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| Sunday, 4 July 2004 |
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Heralding the perahera season Poya Meditation by Sumana Saparamadu
We are now into Esala, the fourth month in the Sinhala calendar. Bak, Wesak, Poson, Esala and Esala heralds the season of peraheras. From Devinuwara in the south to Nallur in the north, there is a festival and a perahera somewhere in the island. As the drumming fades away at one venue, it is taken up at another. Hence the Sinhala saying "Ehala mahata berath addai ahanawa wage" ("like asking whether there is drumming at Esala.") The perahera taking the insignia of the god or gods in procession along the streets of the town or the "via sacra" in the devala grounds as at Kataragama or at the Saman Devale in Ratnapura, for public veneration, is the culmination of the rites of Esala. The months of July and August and sometimes a part of September, depending on when the Esala moon comes to the full in July, is the season of festivals and peraheras in Sri Lanka. The Esala Mangalla is primarily a festival in honour of one or the other of the gods worshipped and venerated by Hindus and Buddhists alike. The gods in whose honour the Esala Mangalla is held are God Kataragama also called Kandasamy Kathiresan, Subramanium and the Gods Saman, Vishnu, Ishvara, Natha and the Goddess Pattini. Local or provincial gods, some deified heroes, also have festivals in their honour during this season at their separate shrines, like the Naanu Mura Mangalya at the Ayyanayaka Devale in Morakelay, Nattandiya. Thanivella Deviyo whose shrine is at Madampe by the Chilaw-Puttalam Road, is another deified hero - Prince Thaniya Vallaba, the much loved administrator of this district when Dharma Parakramabahu was King of Kotte. The festival in his honour held in August is a harvest festival when a huge cauldron of a milk-rice is cooked with the newly harvested rice brought by devotees, and after the offering to the god, the milk-rice is distributed among all and sundry assembled at the devala. The best known Esala festivals that draw devotees not only from the district but from many parts of the island are those with a few hundred years history behind them - at the Kataragama Maha Devala, Devundara Vishnu Devala, Ratnapura Saman Devala, Lunawa Kataragam Devala, Munneswaram Ishvara Kovil, Nallur Kandasamy Kovil and Nawagamuwa Pattini Devala. To this list should be added the Aadi Vel Festival at Chetti Street, Pettah and Bambalapitiya. Aadi is the name of the month corresponding to Esala in the Hindu calendar. Main attraction Ther, the chariot carrying, the sacred statue of God Subramanium, wending its way from Chetti Street in Pettah to Bambalapitiya and the return journey about two days later, leaving B'pitiya in the late afternoon and reaching Chetti Street in the wee hours of the morning is the main attraction of the festival, drawing crowds irrespective of race or religion. The high-point in the islandwide Esala festival is of course the Kandy perahera, the grandest national pageant. Until 1752 or 1753, this too was a perahera in honour of the four guardian gods of the capital, the Maha Nuwara, and was known as the "Satara Devala Perahera", the four devalas being those dedicated to the gods Vishnu, Natha, Kataragama and the goddess Pattini. The perahera was one of the annual festivals in Kandy. Robert Knox, recording what he saw during his 19 years (1620-1679) as a prisoner-at-large in Rajasinha II's Kingdom wrote: "That they may honour the gods that govern the earth and procure their aid and assistance, they do yearly in the month of June or July at a New Moon, observe a solemn feast and general meeting called Peraher. The greatest solemnity is performed in the city of Cande but at the same time the like festival is observed in diverse other cities and towns of the land. The Peraher in Cande is ordered after this manner..." Then it was not as elaborate and as grand as that which Dr. John Davy saw when he was personal physician to Governor Brownrigg. (1817-1819) After giving an account of the Avurudu festival, Davy says: "The Perraherra, the next great national festival which was observed with the greatest pomp and parade was always kept in the month of July whence it is properly called Eysala Keli - play of Eysala." Here Keli means celebration, festival. There are references in the Culavamsa to (Asalha Keela) in the Polonnaruwa period of our history which