dilini
Jayasinghe
• I really enjoyed this event. The
paintings you have brought here are so beautiful. Your effort was certainly
successful. Wish you all the best in continuing this kind of great events to
value are ancient heritage. Thank you.
Asoka
Perera
• I enjoyed the tour of the exhibition.
I understood more about the pictures with the explanations about them and it
made me enjoy and appreciate more. I enjoyed the modern paintings and the
pictures of Sigiriya. I like looking at the pictures in order because it made
more sense.
Anushie
Mahavitane
• I like the items in the exhibition.
Daya did a good job exhibiting these rare valuable paintings which reflect our
religion and culture. It made me proud to show the whole world about our
religion and culture.
Kushlan
Seneviratne
• Very well organized to demonstrate
how Buddhist art has evolved over the centuries. Pictures are breathtaking and
inspirational. Now when I visit the temples I will have a basic understanding
and appreciation of Buddhist culture.
Nilu
Mahavitane
• Thank you very much for the
exhibition of photo images of Buddhist paintings. I enjoyed it.
Nimna
Fernando
• I am so glad that Quintus and I were
able to make time even on the last day to visit City Hall. All of us visit
these Temples and marvel at the paintings and architecture, but we have never
had such detailed information to go along with what we have seen in terms of
Buddhist culture. The long hours of research, dedication and the obvious love
of history has made this Exhibition and eye opener to all of us. In short, it
was and AWESOME EXHIBITION!
Quintus
& Krishanthi Ratnayake
• Nice movie, it would be nice to have
something available online for further information.
Rodrigo
• It was a great pleasure to be a part
of this event
Predeep
Waragoda
• The arts are exhibited really well
and we enjoyed a lot seeing the heritage of Buddhist pictures. Hard work and
effort was well worth for reverse.
Lucky
and Champa Viswakula
• Great step taken to show the Sri
Lanka culture and the art to the world.
Thusitha
Weerasuriya
• It’s a great exhibition. Keep it up.
Chanaka
Gausaethige (inelligeble)
• It is really great that a culture and
art that as these are being promoted in a foreign country like Canada.
Shri
• Great effort, wonderful presentation.
Thank you very much.
Ranjan
& Neru Weerasinghe
• Very interesting, good work, enjoyed
very much.
Rupi
Wadugodapitiya
• It’s amazing to see how much work you
have put into this project! I thoroughly enjoyed it as it brought back so many,
many memories. I hope you will continue and make more of these available to
us!! Congratulations one job. Well done.
Krishanthi
Ratnayake
• Arju….Very well done. Enriching
experience, looking forwart to any future films…
K.B.
• WOW! That was so good .. we really
found most interesting and educational. Exceptionally good.
The third nikaya to emerge in Sri Lanka was
the Ramanna Nikaya. Ramanna nikaya was started byAmbagahawatte Saranankara. (b. 1832)
He had received the Kalyani Upasampada of the Siyam Nikaya from Benthara
Atthadassi, but later found that this
ordination was suspect. Instead of joining Amarapura nikaya, Ambahawatte
Saranankara decided to go to Burma and bring back a fresh Upasampada.
Kulatunge gives two possible reasons for this.
He says low country Siyam Nikaya had become disgusted with their own Nikaya,
which they said was corrupt and the bhikkhus immoral. Standards of the low country monks had deteriorated. Vagegoda Dhammakusala, of Rankotmale vihara,
Vagegoda, close to Tangalle, had some time before, written to Saranankara Sangharaja
about the unprincipled behavior of the low country Siyam monks.
Low country Siyam also found that Malwatte
looked down on them as second class. Low country Siyam monks were
not given equal status by Malwatte, though they were equally learned. It is
difficult to see how these could have been precipitating causes for Ven.
Ambagahawatte to run to Burma, but these are the explanations Kulatunge has
found.
Kulatunge says Ambahawatte Saranankara had
been influenced to go to Burma by his teacher Ven. Bulatgama Dhammalankara. Two bhikkhus who had got ordained in Burma
earlier, Pohoddaramulle Vanaratana and
Vaskaduwe Dhammakkhanda had also told him about Burma.
