Huge crowds throng festival facilitated by Army:

The kovil of miracles in Mullaitivu

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

The time was 5.00 pm on June 13. The sudden appearance of a helicopter surprised the thousands of devotees gathered at the holiest shrine in Mullaitivu and many looked around for safety as it reminded them of the bitter past.

Some of the traditional rituals of the festival

Only five minutes were left for the main pooja of the kovil to begin. The kovil bells rang and the drums beat rhythmically, devoting the pooja to Goddess Pattini. The colourful perahera with traditional vel carts, dancers and devotees chanting "arohara...arohara" started proceeding to the kovil.

The helicopter which hovered around the kovil a couple of times, after paying homage to the shrine, dropped heaps of flowers including white and red lotuses and jasmines, decorating the sky above the kovil.

Over 300,000 devotees from all over the country had gathered at the Vattrapalai Kovil in Mullaitivu to attend the 'Vattrapalai Amman Pongal' ceremony with the dawn of peace after many decades. "We never thought that a military chopper will shower flowers on the kovil", a devotee from Batticaloa said.

In a land where heavy battles were fought and innocent civilians caught in between had to run for their lives, life has begun anew amidst pristine beauty. The blue ocean and golden sandy beaches have added to its beauty.

Seventy-year-old Kadirapullai Ratneshwari, a mother of eight children who lives close to the kovil, said this was the first time in her life that she had seen such a large crowd of devotees attending this historic festival.

Though there is no literature about the history of the Vattrapalai Kovil, its story has passed from generation to generation through word of mouth. The kovil has existed since the Dutch era. It had been built to pay homage to Goddess Kannahi Ambal (Goddess Pattini Amma), whom the devotees believe to have lived there centuries ago. Hindus believe that vows made to the Goddess will become a reality soon as she, as a mother, listens to grievances made by all.

A miracle

The devotees believe that miracles take place in the kovil - it is said to have the power of lighting lamps, not with oil, but with sea water. Every year, on the second Thursday of June, which is known as 'Vaikasi Matham Visaham Puranei', Tamils light lamps with sea water. The pongal ceremony takes place the next day when the devotees cook milk-rice in the kovil premises at night.

Ratneshwari, who believes in the power of Goddess Kannahi Ambal, said she never thought that the Army would help them organise such a major religious ceremony.

Her youngest child, a son, had been abducted by the LTTE and later surrendered to the Army; he is back home after undergoing rehabilitation and also attended the ceremony. She believed that her family, which was in pieces, miraculously survived due to her strong faith in the Goddess.

"It is said that Kannahi Ambal had led a saintly life. When she grew old, she could not find oil to light lamps at the kovil so she had collected sea water and lit the lamps. Since then, every year, the lamps are lit with sea water", Kulasekaran Krishnabawan, the Kovil poosari, whose family had looked after the kovil for many generations, said.

The chief poosari and 12 other poosaries spend a week engaged in religious rituals and chant slokas before making their way to the Virawar Kovil, which is near the sea in Kadalpadu, about five kilometres from Vattrapalai Kovil. The chief poosari ventures neck deep into the sea and holds a bronze pot on his head until it fills with 15 litres of sea water.

"This is the power of Goddess Kannahi Ambal. Today, not only us, but this kovil too survives due to her power", Krishnabawan Poosari said.

He never expected to perform the rituals as the poosari of this kovil again.

During the height of the final battle in 2009, heavy fighting took place in Vattrapalai. Thousands of displaced people including those herded by the LTTE from other places were in this area. The LTTE had announced that the Army was advancing to Mullaitivu and had ordered the civilians to head to Ampanapokkanei.

Hundreds of families who had sought refuge in the kovil had been ordered by the LTTE to leave.

Krishnabawan Poosari refused to leave the kovil and was threatened by the LTTE and ordered to immediately vacate the premises. Recalling how he hid his daughter, who was 15 years old, in bunkers to avoid LTTE's forced conscription, he said his two daughters had been given in marriage at very young ages to avoid them being recruited by the LTTE. However, he was unable to stop the LTTE from conscripting his eldest daughter, who had been selected for university, in 2007.

No respect

“The LTTE didn't respect even poosaries. Luckily, my daughter escaped from the LTTE three days after she was taken in and I managed to secretly take her to Vavuniya. Everbody in Wanni suffered under the LTTE. The terrorists didn't allow us to surrender to the Army. While hiding in bunkers, I always prayed to Goddess Kannahi Ambal to help end terrorism so that the people can live in peace. The LTTE destroyed our future", he said.

Krishnabawan Poosari said Prabhakaran visited the kovil occasionally, but never stepped in as he wanted to avoid mingling with the common people. "He always avoided solving the problems faced by the people. He did not come into the kovil to avoid people talking to him and telling him about their problems. When he came here, the kovil was heavily guarded by hundreds of Black Tigers. He worshipped the kovil from inside a tinted luxury vehicle", the Poosari said, adding that their respect for the Army increased when they realised that the kovil had not been damaged by soldiers during the battle.

They had thought that the kovil would be flattened to the ground due to mortar and artillery attacks, but to their surprise the kovil had survived without even minor damages. He said the Army helped them renovate the kovil and with the resettlement program the Army helped people in Vattrapalai to rebuild their houses and restore their livelihoods, mainly fishing.

"The soldiers only destroyed the LTTE. During the LTTE era, though some terrorist leaders worshipped Goddess Ambal, they never spent a cent on developing the kovil. Instead, they collected money from even the smallest boutiques owned by poor people around the kovil", he said.

According to Krishnabawan Poosari, youth never stepped into the kovil as the LTTE police was around to snatch them to give military training. Only the elderly, the married and children who lived under LTTE control came to the temple. Tamils, even from some areas under LTTE control, were not allowed to come to Mullaitivu; the LTTE maintained tight restrictions as the leadership of the movement lived in Mullaitivu.

Massive festival

Ratnasingham Sabeshan (37), who hails from Watalappalai, also said he has never seen such a massive festival at the kovil. The Principal of the Roman Catholic Tamil School in Mullaitivu, said Tamil devotees from all over the country including Colombo, Kandy, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Jaffna and Kilinochchi attended the festival. Some members of the Tamil diaspora had also attended the festival for the first time in their lives.

"I lived in a bunker with my three small children and wife for months while heavy fighting was going on. My children cried in hunger, but we didn't have anything to cook except rice. They ate rice with water. All are happy now as we can live peacefully. We are getting new roads, houses and other facilities.

“My school, of which only the walls were left standing, is now open thanks to the Army which helped construct the buildings and provided facilities for the children to carry out their studies", he said.

The Vattrapalai Amman pongal ceremony was organised on the instructions of the Mullaitivu Security Forces Commander Maj. Gen. L.B. R. Mark by the 59 Division General Officer commanding Brig. Nissanka Ranawake. The Army had brought over 40,000 flowers for the ceremony from lakes in Anuradhapura and Weli Oya. For the first time in the history of Mullaitivu, a dansala organised by the Army with assistance from J.D. Ebert and Sons was held for over 30,000 people in Mullaitivu.

The blessings of Goddess Kannahi Ambal of Vattrapalai and the true spirit of the soldiers, who turned a terror-filled and blood-soaked land into a land of peace and prosperity, have blended together to erase the bitter past, enabling the people to weave their lives together and rise from the ashes.

(Special thanks to Lt.Col. Aruna Wijekoon and Private H.W. Susantha Kumara)