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| Sunday, 17 August 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Detailed study of Ambakke Devalaya in Kandy Aesthetic and Cultural Aspects of Ambakke Devalaya in Kandy Reviewed by ASIFF HUSSEIN This detailed monograph on the Ambakke Devalaya situated in the Kandy district is a pioneering attempt dealing with the aesthetic and cultural aspects of the shrine. The author, a one-time President of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka who was recently awarded the Society's gold medal for his contribution to the country's cultural life has made a detailed attempt to study all aspects of the Ambakke Devalaya built by King Vikramabahu III of Gampola in the 14th century, including its origins, history, architecture and rituals and beliefs associated with the shrine. The Ambakke Devalaya is principally dedicated to Skanda or Kataragama Deviyo as he is known among the Sinhalese as well as a deified Kandyan woman known as Henakanda Biso Bandara whom he is supposed to have espoused. The author begins his treatise with an introduction to the early beginnings of carpentry and wood carving in Sri Lanka including ancient epigraphic evidence before proceeding to describe the progressive evolution of the vadu parampara or artisan families who flourished during the Kandyan period, especially during the 14th-17th centuries. He then proceeds to deal with the many ballads and literary sources referring to the Devalaya. Of particular significance is the Ambakke Alankaraya which states that Vikumba Raja founded the temple while reigning at Gampola but traces its origins to a certain sebala or warrior living in Ambakke who set up a temporary shrine after having seen Skanda in a dream. The author then proceeds to describe the rituals and ceremonies connected with the Devalaya particularly during the Esala season and the wood carvings found in various parts of the shrine, detailed photographs of which are also provided in the work. The carvings depict human figures such as dancing girls, wrestlers, horseman and soldier, floral motifs such as lotus rosettes and traditional motifs such as Serapinda(A mythical figure having the body of a bird and mouth of a lion), Gaja-Sinha (Elephant-lion), Hansa-puttu (Pair of geese), Bherunda-Pakshiya (Double-headed eagle), Etkanda-lihiniya (Elephant rock) and Sanda-kinduru (A female figure with the body of a bird). The work contains as many as 317 illustrations in full colour and many of these could be said to be of considerable importance in the study of local society and culture as it reflects to a significant extent the state of culture as it prevailed then including pastimes,dance postures and forms of dress. ###### A gift to the nation's children 'Kumara Gee Athulu Lama Pedi' (Complete Collection of Munidasa Kumaratunga's Children Verse) The launch of a complete collection of Munidasa Kumaratunga's Children's Verse compiled into a single book titled 'Kumara Gee Athulu Lama Pedi' was a special feature at the 116th birth commemoration of Munidasa Kumaratunga held on 25th of July. This book which was launched as a Visidunu Book with the assistance of the Munidasa Kumaratunga Foundation, consists of 56 children's verses including timeless children's classics such as 'Hawa Ge Waga', 'Tik Tikiya', 'Sirimath', 'Velendee', 'Udaya', 'Hinganna', 'Mal Bas', 'Daru Surathal', 'Nelawilla', 'Akuru Mahimaya', 'Wehi Wala Kula' and 'Dorata Veduma'. Needless to say, Kumaratunga was a giant in the field of Sinhala language and literature. The richness of the language throughout this book bears testimony to this. He is a poet of a rare genre whose use of language is amazing. "Ha! Ha! Hari Hawa", "Maha Pudumeki, Malaka Maleki, Nehe Ehi Saki, Samanalayeki" are but only a few examples. At the same time Kumaratunga's deep sensitivity is amply portrayed in such verses as 'Daru Surathal', 'Avasana', 'Sohoyuru Viyowa' and 'Ma-ge Warada'. In 'Ma-ge Warada', the poet laments about punishing his young son for telling a lie. He says: "Daruwa ge anagathe kusum, Munidasa Kumaratunga's 'Nelawilla' (Lullaby) has been acclaimed by many critics as the best of its kind. Reggie Siriwardena has commended it as "one of the finest contemporary Sinhala poems". Likewise individual poems such as 'Hawa ge waga', 'Mal Bas' etc. have been lauded. However, it seems that society is yet to realize the real value contained in Kumaratunga's children's poems as a whole. In recent times, Consultant psychiatrist, Dr. D. V. J. Harischandra has serialised the poems 'Sirimath' and 'Udaya' and shown how each verse indicates some attribute or quality which helps mould a child's character. J. R. P. Sooriyapperuma has focused on how Kumaratunga has presented 'Velendee' as a courageous mother, bringing her out as a shining example of simple but moral living coupled with determination and dedication to the well-being of her children (i.e the future generation). He