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| Sunday, 2 May 2004 |
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Wesak - then and now : All that glitters is not Wesak by Sumana Saparamadu Wesak as celebrated today with an assortment of decorations,
illuminations, pandals bhakti gee et al is a festival of the 20th century.
Its exact date of origin can be pin-pointed, unlike in most The celebrations began with the hoisting for the first time, of the newly designed Buddhist flag at the Vidyodaya Pirivena in Maligakanda and the Deepaduttarama temple in Kotahena. The Sarasavi Sandaressa, the only paper Buddhists could call their own, had in one of its earlier issues called upon every temple and every Buddhist organisation to fly the Buddhist flag. The same paper reported on 5 May that on Wesak full-moon day (28 April) not only were all government offices and court houses closed, but every business house from Maradana to Borella was closed. The afore said temples and all the small temples in Colombo were packed with devotees and for the first time cries of sadu sadu reverberated with the peal of temple bells. In the afternoon devotees gathered at the Kelaniya temple to hear Migettuwatta Gunananda thero speak on the significance of declaring Wesak day a holiday. When he thanked Col Olcott who had spared no pains, meeting officials of the British Government etc. to get this day declared a holiday, there was applause from the congregation. The "Sarasavi Sandaressa" report does not mention any illuminations that night. Lights came later, may be two or three years later, when Buddhists were told to light lamps in honour of the Buddha, and also to show their Buddhist identity which some wished to hide or were loathed to disclose in a society ruled by a Christian elite and their hangers on. The homely little clay lamp and the lamp deftly contrived from a scooped-out half of a papaw were, before long, replaced by paper lanterns - the "bucket lamps" imported from Japan. The first to import these lanterns was W.E. Bastian and Co a leading book seller, publisher, and stationer. It was about 25 years later, in 1911 or so, that the first pandal was erected somewhere in Maradana, and it was lighted by petromax lamps. I was told this by the late G.L. Gautamadasa, artist and sculptor who had been working on pandals before he joined the Lake House editorial staff in 1956. He spoke of "kisten lampu", it may be a brand name, I do not know. In the course of the century other items were added to the festival, some dropped, some re-appearing in another form like the "Wesak Carol" which died out during the war years (1940-45) but emerged again in the Buddha Jayanthi year (1956) under a new name 'Bhakti Gee' and in a new garb. Gone were the gaudy dresses of the carol singers. Now the singers were in pristine white. The home-made "ata pattam koodu" the octagonal lanterns with their satellites vied with the Japanese lanterns which when strung in a row conveyed a message like Happy Wesak or Budu Sasusana Bebalewa. The flickering candle and the wick gave way to the electric bulb. The innate creativity of ordinary men, young and old, brought forth more and more varied lanterns like the revolving lantern and the tiered lantern that depicted scenes from a popular jataka story. To see some of these elaborate creations one has to buy a ticket and wait in a queue. The pandal became a dazzling display of the electricians' skill, and the Buddha's face and the scenes of the story depicted there on, were drowned in a sea of multi-coloured lights. Eventually, Wesak has become a festival of lights. Daana, Seela, Bhavana', have been pushed to the background by 'Bhakti Gee' recitals, and Wesak lantern displays and competitions. At the time the island was ceded to the British in 1815, there was no Wesak celebration in the country. The Wesak festival which had been an annual event in the days of the Kings of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa had long been extinct. John Davy the army surgeon and physician in attendance on the Governor Sir Robert Brownrigg (1817 - 1819) in his "Account of the Interior of Ceylon" describes "four great festivals kept annually in the capital." Wesak was not among them. They were the New Year Festival, the Esala Festival with the perahera, the 'Aluthsahal Mangalla' when rice from the new harvest was offered to the gods and the 'Karthika Mangalla' which coincided with the Hindu Deevali festival. Robert Knox who recorded what he observed and heard in the 19 years (1660-1679) he was a prisoner-at-large in the Sinhala kingdom wrote about the New Year festival, the perahera in the months of June or July and a festival "in the month of November when the moon is at its full which is celebrated only by lighting of lamps round the pagoda". Had he seen any celebrations in the months of April - May it would not have gone unrecorded. Knox even wrote about the pilgrimages to Sri Paada and to the great Tree" at the North end of the King's Dominion at Annaradgburro". Today we refer to Wesak as a three-fold celebration, of the Birth, Enlightenment and Nibbana of the Buddha. In ancient Anuradhapura, the Wesak festival was a celebration of the birthday of the Buddha, as these lines from the Deepavamsa, a chronicle older than the Mahavamsa, indicate: "Wesaakha maasay punnamaayam- The Sambuddha was born on the full-moon day of the month of Wesaakha. in celebration of that month... As recorded in the Pali and Sinhala chronicles the Wesak Pooja was an important annual event. It seems to have been one of the incumbent duties of a king. When King Dutu Gemunu was on his death bed, a scribe read out to him the meritorious acts he had recorded in his "ping-potha" the book of meritorious acts. He had held 24 'Wesak Pooja' in honour of the Buddha. The chronicles say that King Bhatiya held 24 'Wesak Pooja' and King Vohara Tissa, 40 festivals, one in every year of his reign. Was this one way of giving the regnal years of a king ? The emphasis was on devotion and offerings of new robes and food to the bhikkhus. The victuals offered included milk-rice, honey, ghee and jaggery. Alms were also given to beggars and wayfarers. Gradually the festival changed as the years went by and in the 9th century Jettha Tissa's Wesak festival is referred to as 'Wesak Keelam' and the festival included music song and dance. Naecha, geeta, vaaditha were taboo to monks but these items had been included in temple festivals centuries earlier. Among the annual festivals held under the patronage of the very pious king Bhatiya or Bhatikabhaya (19 BC - 9. AD) was one at the Maha Thupa viz Ruwanveli Seya and this festival included - 'nat and naccha' (drama and dance) and 'naa naa turiya vaditam' (assorted instrumental music). When Parakrama Bahu was on the throne at Polonnaruwa the Wesaaka Keela and the Aasalha (Esala) Keela were annual events in the capital. The king annually held a higher ordination of bhikkhus, a dalada pooja, (offerings and devotions to the Tooth Relic) a thula abhara dana - (alms equal to his own weight) and a Wesak Keli. Note the difference in the words used - 'daladaa pooja' and 'Wesak Keli'. I cannot think of a more appropriate translation of the Pali Keela and Sinhala Keli than carnival. The kings who came after Parakrama Bahu, do not seem to have continued the Wesak Keela and it died a natural death. Will the present day "Wesak Keli" have the same fate as the Wesaaka Keela of Polonnaruwa ? All that glitters is not Wesak. Something to give serious thought to, on wesak day. |
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where the beginnings are covered with the mist of time. The year was 1885,
the year that the British Governor Sir Arthur Gordon declared by gazette
notification, the Wesak full-moon day a public holiday. That year the
Wesak full-moon day was 28 April, one of those rare occasions when the
Wesak moon comes to its full in April.
