{"id":89873,"date":"2019-06-04T13:29:06","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T20:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=89873"},"modified":"2019-06-05T15:26:13","modified_gmt":"2019-06-05T22:26:13","slug":"ramayana-and-sri-lanka-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/06\/04\/ramayana-and-sri-lanka-part-4\/","title":{"rendered":"RAMAYANA AND SRI LANKA Part 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Sri Lanka\nplanned to use the Ramayana trail extensively in India to promote visits by\nIndian tourists.  A team commissioned by\nZee TV had toured Sri Lanka in 2007, to find places connected to Ramayana. They\nwent to Sita Eliya where there were statues of Rama, Lakshmana, Sita and\nHanuman. They said that these statues had been there for 5000 years. They said that close to Sita Eliya they had\nseen a mountain which looked like Hanuman. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zee TV said the Chinmaya statue of Hanuman was\na copy of the mountain, except that it was in a vertical position. They\nreported that hundreds come every day to worship there. They also spotted black\nrocks which looked like monkeys with black lips and ears. They saw Rummassala\nwhich was brought here by Hanuman. It contains trees only found in the\nHimalayas.  There is a statue of Hanuman\nthere as well. They were delighted to find a board saying Ravana Ella falls. But they reported that the public only came to\nSita Eliya to   picnic and that few knew\nabout Rama or Ravana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was reported in 2008 that the Ramayana\ntourist package is gaining popularity in India. Hindustan\nTimes<\/em> stated that the Ramayana trail was a hit with Indian tourists.\nBatches of 50 to 120 visitors had already toured these sites.  Middle aged and elderly persons like the\npackage.  Several swamis from North India have visited\nwith 50 visitors each. One swami was planning\nto bring      400 of his students to go\non the trail.  School principals are\nbringing students as Ramayana is a part of the curriculum in India.   There was an agreement with Andhra\nPradesh regarding these tours as well, they reported. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In\n2014, high profile ministers from India came as part of a group 150 pilgrims\nfrom India, on a 8 day Ramayana trail . This is the first time that an Indian\nVVIP group came to Sri Lanka on a pilgrimage of the Ramayana trail, reported\nthe media. In 2015 Sri Lanka had re-launched the\nRamayana trail from Bangalore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, Yahapalana government\nreported that Sri Lanka is\npreparing to be part of the Ramayana circuit of India. The Indian government is\nidentifying places connected with the Ramayana. Sri Lanka has already\nidentified 71 locations across the island nation for inclusion in the\ncircuit  and has appointed a committee to\nidentify more places. We look at Sri Lanka and all south Indian states as one\nunique unit, housing the maximum Ramayana spots,\u201d   said \nJohn Amaratunga, Tourism Development Minister.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\n2018 it was reported that Indian and Sri Lankan governments have entered into an agreement\nto boost the Ramayana trail. This trail was lately gaining momentum with a\nnumber of operators offering travel plans. There\nhave been 206,337 Indian visitors to Sri Lanka up to June this year and it is\nbelieved that about one per cent of the traffic would be visiting the country solely\nas pilgrims on the Ramayana trail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A press\nrelease issued on the occasions, by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau\nstated that in Sri Lanka according to popular belief the Ramayana story is\nindeed a true account of what took place many millenniums ago. This belief has been supported by research,\nanalysis and reasoning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka has\nidentified over 50 sites in and around its territory due to accessibility\nissues, only around 20 sites are currently being recommended for visitors. Sri\nLanka is working towards identifying many other locations and also making these\nlocations accessible to visitors. It has been estimated that a travel\nperiod of around 9 to 14 days will be required to visit all 20 sites, the press\nrelease concluded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indians are puzzled over the\npopularity of the Ramayana trail. Ravana is held in high contempt by the large\nmajority of Indian populace, said Kuldeep Kumar. Ravana is hated in India said Bandu de\nSilva. To a Hindu, Rama is a living hero and Ravana is a villain. Effigies\nof Ravana, placed on maps of Sri Lanka, are burnt each year in India during the\nRamayana celebrations. At the October 2010  \nNDTV celebrations, in Delhi, two large effigies of Ravana and Vibhishana\nwere carried in by revellers and placed before the Prime Minister. A bow and\narrow was given to Prime Minister who shot an arrow at Ravana. The effigies\nwere then stoned and set on fire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruchir Sharma, a leading business man\nvisiting Sri Lanka, said \u2018I was surprised to see Tamils in Trincomalee working\nto attract Indian tourists to the Ravana trail. Locals say that as long as the\nRavana trail is drawing tourists, the rest don\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intelligentsia viewed the Ramayana trail with great concern. The\nRamayana trail has been criticised on for its historical inaccuracies. These\nare not accidental, they are deliberate distortion of Sri Lanka\u2018s history and\nthere was a political purpose behind it, charged the intelligentsia. The Royal\nAsiatic Socieyt of Sri Lanka therefore held a symposium on the subject in   October 2010. (Papers presented at this symposium can\nbe downloaded at http:\/\/www.royalasiaticsociety.lk\/research-projects\/symposium-on-the-tourist-authorities-ramayana-trail\/isl<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this symposium    Malini\nDias, the  respected epigraphist,  commented on a paper presented by N.C.K.