is the same as Esala Keli. Higher ordination It was on a suggestion of Upali Thera who had come from Siam, now Thailand, to confer the higher ordination, Upasampada, on the Sinhala bhikkhus, that King Keerthi Sri Rajasingha ordered that the Dalada, the Sacred Tooth Relic, be taken in a separate procession along with the others. Since then, this procession designated "Maligawa Perahera", takes pride of place, leading the procession with the devala peraheras following in this order; Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama, Pattini. It must have been after King Keerthi Sri Rajasinghe's order to add a Dalada perahera to the Satara devala perahera that other devala peraheras followed suit. The Ratnapura Saman Davala Perahera comprises five peraheras and the first is the Dalada Perahera. At Hanguranketha, the Maha Devala and Pattini Devala Peraheras are joined by the Potgul Maligawa Perahera on the last five nights. In Badulla, the Mutiyangana Vihara Perahera joins the Kataragama Devala Perahera on the final night. As this is perahera time, other temples and devalas have joined the cycle with their own processions. The Bellanvila Esala Perahera, the grandest and only Buddhist pageant in the Colombo district until recently was started in 1950 by the then Viharadhipati Somaratana Thera. Unlike the old traditional Esala pageants, at Bellanvila Buddhist rites came to the fore. The perahera is preceeded by a seven-day pirith-chanting. The Seenigama Devala Perahera was held for the 36th time last year. At this shrine too, the festival commences with an all-night pirith ceremony. The Kumara Bandara Perahera and the Pattini Devala Perahera which are now part of the Ridi Vihara Perahera may be going back to the time of King Keerthi Sri Rajasingha who founded these shrines. The Wadduwa Thalpitiya Dalada Perahera was started in the early thirties. The peraheras that have been held in the old Kanda Uda Rata, the last Kingdom of the Sinhala, follow a cycle beginning with the Dedimunda Devala Perahera in Aluthnuwara near Mawanella in the Kegalle district. This is followed by the Kandy Perahera. The kapa or sacred post planted before the commencement of the perahera has to be cut before the start of the Kandy Perahera. After Kandy's pageant come the peraheras at Hanguranketha, Embekke and Dodanwela. The Ratnapura Saman Devala Perahera is usually held after the Kandy Perahera, but sometimes they coincide. Cycle continues The cycle continues well into the following month Nikini and ends with the Saman Devala Perahera at Mahiyangana with the Veddah community participating." Many peraheras have their own special features like the two-faced giant Maha Bamba leading the Ratnapura Saman Devala Perahera, the "Gon Pita Perahera" at Nawagamuwa, the man with a bow and arrow in hand leading the Kataragama Devala Perahera of the Uggal Aluthnuwara in Imbulpe Ratnapura and the Dodam (Oranges) Perahera of the Veddha community in Mahiyangana. However they all commence with the Kap Sitaveema, the planting of the sacred post, a branch of a jak tree that has not born fruit and ends with the diya kepeema - water-cutting ceremony - theertham in Tamil all except the Aluthnuwara Dedimunda Devala Perahera (This I learnt from the tome (Sabaragamu Wansa Katha) recently published by the Sabaragamuwa Provincial Council.) That may be the reason for the cutting up of the sacred post before the next in the cycle, the Kandy Perahera, commences. The festival is both a religious and social event. Devotees go to the shrine to pay their obeisance to the god, thank him for favours granted and supplicate for more favours and their protection. Outside the shrine is a fair ground with amusements and stalls full of sweetmeats, trinkets and things for everyday use like clay pots, reed baskets and trays - plenty to choose from as souvenirs for oneself or as gifts for those who were unable to come to the festival. The month-long Nallur Kandasmy Kovil festival is a spiritual as well as cultural event. In the kovil ground, there is music and dancing for the devotees to feast their ears and eyes. This year there are two full-moon days in Esala. The first was last Friday and the other which falls on July 31, is termed Adhi Esala or extra Esala. These being lunar months, there are 13 full-moon days in some years of the Gregorian calendars. This year the festivals are scheduled to start at the new moon in mid-July. |
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