shows how Kumaratunga has even managed so ingeniously to inculcate the concept of saving into the child's mind through this poem. It must be mentioned that this book is done in a very pleasing manner - from the quality of the paper which is light yet thick, making it suitable for handling by children to the clear print and the eye-catching layout. It has been enhanced by alluring, heart-warming illustrations taken from the original editions of 'Shiksha Margaya' and 'Kiyawana Nuwana'. "Kumara Gee Athulu Lama Pedi" is indeed a wonderful gift for every child. ###### Ventilators of free ideas Views and Reviews (Part 2) Reviewed by Padma Edirisinghe The amazing strides made by Europe subsequent to the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution, gave birth to a baby that was to grow to monstrous dimensions. The baby, baptized "Colonialism' by which the once proud African and Asian empires were flattened by the chariot wheels of imperialism in turn gave birth to a set of strange babies. Among these stand out the sprouting of a class of Africans and Asians who got hold of the linguistic sword brandished by the last and most powerful colonial power i.e. the English, and began to brandish this kaduwa to the point of injuring the inventor of the language himself. Most of this ilk who were never servile to the colonial masters, despite the fact that it was in the Anglo-oriented and Christianity tinctured educational institutions that they grasped this global language proficiency, are sons and daughters born and bred in the rural areas of Lanka and nobly proud of their origins, with no pretences to act as carbon copies of the Westerners. Though the reviewer carries the same name of the author of "Views and reviews" she is completely ignorant of the personal bio-data of the latter and only surmises him to belong to this category especially judging from the very frank and bold comments he makes on certain issues. Further testimony are the facts on him in the blurb that gives as the venue of his entry to the world as the Knuckles Range in the Central Hills and a venue of his education as St. Mary's College, Kegalle. Having emerged thus from the mist ridden, distant and picturesque Knuckle Hills, the author has certainly not chosen to stay still. Beginning as a teacher of Dambagalla MV, he holds various posts as Assistant Archivist of National Archives, then goes on to become an assessor in the Inland Revenue Dept, and then takes to the study of law and ends up as an Attorney-at-Law. And all the time he changes his jobs he keeps on making his observations in the various fields he serves and even on society at large and putting them into succinct pieces of writing that we are all familiar with. We also know him as a very well-known film, drama and literary critic. If the readers are already puzzled whether it is a review on the author and not on the book that is being tackled let me say in my defence that my objective was to draw attention to the fountains of the gamut of articles in this work. Putting out collections of published newspaper articles in book form has now almost turned into a fad. But Edirisinghe does not make his collection a "Pissige pala malla" (the leaf basket of a mad woman) as manifest in many of such collections where categorization is nil and no sequence as chronological sequence has been followed. This is an insult to the reader's intellect where the floodgates of the rich vocabulary of the writer (it is assumed that generally all writers have rich vocabularies) are just unleashed in a torrent almost as to inundate the poor reader. The author (using a brand of polished and silky English) has categorized his publications into a wide spectrum of topics as religion, theatre, taxation, cinema, politics, "general" and sociology, that apparently encompasses almost three-fourth of the aspects of the day-to-day modern living of mostly the intelligentsia of our island. Any person of even normal IQ (Intelligence quotient) can feel the reticence with which many a writer expresses his or her ideas on certain topics in the backdrop of the present situation of the country. The bandwagon of the multi-racism and multi-religiosity is halted plumb in the center for anybody and everybody to get on. In this context one pauses to think guiltily whether it is okay to use even terms as Sinhala Buddhist for fear of being branded racist or ultra - denominational and rupturing the peace process dragging ahead with more pains than the old Yakada Yaka did chug-chugging up the steep Alagalla pass. Edirisinghe should be congratulated for braving to deviate from this "lissana Gaha" (Slippery tree) climb to call a spade a spade. His remarks on fundamentalism in certain religions and on the comments on the Creator God fall into this category. After all what are writers for? If their role is only to amen all what is said and done their very survival can be questioned. Writers are there to look at