{"id":87691,"date":"2019-04-25T15:44:56","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T22:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=87691"},"modified":"2020-08-01T15:22:30","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T22:22:30","slug":"buddhism-in-the-northern-province-1990-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/04\/25\/buddhism-in-the-northern-province-1990-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"BUDDHISM IN THE NORTHERN PROVINCE (1990-2019) Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Revised 31.7.20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This series\npresents some events relating to Buddhism in the north in the last three\ndecades. New Buddhist temples were erected in the north during this period. Admiral\nDaya  Sandagiri, then Commander Northern\nnaval area   built a Buddhist temple,\nSanghamitta Seya,   at Dambukola patuna,\nwhere Sanghamitta is said to have  \nlanded in Sri Lanka. The foundation  \nwas laid in 1997. The pinnacle was unveiled in 2005, again by Sandagiri,\nthen Chief of Defense staff and Commander of the navy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The headquarters of 643 Brigade in Oddusuddan\nhas a large vihara within its premises, which is visible from the outside,\nbuilt after 2009. On the south side of\nVadduvaakal Bridge, the military constructed the Sri Raja Maha Vihara after\ncapturing the area in 2009. The\nmilitary established another Buddhist temple in Mankulam, adjacent to a\nmilitary camp, which was ceremoniously opened by Defence Secretary Gotabhaya\nRajapaksa in 2013.    The\nNayaru Rajamaha Vihara was constructed in Nayaru after 2009, across the road\nfrom the military camp of the 19th Gemunu Watch Battalion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kankesanturai\nThaiyiddi Tissa Viharaya was repaired in 2018 with plans to construct a\nsanghawasa and a dharmasala. The origins of the<\/em>\nviharacould be traced to 1946. \u2018The\ndeed had been written in 1946\u2019, the media reported. The last Wesak festival\ncelebrated there was in 1954. The temple was damaged during the Eelam war.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main temple in Jaffna town is the well known\nmodern Naga Vihara. I am unable to find out the year in which the modern Naga\nViharaya in Jaffna was established. My guess is that it would have been built\nin the 1950s or possibly late 1940s. The Vihara somehow survived the Eelam\nwars. It had \u2018resumed\u2019 religious activities from 1997,  including Katina puja.   The first ever Buddhist Perahera organized\nby Naga Vihara in Jaffna was held on Esala poya day, 2003, with participation\nof Sri Lanka army, said the media.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pinnacle for Naga Vihara chaitya was\nhanded over to the viharadhipathi in 2002 by two Catholics, Dr Jayalath\nJayawardene and Fr. Ranjan Silva. Buddhist organizations objected. It should\nhave been done by a monk or Buddhist leader, they said. The signatories were\nNational Council of Buddhist women, ACWBC, International Buddhist centre,\nDayake Sabhawa, Sadaham charika, SUCCESS Colombo, Dhammacharini, Lanka Buddha\nSanrakshana Sabhawa, Dharmavijaya Foundation, and Buddhist Doctors Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The media reported that the Katina Puja at\nNaga Vihara was resumed in 2009.   The\nnext available news is that the Katina puja was held on a grand scale in 2012.\nIt attracted thousands, said the media. The religious activities were conducted\nby the Naga Vihara Development Foundation, Jaffna, and the Tamil Buddhist\nAssociation. The Nandarama Tamil Dhamma School under the auspices of the\nAssociation also participated.  The army\nhelped. Bhikkhus from many parts of the country participated. There was also a\nPerahera in 2012, with elephants and dancers. \nThe elephants were sent from Gangaramaya in Colombo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wesak celebrations were organized in Jaffna in\n2005 by army commander, Jaffna and his  \nteam.  Religious activities were\nat Naga Vihara and Kadurugoda temple. Large crowds had thronged to Jaffna for\nWesak to view the celebration. There were lanterns and dansalasa at the Alfred\nDuraiyappah stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaffna celebrated Wesak in 2009 too. Families\nof the forces personnel in Jaffna observed sil at the Naga Vihara Jaffna. The celebration lasted for three days. Wesak\nlanterns were lit along the main trunk roads, \nmain junctions and at the army camp. Wesak\nwas also celebrated   at Lumbini Vihara,\nKilinochchi.  Daily News<\/em> carried a photograph showing the Perahera there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, Wesak celebrations were\norganized in Jaffna by the Jaffna Buddhist Society\u201d with the assistance of the\narmy. This too attracted large crowds. There was a special Wesak zone  with a giant pandal \nand a dansela run by the army.   The Wesak\nzone attracted over 100,000 on first day. \nBhakthi Gee were sung by soldiers, students of Jaffna schools and the\nstudents of the Manipay Nandarama Tamil Buddhist Dhamma School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wesak\ncelebrations organized by the Jaffna Security Force Headquarters in 2018 were\nvery popular, judging from the crowd turnout. \nThe Wesak Dansela catered to over 15,000 people each day. The Wesak\npandals attracted large crowds. Previously, if a person from Jaffna needed to\nwitness the Wesak celebrations, they would have to travel either to Anuradhapura\nor Colombo, but now with the Wesak celebrations being held in the North, the\nNorthern people too could enjoy this festival,\u201d   the public said .  