Star-struck stupa, gods and miracles in Anuradhapura

Reviewed by Dr. G.T.S. Gunawaradane

"Alien Mysteries in Sri Lanka and Egypt", the 4th Edition", is now on sale at leading bookshops. It is authored and published by Mihindukulasuriya Susantha Fernando, the veteran, author, publisher, journalist and researcher, who has published over 30 research books and journals in the past. First published in 1997, the monumental "Alien Mysteries in Sri Lanka and Egypt" is published due to incessant public demand, with new material and over 600 photos, maps and line drawings (both colour and black & white).

Out of the repertoire of mysteries, enigmas and puzzles described in the book, the most baffling one is the stupa-Orion correlations discovered by the author: it shows the ground layout of the three main stupa (Mirisavati, Ruvanweli and Jetavana) at Anuradhapura, perfectly aligned with the celestial layout of three of the seven stars in the Constellation of Orion, namely Rigel, Mintaka and Bellatrix. It is a kind of heaven-ground duplicity, or mirror image of heaven on Earth.

Susantha's trail-blazing discovery has gained international credibility, after the best-selling book, "Heaven's Mirror'" came out in 1998, one year after Susantha's book was published in 1997. Whilst the two British authors attribute secular reasons to the Orion phenomenon in the ancient monuments elsewhere in the world, Fernando finds the phenomenon in the Anuradhapura stupa as a handiwork of celestial beings in bringing the message of the Dhamma. He explains that our chronicles bear ample testimony to the remarkable role the 'devas' or gods played particularly in the construction of the Ruvanweli and Mirisavati stupa. Quoting the Mahavamsa, he describes how the Mirisavati stupa came to be located on its present site, all because King Dutthagamini's spear, symbolizing his regal authority, got stuck in the ground permanently under bizarre circumstances, when he went to partake in the water sports festival, following his kingship festival or parasol-ceremony. Believing the strange incident to be the work of devas or gods, the king decided to build the Mirisavati stupa on that very site. Susantha postulates that it was the Mirisavati miracle that ultimately resulted in the mysterious Orion-oriented, triangle of the three stupa at Anuradhapura, as discovered by Fernando 2000 years later. As further proof of divine hand in the stupa construction; the Mahavamsa presents an awe-inspiring account of the devas or gods performing various miracles at Anuradhapura, by producing material and treasures needed by King Dutthagamini to build the Maha Stupa or Ruvanweli Saya. Gods had also made their presence felt at the relic chamber ceremonies of Ruvanweli stupa. Susantha's thesis is supported by the chronicles, epigraphical and archaeological evidence, cave drawings, folklore, legends and UFO phenomena in Sri Lanka and abroad. The three edifices are renowned for miracles and strange celestial phenomena, judging by several eye-witness accounts made by Buddhist worshippers, as recorded in the book.

Of all the miracles attributed to the sacred Ruvanweli stupa, there is one in particular experienced by the author himself in his discovery of the Orion mystery of the three stupa It all began way back in 1938 when Susantha's father, the late Mr. M.R.E. Fernando of Chilaw, who was a Catholic by birth, patronized the gold-plating of the giant, new pinnacle of the Ruvanweli stupa. M.R.E.'s philanthropy supported both Buddhist and Catholic causes. He even built a Catholic church at Hettipola and conducted the annual feast there.

On January 25, 1940 the different segments of the gilded pinnacle were hoisted to the summit of Ruvanweli stupa amidst the cries of "Sadu" by Buddhist devotees and chanting of Pirith by hundreds of Buddhist monks. Then on the Poya day of 17th June, 1940 the dazzling pinnacle was unveiled atop the stupa during the magnificent 'Swarnamali Abhishekaya' ceremony held at Anuradhapura, attended by all the traditional customs and rituals befitting an ancient coronation, and a massive concourse of Buddhist devotees and dignitaries led by Rt. Hon. D.S. Senanayake, the Prime Minister and Sir Baron Jayathilake, the Minister of Home Affairs. The late Mr. M.R.E. Fernando was among those invited to the ceremony by the Ruvanweli Mahasaya Restoration Committee headed by Sir Baron Jayathilake. The book describes the historic event with many memorable photos.

