Hair relics of the Buddha now at Madampe

Did you get the opportunity of seeing the hair relic which was on display at the Gangarama Temple, Colombo 2 recently? Did you know that this hair relic of the Buddha, which was presented to Sri Lanka by Bangladesh, might be the last Buddhist relics to be given away by this country, as it does not have many more relics left?

Do you know what a relic actually is? A relic is an object, especially a piece of the body or a personal item of someone of religious significance, carefully preserved with an air of veneration as a tangible (could be touched) memorial. Relics are an important aspect of Buddhism, some denominations of Christianity, Hinduism, shamanism and many other personal belief systems.

Since a Tibetan monk donated it in 1930, the hair relics (Kesha Dhatu) of the Buddha have been preserved in the Chittagong Buddhist Monastery in this port city of Bangladesh for the last 77 years.

Ancient Buddhist scriptures record two Sri Lankan traders, identified as Thapassu and Bhalluka, being given a lock of the Buddha's hair when they made a sincere request. According to an ancient Pali text, Jathakatta Katha, the two received this lock of hair seven weeks after Siddhartha Gauthama attained Enlightenment.

A Pali stone inscription at Girihadu Seya at Thiriyaya in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka says Thapassu and Bhalluka enshrined the hair relic at Girihadu Seya. If it is the same Thapassu and Bhalluka mentioned in the Buddhist text, it's proof that Sri Lanka received a hair relic of the Buddha long before King Asoka of India introduced Buddhism to Sri Lanka.

Another famous place in the world where a hair relic is believed to be enshrined is the great stupa of Swedagon in Rangoon, Myanmar. King Mugalan, the brother of King Kashyapa of Sigiriya, is also believed to have brought a hair relic of the Buddha from India.

Earlier, at different times, Buddhist devotees from Sri Lanka, Japan and Thailand had collected the holy remains of Gautama Buddha from this monastery.

Matsutaro Soriki, a Japanese devotee, collected some more relics on September 25, 1964. The government of Thailand also collected a part of the relics in 1979. Historical documents about the relics state that a religious person of Tibet came to visit this region in 1930, carrying some sacred hair relics of the Buddha.

After visiting a renowned monastery in Chittagong and Cox's Bazar, Shakya Bhikkhu stayed in Chittagong Buddhist Monastery for a couple of days and gave some Sacred Hair Relics to the monastery which was being preserved by the managing committee.

The Madampe Senanayaka Aramaya Trust had expressed interest in collecting some of these relics, to have them exhibited to the Buddhist devotees in Sri Lanka.

If you have been reading our articles through the years, you might remember that we wrote about an instance where the Madampe Trust collected some relics from this monastery in 1958 through the Pakistan government

 and built a dagoba, enshrining the relics in the basement.

However, as the devotees cannot see the Buddha's holy remains kept under the concrete cover, the Madampe Trust approached the Chittagong Buddhist Monastery authorities again to ask for hair relics which could also be kept for exhibition.

After several correspondences, the authority of the Chittagong Monastery agreed to hand over some of the relics officially, at a function held on July 18. The handing-over ceremony in Bangladesh was organised by the Bangladesh Buddhist Federation. The hair relic of the Buddha, which was brought to Sri Lanka from Bangladesh on July 19, has been offered to the Senanayake Aramaya on a request made by its chief patron Keerthi Senanayake and philanthropist Sammodha Caldera.

The Sacred Hair Relic was initially displayed at Gangarama Temple for four days before being taken to Madampe.

Janani Amaraseksara