\nKiriella, chairman of the Ramayana Trail, Ministry of Tourism, at a symposium\nheld at the Indian Cultural Centre.  His\ntopic was \u2018Historical evidence of Ramayana and Ravana in Sri Lanka.\u201d His paper\ncontained many inaccuracies, she said, listing some of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cave inscription from Alulena (Rahalgala)\nin Aranayake in Kegalle District has had  \nwhite ink put on the letters in the inscription to change the appearance\nof the letters and then photographed, said Malini. A new phrase \u2018Maha Rakdhaha\nrawana puta\u2019 has been surreptitiously added at the beginning of the\ninscription. This translates as\nRavana\u2019s son. The Archeological Department takes ink impressions from the\ninscriptions. The ink impression is in black and white and is clear for\nreading, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cave inscriptions from Wegiriya devale have\nalso been distorted with white ink  and\ntranslated to suit the Ramayana. The Brahmi cave inscription of Molagoda Vihara\nin Kandy District has been misinterpreted. \u2018Bamana\u2019 has been read as \u2018Bimana\u2019\nto show that it refers to the pilot of an airplane. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sigiriya has been described as Chitrakoota\npalace of Ravana\u2019s brother Kuvera. Isurumuniya Vihara is considered the temple\nof Ravana’s parents, Visravasumi and Kaikali.   The word Kubakara has been misinterpreted as\nKubakana. Cave inscriptions at\nVessagiriya were also misinterpreted. \nOne inscription has been taken by Kiriella from the book \u2018Sri Lanka\nRawana rajadhaniya\u2019 by Ariyadasa Seneviratne. Participants\nat the RASSL symposium wanted to know whether legal action cannot be taken if\ninscriptions have been tempered with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kiriella later responded through the newspapers.\nThe ink impression of a rock inscription is fine, he said, but standing before\nthe entrance to the cave, following the letters carefully and taking\nphotographs is always better than ink impressions. That\u2019s the method I applied.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danesh\nWisumperuma speaking at the RASSL symposium said that there is no historical\nevidence to show that Rumassala, Ritigala, Dolukanda are remnants of rock\nbrought here by Hanuman. Geologically they were formed around 542-4500 million\nyears ago. Scientific evidence shows that the flora there are not Himalayan\nflora. They are Sri Lanka flora Ussangoda, according to the Ramayana trail, was\nthe landing place of Ravana\u2019s plane before it was burned by Hanuman.\nGeologically, this is a serpentine rock formation and the surface is covered\nwith Red Earth. This soil contains a high concentration of heavy metal. That is\nwhy the diversity of vegetation is low in such sites, Wisumperuma explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ramayana trail contained howlers   as\nwell. The Asoka flower said to be a rare Sita flower is a common plant in the\nupcountry and is found in many forests and Patna lands. They said the Bovitiya\nis also a rare Sita flower. Seetha gangula is not about Sita. There were other\nabsurdities. I attended a talk by Ramayana trail supporters where they said\nthat the letters \u2018ra-ma\u2019 or \u2018ra-va-na\u2019 were plentiful in the inscriptions. It\nwas the silliest talk I have ever listened to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the RASSL symposium, Ven Hegoda\nVipassi    spoke about the   Ravana literature that had sprouted along\nwith the Ramayana trail. This is done methodically, he said. One person\nprovides distorted inscriptions and others write books and essays based on\nthese distorted inscriptions.  Historians\nare silent. Some have written introductions to these works. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suriya Goonesekera had written an\narticle on Ravana, which he said was based on information from \u2018Dakkunu Budu\nsiripathula pihiti makkam saha ravana rajuge sel lipi\u2019 by Jayantha\nPathiraarachchi.  Pathiraarachchi is busy\nfabricating and distorting inscriptions, said Ven Vipassi. Inscriptions have had lime put on it and new\nletters put in. Words are given new meanings. Gam and Ganga makes gamga. Pathiraarachchi\u2019s\nbook is selling well, about 15,000 copies have sold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ven Vipassi considered the distorted Ramayana\ntrail interpretations as   part of a much\ndeeper anti-Buddhist programme. The Ravana distortions are only a portion of\nthe project of distorting the history and Buddhism, he said.  \u2018I have found that an organized group is\ninvolved in publishing articles in the newspapers and books, which distort the\nhistory of Sri Lanka and also Buddhism. Scholars\nignore these, saying they are un- academic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I received a large number of phone\ncalls and letters from the public inquiring about these books. When I started\ntaking action I got obscene and threatening phone calls, also death threats.One letter disparaged Mahinda and Sanghamitta.