Ambahawatte Saranankara left for Burma in
1860, with Dipegoda Silakkandha, Palpola Dhammadassi, two samanera and two
laymen. He received higher ordination in
1861 in Ramanna desa in Lower Burma,
from Neyyadhamma
Munivara nanakitsiri Sangharaja of Ratnapunna Vihara. He was
given the name ‘Indasabhavaranana Sami’. He received a second ordination
at Udakukkhepa Sima, in Irrawaddy River.
The team returned in 1862 to Galle harbor, to
a great welcome. Those assembled to meet him included Ven. Bulatgama
Dhammalankara of Paramananda Vihara in Galle and Ven. Akmimana Sobhita of
Vijayananda Pirivena in Wellawatte in Colombo.
Thereafter the first higher ordination of the
new Ramanna Nikaya was performed in 1864 at Udakukkhepa sima at Mahamodera
Galle. Those ordained were all from Siyam nikaya. The delay of two years was because they were
waiting to join up with two other monks, Ven. Warapitiye Sumitta and
Puwakdandave Pannananda , who had also gone to obtain ordination from
Siam and Ramanna. Sumitta acted as the Preceptor for the Ramanna Upasampada.
Kulatunge also mentions another ordination. He says 16 from Matara nikaya and five from Ambagaswatte group had,
assembled at Sailabimbaramaya in Dodanduwa and got ordained and entered the
order under Mirisse Dhammananda. Ambagahawatte had signed as Ambagahawatte
Indasabhavaranana Sami in the articles of association of this
nikaya. It is not clear how these two
ordinations link up.
A second Ramanna Higher ordination ceremony
was held at Gampola in 1867. An Udakukkhepa sima was built on Mahaweli Ganga at
Rankada Ella near Gampola by the owner of Unambuwa walawwa, Gampola, with the
assistance of others. The bhikkhus of
the aranyavasi group received ordination from Ramanna there.
Ramanna Nikaya has looked to the forest monks
to increase its ranks. Most of the forest monks at the time were attached to
Asgiri. They were happy to leave Asgiri and join Ramanna as all sorts of charges
were made against Asgiri. Ramanna
Nikaya is today known for its vanavasi monks.
Ramanna spread in Nuwara Kalaviya, Sat Korale,
Satara Korale, Dumbara, Matale, Hevaheta, Uda palata. Ramanna also expanded into Kegalla and Dambadeniya,
helped by bhikkhus such as Minvane Dhamma kusala, Katugastota Sumanatissa and
Naranpanave Indrajoti.
There were other bhikkhu lineages that
supported the spread of Ramanna in the up country. They included, Sarananda
bhikku paramparava, whose center, Sarananda Pirivena was in Anuradhapura. Also
the Waduwatte parapura and the Handagala parapura in Nuwara Kalaviya. Handagala vihara in Hurulu palata is a
Ramanna vihara. The Vanavasi parapura of Kossokanda at Maradankadavala which
has links with the Handagala group also helped propagate Ramanna.
Ramanna nikaya had its own distinctive style.
They used begging bowls instead of plates. Instead of umbrellas, they used
folded palmyrah leaves, in the form of “bogava”. The
bogava introduced by Ambagahawatte was made usable by CB Nugawela, chairman of
the Up country Sabha for the Protection of Nikaya. They wore robes that
were dyed according to the traditional
rules.
More important, Ramanna did not allow devales
for various gods to be built in their
temples. They rejected the worship of the gods.In
1871 Ambagahawatte began a debate on the subject. The Deva puja vadaya” continued for three or four decades.
Ramanna Nikaya was considered to have pure,
disciplined, virtuous bhikkhus, stated Kulatunge. Ramanna gave ordination to
anyone without caste discrimination. These
practices impressed the intelligentsia and they supported the Ramanna nikaya,
said Kulatunge.
Ramanna succession led to many disputes and
the possibility of splits. However, Kulatunge reports that ‘all acted in unity while
performing Upasampada. Regional Samagri Samgha sabhas were set up, such as the
Up country Sri Athadassi Sangha sabha of the Gallangolla Samgha Community.