Exactly one year after the Pinnacle Unveiling Ceremony in 1940, Susantha the discoverer was born. Then two years later his father passed away. Fifty six years later (1996) Susantha got a strange inspiration in a flash to crack the 2000 year old Orion mystery of the very same stupa, which his father patronized in restoring. This Ruvanweli miracle resulted in the birth of Alien Mysteries in Sri Lanka and Egypt in 1997.

Susantha describes that the three stupa of Anuradhapura show a definite religious theme in their ground layout. They align themselves with three of the seven stars of Orion, in representing two Buddhist symbols: numbers three and seven. According to Fernando the three stupa aligned with the three stars of Orion represent number THREE The seven stars in the constellation of Orion represent number SEVEN. THREE signifies symbolically the Triple Gem, while SEVEN represents the seven steps taken by the Buddha in his infancy. There are many archaeological, epigraphical and Buddhist mythological references to the numbers THREE and SEVEN. It is an elaborate, thought-provoking subject explained in the book.

Susantha records several bizarre coincidences and phenomena in the past history of Sri Lanka, the Mystery Island, which according to the chronicles, legends and folklore, was inhabited by alien beings. He has discovered 36 mysterious, historical parallels between ancient Sri Lanka and Egypt of the Pharaohs. Susantha is not alone in propounding 'parallels' between two ancient civilizations. American scholars are reported to have discovered recently that there are strange historical parallels between ancient Egypt and the Americas before Christopher Columbus. According to the official view, of course, there was no contact between the Old World and the New World before Columbus. Fernando explains that the mystical year of the Mayas in South America, in which their calendar began, went back to 3111 BC. Egypt's historical era also began about the same time, i.e. in or around 2925 BC.

Susantha explains that around 605 and 332 BC, when the Egyptian civilization was phasing out, 'some kind of a prototype', or a trace of the Nile civilization appeared mysteriously and swiftly in the island of Sri Lanka, consequent upon an outcast Aryan prince, named Vijaya, and his 700 followers from North India accidentally drifting into the island - also about the same time: between 400 BC to 544 BC.

The aforesaid two historical events took place approximately 3,000 years from the time the mystical year of the Mayas in South America began in 3111 BC. The Pharaohs of Egypt believed that after death, they would be reborn in Egypt, 3,000 years later, but what happened was stranger than fiction.n

Now is the time for clear thinking and bright vision

by Carl Muller

This thing called history... what is it? What does it try to do, and what is its value in this workaday world? Is there a way to give it greater worth?

Our schools have, sadly enough, ignored the subject of history for a good many years, but there came a time of great transition, and today, history has begun to remind us that all the bits and pieces of what is good in civilisation as a whole must be preserved, while the lumber can be gradually eliminated.

As we know, some of Nature's preliminary experiments in the making of Man did end in disaster. "Near-man" came and went. He was unable to bear the burden of life. Our own species, Homo sapiens, has survived, but we have been slow to learn our lessons. We followed a First World War with a second of greater venom and magnitude. But, had we turned to the findings of history, who knows? we could have avoided both conflicts and also learned to tame "the bloody wild beast" in us.

This is not to say that history is like some medical text that offers remedies. "World Empires and Great Movements" as author Goolbai Gunasekara has presented to us, will be of no value if our present-day student examinations are nothing more than memory tests. We need to check Goolbai's pulse. In giving us this superb recounting, she reminds us that knowledge is only power when it is applied. She has also presented History in an attractive form and manner that has rarely been done before, and this will surely command the attention of the greatest possible Middle School students as well as their teachers.

As she says in her Preface, there has been a long-felt "need for a textbook that will give Middle School students a general overview of historical events leading up to modern times." Of course, Goolbhai is an educator, wholly immersed in her love of teaching. She is Principal of Asian International School, Colombo, and as you will see, this work is also "Asian-International" for it not only touches on ancient Greece, Rome, the Muslim World, the Renaissance and Reformation, but also the Mongols, the Americas, India under the Raj, The Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution, the unification of Germany, then Italy, the rise of modern Japan and the American Revolution, but also brings in the Polonnaruwa period of our country.

