Walisinghe Harischandra - the young revivalist

by Jayanatha MENDIS

What is important to know of a man is how he lived not how long he lived Walisinghe Harischandra lived for only 37 years, but within this relatively short period what he did to protect the places sacred to Buddhists and other sites of archaeological or historical interest was much and invaluable.

Statue at Anuradhapura

The most important political event in the 19th century was the downfall of the Kandyan Kingdom and the establishment of British rule in 1815. When the march to Kandy began, Gen. Brownrigg declared it was "Led by the invitation of the Chiefs and welcomed by the acclamation of the people."

The Lion Flag that Vijaya had planted in Thambapanni was hauled down and the Union Jack went up on the 2nd of March 1815. On this day, in the Hall of Audience of the Kandyan Kings, the historic Kandyan Convention was signed. Its Article 5 guaranteed the inviolability of the national religion and the "Protection and the maintenance of its rites, priests and temples".

In a separate dispatch to the Secretary of State the General wrote, "In truth, our secure possession of the country hinged upon this point. I found it necessary to quieten all uneasiness respecting it by an Article of Guarantee couched in the most unqualified terms". So we know the British authorities were not serious about their promises.

Even before the ink had dried in the historic document, Keppetipola rose in open rebellion against the new administration proving that the people were disillusioned and dissatisfied with the Colonial administration.

This 1818 rebellion was ruthlessly put down but a smouldering discontent towards administration continued. The root cause of this hostility to the new regime was the fact Buddhist kings were succeeded by Christian governors who couldn't genuinely take part in Buddhist rites festivals, processions and so on with the same religious zeal as hereditary kings.

Buddhism flourished and granaries were replenished with regular harvests nourished by waters from a network of ingeniously built canals and tanks - all under royal patronage.

Now that this royal patronage missing, tropical jungle slowly and steadily crept over breached tanks, uninhabited villages, abandoned paddy lands, enveloping in itself medieval courtyards, monastic sites and many remains of archaeological or sculptural value vivified by nameless artists, all pointing to a civilization which, with all its ups and downs continued to flourished for nearly twenty four centuries.

It is against this background that Walisingha Harischandra launched his two-pronged campaign.

Now let's see what sort of person he was. We can glean an idea about what sort of person he was when Ven. Balangoda Ananda Maithree Maha Thera recalled an event in the life of this national hero: "On the 5th of November, 1905 Walisinghe Harischandra arrived at Balangoda. Then I was a nine-year old boy. He made two speeches at Kumara Vidyalaya in the evening. He spoke to the children and advised them a great deal using such language as they could understand. He had marvellous eloquence. His voice was deep but pleasant to hear. As he spoke, his tone rose and fell in a resonant voice. He had great charm about him and a serene look like that of an ascetic radiating kindness.

He was born on July 9th, 1876 at Maha Hunupitiya a suburban village of Negombo. He showed his mettle and vision even as a student at college when he refused to sing in unison, "God save the King.," on Queen Victoria's birthday on May 24th.

The ambition of his parents was to make him a lawyer. The boy had the gift of the gab, the parents, the means to educate him here or abroad. But he was born to be an orator, reformer and a patriot. Had the parents succeed in their attempt only a very few people would know Obinamini Edward De Silva.

Fired by national feelings and religious zeal, he gave up a lucrative legal career, adopted the name Walisinghe Harischandra, vowed to be a celibate and embarked on his mission.

One of his objectives was to pass on to the future generations, remains of a civilization built by Sinhala Kings and nourished by Buddhist teachings. On his itineraries, he observed that they were in disrepair and subject to neglect and vandalism. He drew the attention of the White officials to this important national need.

He was moved by the sordid condition of Anuradhapura, the ancient capital of Lanka. Among the business premises that had come up, there were meat stalls and liquor bars within close proximity to the Buddhist shrines. He made up his mind to stop this desecration and published a booklet named, the Sacred City of Anuradhapura and sent a copy to King George V. In this book he pointed out that the Crown representatives despoiled Buddhist Holy places and appealed to him to protect their sanctity. Before he died, he was able to hear that his request had been granted.

He also rose against the Wasteland Ordinance. The British authorities made use of it to acquire temple lands for construction work. When the government was about to acquire Mihintale Temple lands he made a vehement protest saying such action was real expropriation of clerical property. The government feared that this action might trigger off a major crisis and dropped the idea.

Walisinghe Harischandra's other objective was to uplift a decadent community. He was sad to see that the moral and cultural deterioration was now deep-rooted in the community. He adduced this state was due to centuries of foreign domination of the island.

He travelled from village to village addressing crowds of people who gathered to listen to his message. He aimed at the moral uplift of the people and their righteous living. In this respect he also helped build some Sunday Dhamma Schools and himself taught Dhamma at a few.

On his itineraries, sometimes not finding lodging, he had to rough it out in ambalamas'. He was in poor health owing to under-nourishment. He suffered all these to awaken people to the need of the hour.

In evaluating his contribution to the revivalist movement we must bear in mind the fact that he did so much in so short a time for so many.

When this iternent celebrate passed away on 13th of September, 1913, he had made 1363 speeches, visited Anuradhapura 80 times, Mihintale 63 times, at a time when motor transport was not available as in the modern day.

All these visits were not pilgrimages but were in connection with restoration of ancient monuments which are culturally important or sacred to the Buddhist population.

When Anagarika Dharmapala heard about his death, he mentioned, "I wish I were dead and Walisinghe living".