This Gallangolla samgha community, which is vanvasi,
objected to Ramanna obtaining registration from the government .They said that
in ancient times there was no such thing.
This was interference into their freedom. They split and formed the
Mulika Ramanna Nikaya in 1954. They reunited
with the rest of Ramanna in 1968.
The three nikayas were named after the places
from where they got their higher
ordinations. Siyam Nikaya simply took the name of the country the Upasampada came
from, Siam. In the case of Amarapura and Ramanna, they took the name of the
Burmese region that the ordination came from. Amarapura was in Upper Burma
close to present day Mandalay. Ramanna desa was in Lower Burma. Hamsavati was
one of the three divisions in Ramanna.
The Sangha never liked the fact that the two
Nikayas which had broken away from Siyam, Amarapura and Ramanna, were operating
as separate nikayas, bringing the total of main Nikayas to three. The Sangha
wanted to see the two ‘younger’ Nikayas brought together
A historic
agreement merging the Amarapura and Ramanna Chapters was signed in 2019.The two
chapters would hereafter be known as a single entity, the Sri Lanka Amarapura
Ramanna Saamagri Maha Sangha Sabha.”The agreement was signed by the Amarapura
Mahanayake, Ven. Kotugoda Dhammavasa and
the Ramanna Mahanayaka, Ven. Napana Pemasiri .The two prelates would function
as Joint Chairpersons of the new Sangha Sabha.
The agreement
marks a turning point in the history of the Buddha Sasana in the country, said
the Sangha. It was reached after years of talks. The reasons for this merger included the need
to take decisions jointly regarding issues affecting the Buddha Sasana and the
country, building a disciplined Sangha society and providing guidance to young
monks to face social challenges.
The Sangha community, it appears, is in no
hurry to add Siyam Nikaya to this list.
The Siyam Nikaya remains the most important of the three Nikayas. It
played a historical role. It is the Nikaya which saved Buddhism in Sri Lanka.
It is also Sri Lanka‘s sole royal nikaya. It was installed in Sri Lanka at a
high diplomatic level. The Dalada
Maligawa and the Raja Maha vihara come
under Siyam Nikaya. Siyam has the best Upasampada, one which can be traced
directly to the Sinhala Upasampada which had gone to Thailand long ago.
The division between the three Nikayas did not
get deeper over the years. There was
nothing to encourage further division
and plenty to discourage it. There were no doctrinal differences, no separate
congregations and no differences in ritual.
All three Nikayas ministered to
the same pool of lay Buddhists, uttering
the same gathas and reciting the same pirit.
In 1998 or so, Bellanwela Wimalaratne and Karagampitiye Jinaratana said in interview that divisions in terms of
nikayas are not there now in the way it was in the past. Today, the three
Nikayas work together and receive alms together. There is no division as such,
they said. Now everyone works together except in disciplinary proceedings. When
necessary monks live for extended periods in temples that do not belong to their own nikaya. The Sangha now
group themselves according to pupillary succession.
Until
the Siyam Nikaya was set up, there was no talk of caste in the sangha.the Pali
sentence used by Malwatte was also present in the Polonnaruwa and Dambadeniya katikavata.
There it was interpreted mean ‘suitable
persons’ which was always a condition in enrolling into the Sangha. The present
caste system was not in existence at the time, anyway.
Walpola Rahula in his book Satyodaya”, (Godage 1992) pointed
out that though Buddhism does not recognize
caste, caste is active in all three Nikayas in modern Sri Lanka . Siyam starts
with caste. In the case of Amarapura and Ramanna,though there is no caste
barrier to joining, ‘caste is alive and
active in the temple’ ,said Walpola Rahula. There is a secret presence of
caste.’
It is not that secret. The caste affiliation
of a Karawe temple, for instance, is
open knowledge. I think ( Kamalika Pieris)
that temples get linked to a
particular caste, not because of the
Sangha,but becase of the patrons, those who gave the money to build the
temple.These donors tend to come from just one caste. The chief priest
installed there would be someone known to them and therefore also of
the same caste and the pupillary descent would also go caste-wise. But the caste affiliation of a Buddhist temple
ends there.
