New approach to ethics and rituals for societal stability

By Prof. Tissa KARIYAWASAM

In discussing the new approach to ethics and rituals for societal stability, we have to pay attention to several factors in the present context. After a protracted conflict over three decades, the focus is now on the economic development.

Are we in a position to adopt a new approach to ethics and rituals? My answer is positive.

The absence of revivalist movement in the fields of culture causes problems in this context. Revitalisation of culture can be interpreted as a deliberate attempt at by some members of a society to construct a more dynamic culture. How can one achieve this end? It is only through the acceptance of a new approach that we can achieve this objective.

Culture constitutes the religions, social structures and the intellectual and artistic manifestations that characterize a society. Therefore, in the modern day, Sri Lankan government and policy-makers have to prepare the ground for rapid modernization on par with the present global trends. Due to the open economic policies and the humane approach to the economy by various political leaders and their advisors, globalization has been misinterpreted not only by scholars but also by the common man.

It resulted in the creation of a myth that globalisation would bring about a homogenous culture. Is it a wishful thinking or gross misunderstanding of world at large?

As William A Haviland puts it, “the peoples of the world are wearing the same kinds of clothes, eating the same kinds of food, reading the same kind of literature, watching the same kinds of TV programmes, and listening to the same kind of music.” To a greater extent, this is valid to Sri Lanka.

Though the external trade contributes to the economy, it is the migratory labour force which earns much of its foreign exchange. Seventy per cent of the population uses mobile phones for communication. This is a new development in an emerging culture. Multinational corporations surpass the national boundaries. All these factors contribute to the creation of common culture and values.

In the process of globalisation and rapid transformation it brings about, traditional and non industrial societies in South Asia, including Sri Lanka, attempt to acquire elements of advanced societies.

Throughout the ages Sri Lankan culture has undergone diverse transformation in many areas assimilating features from other cultures. In the process, India has greatly influenced in shaping up the contours of Sri Lankan culture.

This is obvious in many aspects of traditional cultures of the country; examples are sculpture, architecture, woodworks, crafts and traditions of dances and folk music.

The remnants of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, the paintings of Sigiriya bear testimony on this aspect. According the Kandyan ritualists, the three Mala kings were invited to the country in order to cure the illness caused by the Divi Dosa, on King Vijaya, the first ever Aryan ruler in the country during the fifth century B.C.

Some scholars were of the view that the journey of the Mala kings was launched from Pakistan. Most of the Buddhist religious rituals and the folk rituals are in many ways akin to the cultures of other South Asian and South East Asian countries. We maintained friendly links with South Asian countries.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Portuguese controlled the maritime provinces of the country and introduced a new religion, Christianity, new style of life and a host of other cultural aspects to Sri Lanka. The Dutch and the British followed the same path, and in 1815, the country was conquered by the British. Up to 1948, the English culture and the English language dominated the higher stratum of society.

Local Administrators adopted the British culture. A Christianity was spread through education.

In the fields of rituals and ethics, these colonial influences were manifested in diverse forms and manners. Some are of the view that the cultural changes will bring about adverse consequences.

The rituals are associated with Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam and the ethics prevalent in different rituals differ from each other. The ethics is the moral philosophy adhered to in their rituals.

If the rituals are defined as a set of actions in religious and social activities and the community life in Sri Lanka, countries of the South Asia are endowed with a magnitude of rituals. In religion, rituals are considered as particular observations.

In Sri Lanka, these institutionalized religious rituals are performed in order to maintain the social stability. Though some writers describe these religious rituals as self-centered, it is a misconception. On full moon days in the Buddhist temples one can observe the community rituals at work in the temples. In the church or at the mosque or at the shrine or at a Kovil we can observe the group benedictions are conducted. The Buddhists before commencing their rituals, believe in their ritualistic cleansing. Before entering any religious shrine devotees perform ablutions; washing their body, or at least the face and the feet are carried out.

Not only the devotee but the priests also have to undergo cleansing. In folk rituals, the act is known as Peveema or the period of preparation/cleansing.

The exorcists, dancers, drummers, kapuralas, and the attendants all cleanse themselves with water and rose water.

Is soda nala – sandun kiri pan isala

Mal yahan tanala- emal asnak oppu deela

[Cleansing the head and the body with water, sprinkling sandalwood, milk and water on the arena, erecting the flower-altars, and dedicate the altar to the deities, we commence the ritual]

The priests have to wear only white dresses during the rituals. There is no distinguishable line of demarcation between the religious and folk rituals. Whether it is associated with the religion or with the folk religion, the priests drape in their special paraphernalia different from their devotees.