Both the young and old come for the Wesak\ncelebrations. They enjoy seeing the lanterns and pandals and it also gives them\nan understanding of the Buddhist culture. Tamil politicians, however, objected\nto the Wesak celebrations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2010 Sunday\nLeader<\/em> said that  Wesak is a modern\nBuddhist festival started in 1950. Celebration is centered on the display of\nlights and lanterns and  elaborate\nsponsored displays in the streets.  In\n2010 the military had organized Buddhist celebrations in traditionally Tamil\nHindu areas of the country including Jaffna. They are trying to show that the\nnorth is a Buddhist area said Jaffna MP Suresh Premachandran. This could be\nseen as communal triumphalism. It \u2018confirms the fear that this is a Sinhala\nBuddhist country\u2019\u2019   concluded                                   Sunday Leader.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There appears\nto have been two Tamil Buddhist Associations, in Jaffna   one after the other. A Tamil Dhamma Buddhist\nAssociation was started around 1959 by Maruthar Vairamuttu (1918- 2012). He\nlived in Manipay and was a handicrafts teacher. He had converted to Buddhism\nand had associated with Ven. Akuretiye Amarawansa, Madihe Pannaseeha,\nKanaweththewe Nandarama and Ganegama Saranankara.  Vairamuthu had worked with Nissanka Wijeratne\nwhen Wijeratne was    Government Agent,\nJaffna. He had also helped individuals from depressed castes  obtain jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nAssociation   seems to have died a\nnatural death. A second Tamil Buddhist Association started by A. Ravi Kumar of\nManipay, Jaffna. This was launched in 2010 at the All Ceylon Buddhist Centre in\nColombo.  \u2018Divaina\u2019 newspaper, May\n11, 2014   told his story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arunnethwaraththam\nRavi Kumar\u2019s father was an Inspector of Police. The permanent residence of the\nfamily was in Jaffna, but he studied till Grade 10 in Bandarawela.  I associated mostly with the Sinhalese\u201d. He\nthereafter lived in Jaffna where he clashed with Prabhakaran, received death\nthreats and for his safety went to India. \nHe lived in Chennai and Mumbai, working as a travel agent. His wife was\nabducted and his daughter was taken in by relatives. He was depressed and\nlooked for solace. He tried Hare Krishna, Pentecostal and Sikhism. \u2018One day I\nchanced upon a meditation centre. I practiced meditation for ten days. I liked\nit\u2019. He then turned to Buddhism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On his return\nto Sri Lanka, he wanted others also to share \u2018the feeling of the soothing peace\nof mind Buddhism brings\u2019. He  founded the\nJaffna Buddhist Association. Tamil politicians had  told the Tamils in Jaffna that Buddhism is a\nSinhalese Religion. They misled the Tamil people, and made them keep away from\nBuddhism and the temple. They should not be deceived any longer. They should\nexperience the Dhamma for themselves, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ravi Kumar\nstarted Nandarama Tamil Dhamma School, in Chunnakam in 2012 in his home..  It is \nthe first Buddhist Dhamma School in the Tamil Language. When I started\nthe Buddhist Dhamma School, Suresh Premachandran accused me of trying to\ndestroy the Tamil culture by doing so. I pointed out that the Christian\nreligion had already done that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Ravi\nKumar carries on with his work by himself, said Divaina <\/em>in 2014. 50 Tamil children are taught the Dhamma at this\nschool. The school manages with difficulty. It lacks a suitable building. They\nstudy under a thatched roof.  There is no\noffer of help, Ravi told Divaina<\/em>.  11 students \nof this school, under the patronage of Chief Incumbent of Naga Viharaya\nVen. Megahajadure Siri Vimala went on a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya in 2013. In\n2014 the \nstudents observed sil on the Poson poya day. Around 53 children\nparticipated in the sil progamme. The \nprogamme was    organized by Naga\nVihara, ACBC, Sambodhi Vihara, Colombo with the help of the security forces in\nJaffna. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaffna was\nused as the venue for Buddhist conferences on two instances. The Karuna\nInternational Buddhist Convention organized by the Triple Gem Foundation, Bengaluru,   held its annual conference in 2015 at\nWeerasingham Hall, Jaffna.  The co-sponsors of the event are Tripitaka\nTamil Foundation, Chennai, Dhamma Vijaya, Maha Vihara, Madurai, Buddhist Trust\nof Andhra Pradesh, East Godhavari, Sarvodaya Wisvaanikethan, Sri Lanka, Sri\nLanka Mahabodhi Society, Sri Wardanarama Purana Vihara and Naga Vihara,\nJaffna.  Chief Organizer of Karuna International Convention   Ven. Bodhipala said he had been visiting Sri\nLanka three times a year since 1999 and was a guest of Siri Perakumba Viharaya,\nPita Kotte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The very\nfirst Buddhist Congress in the North with the participation of Buddhist monks\nfrom the Northern Province was planned for March 22 2019 at Vavuniya Sri Bodhi\nDhakshinaramaTemple, under the\npatronage of the Chief Sanghanayaka of Northern and Eastern provinces, the\nChairman of the Vavuniya District \u2018Sasanarakshaka Balamandalaya\u2019 Ven. But Suren\nRaghavan and North East Chief Sanganayaka Most Ven. Siyambala Gaswewa\nWimalasara. ( continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Revised 31.7.20 This series presents some events relating to Buddhism in the north in the last three decades. New Buddhist temples were erected in the north during this period. Admiral Daya  Sandagiri, then Commander Northern naval area   built a Buddhist temple, Sanghamitta Seya,   at Dambukola patuna, where Sanghamitta is said to have   landed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87691\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}