It seems so obvious to me that Goolbai will need to produce more such books. There is a whale of a lot more to be said and done, isn't there? This book will make teachers and students, even up to University level, know of what a vast store of experience History embodies. We must take heart in the fact that Man advanced in a multitude of ways ever since his first efforts at engineering were by the shaping of flints. It is only then that we can truly appreciate our rich world heritage.

Not very long ago, Sir John Squire said that "the world can never move in a right direction unless people face both contemporary and ancient historical facts." Our student have the right to the best. However, sadly enough the old excuses for inefficiency are that we get the governments we deserve. Let me put it another way: Both young and old of today are going through what can only be called "fear". No, I'm not being anti-this or that. But look at what I give below closely:

* Politicians fear the whole truth. It could hurt their parties. They fear to defy a current phase of public opinion even if they know it's wrong.

* The man of the church fears the changes that have drifted in from the old accepted beliefs.

* Patriots fear for their country, be they right or wrong.

It is the duty of the historian to banish fear. As has been said, "History is the oratorio of humanity." This is why this book is so important, and if you were to ask Goolbhai what held her to write it, I think she will have a deeper answer than what she tells of in her Preface. She has wished to give our students, and for that matter, society, an understanding of historical foundations and of its enduring interests.

Shall we look at Chapter Six - "Sri Lanka: The Polonnaruwa Period (1055 to 1215CE) and Parakramabahu the Great." She reminds us that this was a period that saw enlightened rulers such as Vijayabahu, Parakramabahu I and Nissankamalla. Three kings carried our island's power into South India and Burma. Of course, students can find all this and more in other books, but many such are heavy tomes and not given to the succinct manner of presentation that strings together all the pearls and leaves out the bits of broken shell. In other words, not only does the students get an all-round impression of what is important, but is then ready to make further research and study, read more and progress on the building blocks that Goolbhai has laid in place.

Long ago, Thomas Carlyle declared, with a lack of historical knowledge, that the United Kingdom was peoples by 40 million fools! We also have our journalists who like to spice their dishes of history, well garnished in order to make their work attractive. There is also the "professional" historian who thinks that a solid book is absolutely necessary. It only tells students that such study is hard work - the meat is too tough! That has been the trouble all along. History has been made to look dull!

Goolbai has struck a "golden mean". She has not idolized yesterday. The book guides and also directs - and tells of the stumbling blocks and slippery stones. What is important is that we must understand that today is based on yesterday and that the new grows out of the old.

Take Chapter 1 on "Ancient Greece." She does not make of it an outpouring of geographical views or tell us, at first, of the four important branches of Ionians, Dorians, Aeolians and Achaeans. She cuts into the taking in many outside culture and the launch of the idea of democracy.She fixes on Sparta and Athens and on the high points - the heroic age of the Trojan War, Homer, the Spartan war. It would be immensely confusing to students to take in Greece in all its many facets that brought on the many voyages. Myth and legend could cause unnecessary problems with tales of the Gardens of the Gardens of the Hesperides on the coast of Libya, the Cyclops, Scylla and Charybdis and Spain with its mighty pillars of Hercules. All this remains part of earliest Greek mythology but these early tales did awaken the spirit of adventure that gave us the expeditions of the Argonauts.

In like manner is the rendering of Rome, the Muslim World, the great Italian-French-English movements and so on. Oh yes, there is so much and dealt with so adroitly, that we have listings of Greek philosophy (Socrates, Plato and Aristotle); Medicine (Hippocrates); Mathematics (Pythagoras); Religion (Zeus, Athena, Hera); Intellect (Sophists, Ethics and Logic); Architecture (Doric, Ionian, Corinthian); Science (Thales of Miletus); History (Herodotus); The Olympic Games (Athletics, Boxing, Wrestling Chariot Racing).