The process of purification is not confined to the personal but extends to the place of worship and the offerings. In the folk ritual, performers conduct the rituals to officiate the

Chastity or Pattini do not partake of meat, fish or even the Maldive fish. They abstain from sex, and they dedicate themselves to the god seven days prior to the ritual.

A priest to be also takes so much time. A Buddhist priest has to reach the age 21to receives the higher ordination. The folk priests (exorcists, performers and drummers) also spend more than ten to fifteen years at the foot of the master learning the arts. A priest to be has to perform all the household chores while learning. He will have to study the books, chants and verses and the methods of presentation, carving masks, dancing, drumming, and recitations.

When the priests visit the places of performance they behave exceptionally well. They do not take liquor, and employ very honorific terms towards each other. This is quite contrary to the life of a villager in his ordinary daily life.

In the moral philosophic sphere, the qualities of a priest are also discussed. In the planetary rituals the priests are considered as Brahmins of Indian origin and they are dressed in the Indian costume, such as the Dhoti, the sacred thread, the headdress and necklaces and anklets. The priests who perform demon rituals will employ the trident of Shiva to protect the invalid during the evening watch of the performance.

The ethics concerning the rituals are the normative ethics which will determine the moral course of action. The priests are always engaged in moral activities and they are the mediators who assist the invalid and his family or the whole community during their performance. That may be one reason they offer merits to the parents, teachers and the deities at the end of the ritual. Ethically the ritual performers whether they perform in the temple or at a village house anticipate merits and perform the ritual as a Pinkama or a meritorious act.

Those who perform public duties have to keep in mind that they are performing a meritorious act .Sri Lankan society has suffered from terrorism and conflicts for some years. Whoever may have been responsible for creating differences between the Sinhala and Tamil communities, we see the commonalities exhibited by the folk rituals in their performances.

During the Sangam prriod of the Tamil literary history, Ilango Adigal composed one of the great classics, namely Silappadikaram, or the Music of the Anklet. This story of Kannagi and Kovalan is reenacted by the priests at various community rituals in Sri Lanka.

In the Silappadikaram the coexistence of Kannagi and Kovalan was disturbed by the appearance of Vayanti . The latter begot a daughter named Manimekhalai and there is also a Tamil poem of the same name. The Kannagi Kovalan,Vayanti and Manimekhalai episodes though composed in Tamil by South Indian writers, are enacted in Sri Lanka as rituals to propitiate the respective deities by Sinhalese.

A corpus of writings is prevalent among the kapuralas throughout Sri Lanka which are recited at the rituals. There are the 35 Kolmura verse collections or Pantis Kolmura, in benediction to the deities. Pahan Maduwa in the Sabaragamuva Province, Gammaduva and the Devol Maduva in the Low country and the hill country are exemplary evidence of the existence of a national harmony and national unity of the country.

In Sri Lanka, the majority of the Buddhists, perform the rituals in the name of the deity of chastity or Pattini of South Indian origin. The seven Devol gods who arrive at Seenigama, in the coastal village between Ambalangoda and Hikkadua, are propitiated by the Sinhala Buddhists. In the Kohomba Yak Kankariya, of the Hill country, while performing the Guruge Malava, the priests employ the Tamil Guru as an accomplice of the ritual. The Seven Devol gods and the Kuda and Maha Guru speak in stammering Sinhala diction. During the ritual the Sinhala Buddhists unite with the South Indian Tamils without any hindrance.

The countries in South Asia including Sri Lanka are struggling to reach the economic and moral upliftment. It is high time for us to learn the lessons inculcated in the folk rituals and religious rituals in Sri Lanka.

Rituals are beneficial to society and ethics also compliments the rituals. The religious idea of a Pinkama or the meritorious act is performed in the religious rituals and the folk rituals by the monks, by the pusaris, by the Maulavis, exorcists, dancers, musicians, and charmers.

The rituals are the symbolic interpretation of society, national harmony and collectiveness in the society. In a hedonistic world a new approach can be culled through the rituals and ethics, for national development which will pave the way for the societal stability.

The economic development of a country has to go hand in hand with its cultural development. In the globalization process some prefer to have a developed stage of the economy but not of the culture. This concept has to be eliminated by the policy makers and leaders of the country.

In the old days, the folk rituals and religious rituals satisfied the needs of the society. Every aspect of the ritual had a significance and symbolic meaning for the society. For example, the water cutting ceremony of the Maha Saman devalaya at Ratnapura and the administration of the Nila pangu system of the Sabaragamuwa province where the emphasis is on self sufficiency ( in agrarian produce) with the religion and the village community.