Gale Bandara Deviyo steeped in legend

by K.D. Jayasekera

While the world's religious leaders are still striving to close ranks of all religions in Sri Lanka some followers of Islam believe in Gale Bandara Deviyo in Kurunegala, where Buddhists have faith in many Gods.

The legend of Gale Bandara, the deity who is worshipped both by Buddhists and Mohamedans has it that King Buveneka Bahu I (1272-1284) was distressed because he was not blessed with a male offspring to succeed him. The King who ruled 'Hasthishailapura' (present Kurunegala) during one of his rounds met a beautiful Muslim woman in the village of Aswedduma.

As an astrologer had predicted to the King that would be blessed with a son only through a spouse of a different faith, he married this woman in great secrecy.

In due course the Muslim consort of the King gave birth to a baby boy and the young prince's maternal grandfather named him Ismail, but he was later known as Wathhimi Bandara which was the name preferred by the King.

For the safety of the Prince, he was sent to Beruwala where he was educated and he grew up as a Muslim among his maternal relatives.

When Prince Wathhimi Bandara was still in his teens his father had to go to war with another ruler and on the very day the King left Hasthishailapura with his troops, his queen gave birth to a son. The King had in his harem many wives and when he marched out for war they were told that a white flag would be raised if the King won or a black flag as a signal of defeat. The King was victorious and despatched a messenger to inform his wives about his victory.

The jubilant messenger got drunk and waved a black flag instead of the white flag. On seeing the black flag of defeat the 20 queens leaped to their death from the 'Belumgala' hill.

Seeing the tragedy the messenger himself leaped to his death at the very same spot.

The King returned with his troops only to find that his faithful and loyal consorts were dead and he too followed them.

The Kingdom was now without a ruler and the Muslims of Aswedduma village who were well aware that Prince Wathhimi Bandara was the son of the late king, made arrangements to crown him King of Hasthishailapura (city of Elephant Rock) in compliance with a promise of the late king imprinted on a copper plate.

Accordingly, Prince Wathhimi Bandara was crowned king at young age. Having been brought up in a Muslim environment the new king showed partiality to the Muslim rejects providing them with more facilities than to the majority Sinhala Buddhists.

At this period a treasure in the form of a golden pot began to float in the Kurunegala Lake and all attempts made by the King to recover it proved futile. Charmers from far off places like Matara and Ruhuna were engaged to retrieve the treasure with the admonition that they would be beheaded if they failed.

A number of such 'Kattandiyas' lost their lives when they failed to retrieve the floating treasure and the Sinhalese feared that the King was planning the gradual annihilation of the Sinhalese starting with charmers in whom Buddhists had great faith.

The Sinhalese were panic stricken and the Buddhist Clergy were gravely concerned about the happenings. They were opposed to a non-Buddhist ruling over them and the Clergy conceived a plot to put an end to the King's rule.

Taking advantage of the King's anxiety to recover the floating treasure they advised him to organise a Pirith ceremony on the summit of Elephant Rock. The greedy monarch was unaware of the plot and he readily agreed to the proposal.

A gaily decorated pavilion for the chanting of Pirith was erected on the Rock with a special stand built for the King to sit.

This stand was so erected that it would crash on the heave of a rope attached to the stand and men were posted in hidden position to pull the rope at the appropriate time.

The Pirith ceremony started off with the King as the chief guest and at a fixed time by midnight, the rope was pulled and the King went flying over the rock and his mitigated body was found beneath it.

The legend goes on to say that the spirit of the King killed all those who plotted his death and in a dream a Muslim relation of the late King had been told to bury the remains of the King at a specific spot which was promptly done in accordance with Muslim rites and a tomb erected over the grave.

It is said the spirit of the dead king began to terrorise the people and the late king came to be regarded as a powerful deity and to appease him a place of worship was erected at the spot where the body was found. It was dedicated to the spirit known as Gale Bandara (Bandara of the Rock).

Both these shrines are to be found within Kurunegala town limits and the Buddhists and Muslims individually maintained the two shrines which are thronged by both Mohomedans and Buddhists from all over the country to seek blessings and assistance for the alleviation of their grief and sufferings.

The annual procession of the Gale Bandara Deviyo will be held in July.