\nI lodged a complaint at the Mt Lavinia Police station and am awaiting leave to\nproceed. This is a well organized campaign.  The Hindu akramanaya is starting, he\nconcluded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ramayana trail has come under\nfire for its political implications as well. Someone must look into the matter\nof the Ramayana trail, said alarmed observers. This is no laughing matter.\nRavana and Rama sites are now found in places of historical significance, such\nas Yudaganawa. Why the Ramayana is remembered now, critics asked. Why is the Ramayana\nepic, which was not accepted in Sri Lanka for two millennia, making inroads\nnow.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intelligentsia had no difficulty in\nexplaining why. Ministry of Tourism is marketing Sri Lanka as the abode of\nRavana. This is a move to subvert traditional history  and focus attention on the pre Buddhist and\npre Sinhala era in Sri Lanka, they said. The 50 sites found in Sri Lanka are\nprobably more than even in India, said critics.   The Ramayana trail also indicates a plan to\npresent Sri Lanka as a Hindu country. Ramayana trail is not a venture to lure\ntourists but part of a bigger agenda to  \npresent Sri Lanka as a Hindu country, said critics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

India is supporting this. Indian Express of\n29.6.2010 reported that Chouhan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, was present at\nthe bhumi puja, of a new Sita Matha temple at Divurumpola where Sita is\nsupposed to have performed Agni puja. He had offered one crore of rupees for\nits construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ramayana trail aims to destabilize the\ncountry, charged the intelligentsia. Gaston Perera noted that Sri Lanka is\nusing an epic from a foreign country to attract Indian tourists into this\ncountry. This epic has political implications. \nThe triumph of Rama over Ravana equals India over Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nconfrontational situation can be created by Ramayana Trail, critics observed. The\ntourists will not be ordinary tourists but Hindu tourists obsessed with the\nidea of the supremacy of Rama and Sita. Such pilgrimages can lead to violence.\nThe Tamil issue was bad enough, a Hinduised intervention would be worse, said\nBandu de Silva. The Hindu population in India has nationalist and religious\nimpulses which could be used as a pretext for war if the sites become\nthreatened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerned Sri Lankans therefore want to know\non what evidence the Tourist Board is arranging Ramayana trails in Sri Lanka.   They say that before this myth gets\ncrystallized, the validity of these sites should be examined. Sri Lanka\u2019s past\ncannot be distorted merely to attract Indian tourists. Tourist Board replied,\n\u2018it is not our job to verify historical accuracy but to encourage tourism which\nis what we are doing by promoting the Ramayana trails\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some observers took a milder line. Haris de\nSilva said need we go to great lengths to debunk the Rama- Ravana connection\nwith Sri Lanka. There is no danger that all this will threaten Buddhism. Also, every\nBuddhist temple ha separate annexes for Siva and Vishnu within the temple\ncomplex.   There is no threat to Buddhism\nfrom Ramayana trail. Why should not the Tourist Board make a quick buck out of\nit. They should be allowed to embellish the material, Haris said. Haris de\nSilva is former Director, National archives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tissa Devendra \nsuggested that the Ramayana trail could be presented as a\nfictitious  one. There is a tradition of\nfictional tourism, such as the Baker Street tours in London,  of the places where Sherlock Holmes lived in\nLondon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Columnist Nan\u201d said in her column if money\ncould be made from the Ramayana trail why not make it. There is no point in\nmaking such a fuss over the fact that Ramayana has been debunked as historical\nin India. We believe in legends myths about the origin of the Sinhala race and\nbelieve that the Buddha visited our island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nan though\nthe RASSL symposium was tilting at windmills, seeing dangers where they do not\nreally exist. Paranoid fears were expressed at the RASSL symposium, she said. Apprehensions\nwere exaggerated. Since we believe in the coming of the Buddha and Vijaya\nwithout proof why not Ravana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 She says that this segment of tourism came to\nbe when tourism as in the doldrums. The idea of Ramayana trial was developed\nparallel to the Buddhist circuit in India and was approved by Milinda Moragoda,\nwhen he was Minister of Tourism. Don\u2019t attempt to kill the golden goose which\nlays the golden egg of this arm of religious tourism. Ravana was a great king,\nshe said. (CONCLUDED)\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Sri Lanka planned to use the Ramayana trail extensively in India to promote visits by Indian tourists.  A team commissioned by Zee TV had toured Sri Lanka in 2007, to find places connected to Ramayana. They went to Sita Eliya where there were statues of Rama, Lakshmana, Sita and Hanuman. They said that […]<\/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-89873","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\/89873","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=89873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89873\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}