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by W. T. A. Leslie Fernando

Scene from Pitipana Passion Play

The events connected with the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ have been enacted and dramatised all over the Christian world. In Sri Lanka too we have a popular form of drama on the Death and Resurrection of Christ known in Sinhala as Pasku.

On Good Friday in many Catholic churches along the Western coastal belt in our country Passion shows called Pasku are performed. The history of these Passion shows relates back to the Portuguese period.

It is on record that during the Portuguese times a Fransiscan friar at Matara called Antonio Peixoto had enacted drama on Christ and on the lives of Saints. These players have impressed even the non-Catholics. He had also composed plaintive hymns on the Passion of Christ and Fr. Jacome Gonsalvez is said to have drawn inspiration from them when he wrote Pasan or lamentations during the Dutch times.

It is very likely that Antonio Peixoto had staged plays on the Passion of Christ. However none of the plays performed during the Portuguese times have come down to us.

It was the Oratorian Fathers who came to the Island in the latter half of the 17th Century who introduced the traditional Passion plays.

The Jesuit priests in Goa used the technique of puppet plays to instruct and edify the devotees. Blessed Joseph Vaz seeing that people loved to see puppet drama, initiated the performance of Passion plays in Sri Lanka on the model he had witnessed in Goa with images of sacred personages.

It is recorded in the "Oratorian Mission" that there were Passion shows in Kandy and in Vanni during the season of Lent in 1706 and later in Trincomalee and several other places.

Fr. Jacome Gonsalvez, the assistant, companion and successor of Blessed Joseph Vaz did much to improve these Passion plays. Fr. Jacome Gonsalvez wrote "Dukprapthi Prasangaya" a book of nine sermons to be recited while the dumb show was going on. To break the tedium of listening to sermons he also composed "Pasan" or lamentations to be chanted in a plaintive tone. When Fr. Jacome Gonsalvez was at Bolawatte, Passion shows were performed there with all the solemnity.

These Passion shows were performed inside a large shed which was covered at the bottom with cadjan walls about six feet in height. The statues were moved by the people covered by the cadjan walls so that to the spectators it appeared as if the statues were moving on the stage. A leader called "Annavi Rala" who had appealing voice explained the various scenes in a melodious tone.

As time went on a permanent shed was built near churches to enact the Passion show. However when most of the scenes of the Passion shows began to be enacted in open air, these Pasku sheds were removed. Today Pasku sheds are found only in Pitipana and Pamunugama. Still the Passion play at Pitipana is enacted in the Pasku shed.

According to Prof. E. R. Sarathchandra, the earliest traditional Passion play in the present form was performed at Pesalai, Mannar. Most of the scenes in these traditional Passion plays are performed in the open air. The movement of the statues were effected by strings. Later this form was adopted in Jaffna as well.

The fisherfolk from Negombo and Chilaw who went for fishing expeditions in the Mannar area followed the Pesalai Passion Play and enacted Passion shows in their native place as well. Till recently a Passion play in Tamil similar to that of Pesalai was enacted at St. Sebastian's Church, Sea Street - Negombo. These Passion plays later spread to Sinhala. Catholic areas like Duwa, Pitipana, Negombo, Katuwapitiya, Pamunugama, Nannunnakkara, Bolawatte, Wennappuwa, Katuneriya, Chilaw, Wadduwa, Payagala and Maggona.

The famous Duwa Passion play surpassed all the traditional Passion plays performed in churches. In 1939 when Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was the parish priest of Duwa, he revised and recasted the Passion play. He used human actors for all the scenes except for Christ and Mary. In addition to the traditional Pasan, Fr. Marcelline Jayakody composed his own hymns for the play.

Since then the fame of Duwa Passion Play spread far and wide. At that time the colourful Passion Play of Duwa enacted with over 250 actors was considered as the greatest Passion show in Asia.

The Pitipana Play was performed once in three years when the outstanding statue of Christ at Duwa was taken for the Passion Show at St. Peter's Church, Negombo. It was enacted with traditional sermons, Pasan and Lathoni in the permanent Pasku shed in front of the church. Later it was presented by a Pothegura with some Nadam aspects like Innisai, Thodayam and Demala Bera. Pitipana Passion Play was a blend of Pasku drama and Nadagam traditions.

Likewise the traditional Passion show in each place developed an identity of its own. In Katuwapitiya for instance the Three Hours of Agony of Christ on the cross is presented by a Pothegura found in Nadagam. In most of the churches Passion shows and Three Hours of Agony of Christ are performed with a combination of statues and human actors.

In the past, the Passion Play began on Palm Sunday where some scenes from the Old Testament, the temptation of Christ by the devil and the triumphant entry of Christ to Jerusalem were shown. The next show was on Monday, Thursday where the Last Supper, the Agony of Christ in Bethsamanee garden and taking of Christ as a prisoner was performed. On Good Friday the scenes at the Judgement Hall of Pilate, carrying of the Cross and the crucifixion of Christ was enacted. The resurrection was shown on Easter Sunday. Today however all the scenes except the Resurrection - in most cases starting from the scene at the Judgement Hall of Pilate are shown on Good Friday.

There is a school of thought that include some clergy who advocate that the traditional Passion Plays and the enactment of Three Hours of Agony of Christ on the Cross should be abandoned. They submit that although the Passion Play served some purpose in the past, today they are an anachronism to the enlightened catholics in the modern age.

They say that Passion Plays are a form of idolatry and useless exercise bent on emotion. They argue that instead the life of Christ should be inculcated to the people in other ways so as to appeal to the intellect.

It should be emphasised that the traditional Passion shows have been enacted for several centuries for instruction and edification of the faithful and they have stood the test of time. Even today when the Crucifixion is enacted in churches with the statue of Christ on Good Friday, it moves the faithful to the depths of their souls with devotion.

If Passion Play were to be considered an emotional exercise based on idolatry, the pilgrim centres like Madhu, Talawila and Our Lady of Matara based on Legendary statues too could be censured.

It is customary for Catholics in Sri Lanka to come to their native place for religious observances during the Holy Week. They do so for Christmas as well. But after the Christmas Mass, they spend the time on festivity, merrymaking and visiting relations and friends. On the contrary more emphasis is placed on religious observances at Easter. The Passion plays and Three Hours of Agony of Christ on the Cross have helped in no small measure to maintain this religious atmosphere at Easter.

On the other hand by abandoning the traditional Passion shows, we would make more room for sophisticated drama and commercialisation on the life and passion of Christ.

As such the traditional Passion shows in Sri Lanka should be encouraged, preserved and maintained as a religious exercise.

(The writer is a former High Court Judge).

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