Borrowed traditions, a dying art

by Rukshana Rizvie

Borrowed from the Christmas tradition of exchange greeting cards, Vesak cards, vendors say is a dying art.

“Vesak cards used to be as popular as the lanterns,” Jaya Silva, a vendor who has a makeshift vesak stall in Peliyagoda said. “People would buy them because receiving one in the mail was a sign that Vesak was around the corner. But that doesn’t happen anymore.”

In fact Jaya does not even prominently display them at his stall anymore. “There’s no point,” he says. “People tell me that they can convey these greetings by email, a text message or to all their friends on social media, so why spend money to buy and go to the trouble of posting it.”

He explained that there used to be a time when Vesak cards would be prominently displayed and available even at supermarkets a month before Vesk. “It was symbolic,” he said. “There was meaning to those cards and greetings.”

He complained that in an attempt to keep the tradition alive, vendors like himself would ask for customized cards from the printers. “Earlier the cards would bear an image of the Buddha and a selected text from the scriptures and a special greeting or blessing for the receiver.”

He showed cards that still depict the images of stupas and popular temples like the Polonnaruwa Gal Vihara some had a blank space to write the receivers name. Some of the cards have copies of temple murals and poetic verses. Jaya also speaks of a time when the Ministry of Justice, Judicial Reforms, National Integration and Buddha Sasana began a crackdown on cards. “When these cards were no longer appealing, we began to print cards that had doves, peacocks and roses. We noticed a surge in sales but that too was also short-lived.” It was at this time he said that the Ministry imposed a tough ban on cards that infringed upon Buddhist religious sentiments.

“We have both at our stall but it doesn’t sell,” he said. “Occasionally some of the elderly people would come and buy them, but it would only be because they wanted to post the cards to grandchildren, relatives or friends who were not living in Sri Lanka.”

“If at all, they are the only ones who’d purchase these cards, the ones who still want to be old fashioned. Needless to say it’s a dying art and a dying tradition.”