So much to know and learn of. My warm and sincere congratulations to the author who richly deserves recognition from our halls of learning. Oh, a final word: With History, we see the gradual emancipation of mind, the wonder of what is Man who increasingly made the world around us intelligible. It is the finest basis of a belief in progress - the obvious growth of collective knowledge and intellectual power. History remains the dominating note and even, shall I say, a growth of soul.n

Book launch

H.L.de Silva

Sri Lanka: A nation in conflict - Threats to sovereignty, Territorial Integrity, Democratic Governance and peace written by H. L. de Silva (published by Visidunu Prakashakayo (Pvt) Ltd) will be launched at the Colombo International Book Fair which is being held at the BMICH from September 20. The book will be available at the Visidunu Kiyawanu Wuwana stalls No C 177-178-179 at the BMICH till September 28.

The articles contained in this volume were produced from time to time over a period during which Sri Lanka's sovereignty, territorial integrity, democratic governance and peace were seriously imperilled. In the author's perceptions there is now a glimmer of hope that the darkest hours of grief and despair are receding into the past and that the nation could reach out to a new dawn of tranquillity and well-being for its people.

Yet, he states that the journey ahead is arduous, and is featured by formidable hazards and obstacles the surmounting of which would require a clear understanding both of the relevant experiences from the country's past efforts in war and peace as well as of the true nature of the challenges that lie ahead. It is in order to contribute towards such an understanding that the present volume is being published.

The volume focuses on a wide range of issues that have continued to figure prominently in the realm of public debate and discussion. Its essays represent a classic blend of scholarly erudition, professional expertise and the clarity of thought of an extraordinarily incisive mind.

Its author, Deshamanya H. L. de Silva, President's Counsel, is an illustrious jurist well known for both his awe-inspiring professional successes as well as his selfless and unyielding commitment to the principles of justice and democratic governance.

His professional career began in 1953 as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka (then, 'Ceylon'). His expertise has all along been made available to many tasks of vital importance to the governance of his country. He was a member of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution in 1972. He served as a representative of the government at the 'peace negotiations' at Thimpu in 1985 and at Geneva in 2006. He was Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the United Nations from 1995 to 1998. In 2006, he was appointed a member of the Panel of Expert Advisers to the All-Party Representatives Committee on Constitutional Reform and served as its Chairman in the early stages of its proceedings.

Two books on 'positive thinking'

Two new books authored by veteran writer Menike Sumanasekera will be launched at the BMICH during the Colombo International Book Fair from September 20-28.

Ms. Sumanasekera is an author on positive thinking and a counsellor in psychology. The two new books titled Preethimath Yuga Diviyakata Danathmaka Asiri (Positive Ideas for Happy Family Life) and Danathmaka Balayen Vismitha Nirogi Suwayak (Marvellous Healthy Life through Positive Power), provide ample guidance and directions to the reader to lead a successful and healthy life by following positive attitudes while overcoming day-to-day negative thoughts and misconceptions.

A wide range of real life stories have been included in the books providing valuable reading material. The writer highlights the importance of happiness to conquer life.

Sumanasekera has also authored the biography of former President D. B. Wijetunga.

The Deception

The Deception a novel by Ananda Liyanage will be launched on September 26, 2008 at 5 p.m. at the National Library and Documentation Services Board Auditorium, Independence Avenue, Colombo 7.

The Deception is the second published work of Ananda Liyanage. As with his first book he has picked an excellent subject of little known details of Sri Lankan history and has woven a story of excitement and intrigue around it. It is a "Foremost Books" publication.

Foremost Books invite readers of literary fiction to participate at this event at which the renowned writer Capt. Elmo Jayawardena will make the keynote address. Copies of the novel can be obtained for a discounted price on this day.

Rosa Katu

Award-winning author Jayasena Jayakody's latest literary creation Rosa Katu will be launched at the stall numbers 146-148, Sirimavo Bandaranaike Hall, BMICH, Colombo 7 at 3.30 p.m. on September 23.

"Rosa Katu" is published by Dayawansa Jayakody Book Publishers, Colombo 10.