things in a novel way, to dig up obscure facts and motivate people to new ways of thinking. Of course it does not mean annihilation of all accepted ideas and norms. The forty essays encased here do serve as ventilators of free ideas. Some statements are so pithy and graphic that they get almost etched in the mind. Here are two examples, "Beauty contests are man's assessment of beauty designed to get through to femininity and nudity" in 'Diana, the epitome of beauty' (substitution of 'male' for men would have been more apt). (pg 152). "Yesterday's practice is today's superstition' (pg. 165) in "The logic behind superstitions". As usual the printer's devil has entered the book in several places as "faught' for fought and flatform for platform. The essay "Social content in undergraduate parlance' is particularly interesting, as it deals with the despicable habit of present day University students degrading everything that has been time honoured. One wonders whether this is the envisaged Sri Lankan tradition of University education to be followed hitherto, which of course needs hasty demolition if so. The drama reviews too are very intensive. In some instances however the disease of pontification ails the writing, possibly a concomitant of the objective of sincerely putting the message across. But the fleeing of the libertine aspect of the writer naturally makes his exit almost substantiating the dictum that you cannot have it both ways. ###### Are science and theology merging? 'Christian Metaphysics and Quantum Physics' Reviewed by Prof. P. P. G. L. Siriwardene The history of science and the history of theology did not demonstrate that there was much commonality between these two disciplines. In fact they have clashed bitterly over the centuries. When Galileo firmly established the Copernican theory of a heliocentric universe, the Christian theologians at that time concluded that this contradicted the Bible story of the creation. Galileo was required to present himself to the Roman Inquisition and explain his position. The Inquisition found him guilty of heresy. When Charles Darwin in his Origin of Species postulated that man was the product of several thousand years of evolution, wherein the fittest survived, the Church theologians found it uneasy to accept this theory of evolution, as it again seemed to contradict the biblical story of the creation as given in the Book of Genesis in the Bible. However the Church took no action against Darwin, for by that time Science and Theology seemed to have withdrawn a comfortable distance from each other, not being critical of the other. Science, especially from the time of Newton has had its own methodology of investigation of empirical data concluding scientific theories. Its exactitude differed substantially from philosophic and theological style and attitude. Science deals basically that which is perceived, theology and philosophy deals in that which is obviously not. In that sense, philosophy is a matter of standing back a little from the ephemeral urgencies to take an aphoristic overview about the general nature of things. Godwin Fernando introduces a totally new concept which he has called 'Zygology' (name coined by him) which encapsulates many disciplines, but mainly theology, philosophy, science (especially physics), metaphysics and cosmology. His inquiring mind has been very uneasy with many theological postulates of the Christian Church, very especially the problem of evil. He questions how God who is all good and all powerful - omnipotent, could have created this world that witnesses so much evil, both moral and natural. He has read copiously both philosophy and theology on this subject and found no answers to his satisfaction. He questions how an all good and all powerful God could have brought situations where children of six are being raped and earthquakes and floods gruesomely kill and maim thousands. Neither conventional Christian theology nor philosophy, he says has given him any consolation on this matter. He postulates that conventional theology nor philosophy cannot answer these questions satisfactorily. According to Godwin Fernando a total metamorphosis of philosophical and theological thought is required. In his research he saw a common thread that runs through philosophy, theology, physics, metaphysics and cosmology. In a revolutionary conclusion, yet with clarity of reasoning, he saw an amazing relationship between the theology of The Fall (man's first act of disobedience to God) and the cosmological theory of the emergence of the universe in the Big Bang theory. That is the cornerstone of 'Zygology.' He constructs the structures of 'Zygology' which give far more rational answers to the problem of evil and several theological postulates of the Church, which he found difficult to accept. I am fascinated by Godwin's new thinking. One could conclude it is speculative, yet one cannot deny him the rationality of his analysis. In