Any Buddhist vihara is open to all Buddhists, whatever
the caste. They can come in and worship, attend bana, pirit, participate in a prerahera, give a dane, or simply sit there, regardless of their social status. Access
is not denied in a Buddhist temple on grounds of caste, or any other status.
There is also another twist to this. The
creation of Amarapura and Ramanna Nikayas indicate that Sri Lanka did not have a strong caste
system or indeed a caste system at all. In a normal caste system, never mind a strict one, castes which are
prohibited from ordination, cannot crash
in and create new Nikayas as they did here.
Kulatunge suggests that if the Amarapura and
Ramanna Nikayas were not created then
the non-govi castes would have gone Christian , ‘like Wattala Negombo and
Chilaw.’ This is unlikely. Sri Lanka has undergone 450 years of Christian rule and throughout this
period there was fierce resistance to
conversion.
Non-Buddhists, specially Christians working
in questionable NGOs , look at the
Nikayas and declare that Buddhism is a caste ridden religion. They seem unaware
that in India, Christianity was confined to the low castes. In Sri Lanka too the Christian church was obliged to respect
caste differences. Ralph Pieris told me that his family was living in Panadura
in late 1930s or early 1940s ( forget
which) and the Anglican Church they attended had two separate sets of pews for
Govigama and Karawe.
In Protestant
Christianity, each Christian is registered
with a church and attends services there. Baptisms are also carried out in that
church, with great sentiment. If a Christian is dying, you need to know the church the patient attended, before you can find a priest to give Extreme Unction. Otherwise they
will not come. Extreme Unction differs with each denomination, apparently. I speak from experience .In the Buddhist community, a bhikkhu will come to a
deathbed without asking any
questions.
To conclude, Amarapura and Ramanna
Nikayas did not arise due to doctrinal disputes and the wish to
start new religions, as in the case of Protestant Christianity. Nor was it an
excuse to engage in a purely caste exercise.
If so, all they had to do was to get a shoddy Upasampada from somewhere and
wave the caste flag. The non-Govigama castes, wanted instead to create a
non-govi Sangha that the island could be proud of and in this way contribute to the strength and integrity of the Sangha. This
essay is based on information from T.G. Kulatunge’s
Buddhist Nikayas in Sri Lanka
APPENDIX
Chandra R de Silva, historian has provided
some factual information on the nikayas..
CR
de Silva says Siyam Nikaya has over 18,000 monks. Amarapura has about 12,000
and Ramanna has between 6000 and 8000 monks.
Amarapura
nikaya split into divisions due to geography, caste identity and other
disputes. Each branch has its own
Mahanayake. The Constitution of the Amarapura Nikaya specifically forbids the
use of official titles when participating in political activity.
Ramanna
has a single Mahanayake and is organized into regional units. It is
particularly strong in the south west, but has expanded into other regions
during the last century. It has no
specific caste affiliation, but many of its prominent lay supporters are from
the Karava caste.
Seniority
and respect among peers is the key factor in advancement in the Nikaya
hierarchies. Ramanna is the most democratic in this respect. It allows a monk
with three months residence in an area to have a vote in the Regional council.
But the President and Vice President have to be ‘mahastavira’ or monks with at
least ten years of experience after their higher ordination. All other office
bearers also come from senior ranks.
In
the case of Amarapura, the Ruling Council of 43 is made up of the Mahanayakes
and the secretaries of the 21 constituent units plus the Chief Secretary
General of the Nikaya. It is this body of senior Bhikkhus who elect the Supreme
Chief, ‘Uttaritara Mahanayake’ who has life tenure. The executive committee of
11 bhikkhus that makes most of the decisions is equally tilted toward senior
monks, being made up of 6 office bearers and 5 other monks elected by the
Ruling council, Sri Lanka Amarapura Mahasanghasabhaa.
(Source Buddhism,
Conflict and violence in modern Sri Lanka, ed. by Mahinda Deegalle, 2006,
repr 2020) (Concluded)
The FT analyses the scale of outbreaks and the number of deaths around the world
The human cost of the coronavirus outbreak has continued to mount, with more than 3.5m cases confirmed globally and more than 242,700 people known to have died.