the first few chapters he traces the history of the evolution of theological thought, which he concludes, contributed to the parting of ways between theology and science. In the preface, in poetic language he now sees a marriage between science and religion and takes you along a journey that would keep the reader spellbound and that would mesmerize both philosopher and theologian alike. ###### The Ecumenical Institute publishes Dialogue journal War and Peace, Violence and Reconciliation Dialogue 'War and Peace, Violence and Reconciliation in Religion and Society' is the title of the latest issue of Dialogue the flag carrier Journal of the Ecumenical Institute for study and Dialogue. In the context of the political situation of the country and the welcome calm after decades of turmoil the Editorial sets the tone in focusing on the dire need to contemplate and comprehend notions of forgiveness and reconciliation and to purge the urge on the part of those who are obsessed with the idea of 'pathological messianism' which is really the 'urge to dominate which parades as a will to Liberate.' Taking on from the Editor Aloysius Pieris s. j. Francois Houtart known for his scholarship deals with 'The Cult of violence in the name of religion: A panorama'. In a telling indictment he says 'If we touch on the great religious systems ... the basic texts reflect the ritualised violence of sacrifices, the use of violence for a superior good, and the need for violence in defence of the faith, along with the ethical regulation of non-legitimate violence, all aimed at ultimate peace.' Jurist C. G. Weeramantry's lecture on 'Illegality and Immorality of Military Intervention in Iraq' delivered in Colombo in February 2003 is reproduced next. Poet and novelist Anne Ranasinghe rounds off part one of the contents recounting her own experiences when she escaped the horrors of Hitler's regime only to be exposed to the traumas of the Second World War and then the storms that broke out in the country of adoption beginning from the Insurgency of 1971 and the events of July 1983 when 'the night sky bloodied violent and abused'. Part two deals with Buddhist and Christian perspectives of religion. Violence and Peace. Ven. Digalle Mahinda of Bath Spa University UK having explored three kinds of textual sources concludes that as a Buddhist one cannot justify violence under any circumstance. Wesley Ariarajah-Prof. Ecumenical Theology, Drew University USA presents a 'Protestant Christian Perspective of Religion and Violence' in which he says that 'Christians.... can approach this subject only with humility and repentence.' Asanga Tilakaratne, Prof. of Buddhist Philosophy, Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies, University of Kelaniya deals with 'Dependent co-origination. The Buddhist approach to Reality' widening its scope to include not just the individual but to remind us that 'Buddhist tradition has always upheld an all inclusive attitude towards Nature...' Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, President of the Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy presents a paper on 'Religious responses to contemporary dilemmas of human existence'. In summing up the presentation made at a seminar on the theme 'Buddhism and Christianity: Interaction between East and West 'Bhikku Bodhi says 'I believe that a commitment to these two great principles - Panna and Karuna in Buddhist terms, gnosis and love in Christian terms-is essential if religion today is to guide humanity from the brink of darkness and despair to the realm of spiritual light and freedom'. Joseph S-O'leary csc - Prof. of Sophia University, Tokyo makes a comparative study of 'Forgiveness in Mahayana Buddhism and a Christian Reflection.' Touching on 'the venom and fanaticism found in some parts of Scripture, even in some parts of the Gospels...' he sums up saying 'we reach out to this Buddhist medicine and accept it with relief and gratitude, as a sick person gratefully drinks the funny-tasting potion that will restore lost health'. The article that rounds off Part Three is in four parts on 'Faith-Communities and Communal Violence: The Role of Religion and Violence. This is a paper read by Aloysius Pieris s. j. at the Vidyajothi Golden Jubilee Seminar on Faith Communities and Communalism, New Delhi. He streses that 'It is not religion in the abstract that can redeem its sources of revelation from ideological presuppositions'. In the Appendix there is 'A note on Forgiveness in Theravada Buddhism' At the end is a 'Review Article' on Norman Tanner's 'Is the church too Asian?' by Aloysius Pieris. s. j. To those who are familiar with the tenor of articles that have been presented over the years in this annual publication this issue is an advance. To those who read this for the first time there is so much to dwell upon from General, Buddhist and Christian perspectives. Factotum |
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