Hackeries leave indelible mark

By Ananda KANNANGARA

Wasantha Lanerolle with his hackery

Riding the hackery

A hackery

A hackery

Have you heard about a member of a British Royal family who had travelled in a hackery to spend her honeymoon at Pilimatalawa in Kandy. According to the book "British rulers in Sri Lanka", the incident had taken place during the colonial era of 1921.

The book says that the simple wedding ceremony of the only daughter of a British king was held in Kandy. The bridegroom was also a British citizen. After the ceremony, both the king's daughter, 22-year-old Julia and her husband wanted to travel in a hackery instead of her father's comfortable British manufactured vehicle.

The hackery was brought from Kadugannawa, 20 km away from Kandy and it was driven by a villager called Themis Singho. The hackery rider was very fluent in English. He took the couple in his hackery to show picturesque places in the hill capital. Themis Singho was given 65 cents for taking the couple around the city the whole day.

This was the very first incident, recorded in the Lankan history about a newly wedded Royal couple who had travelled in a hackery. During that period, hackeries were used to carry goods from place to place. They were also used to take patients, especially pregnant women to native doctors.

The history reveals that villagers used hackeries even during the period of ancient kings such as the Great Prakramabahu, Kings Wasaba, Agbo, Dutugemunu, Devanampiyatissa and Dhathusena.

The hackeries were pulled by oxen. Although hackeries are hardly seen on Lankan roads today, they were highly used during the periods of ancient kings and also by Portuguese, Dutch and British rulers.

As there were no vehicles during that period, even the kings used buggy carts and bullock carts to transport goods. Hackeries were used for travelling purposes.

When hackeries travelled in the hill capital, the owner used two oxen. When one ox was pulling the cart, the other one was walking behind. When the ox was tired, the owner used the other one to pull the hackery. The cart owner used to sing folk songs to encourage the oxen.

Unlike those days, using hackeries by people in urban areas are very rare today, but people in rural and remote villages in the country where there are no proper roads and transport facilities, still use hackeries for travelling purposes.

The Sunday Observer last week visited several areas in the country to meet hackery owners. Most of them use their hackeries for special occasions.

Most hackery owners are living in the areas of Kaluaggala, Hanwella, Kaduwela, Piliyandala, Kesbewa, Marawila, Ja-ela, Wennappuwa, Chilaw, Dambulla, Embilipitiya and Negombo.

A long standing hackery owner Wasantha Lanerolle of Kethe Watta, Pahala Bomiriya said he owns six hackeries and all are in operation.

"Although the hackeries are very old, they are still in good condition, because the carts are manufactured with the hard wood `Gansooriya', generally grown in coastal areas as well as in thick forests in Dambulla".

He said he also owns bullock carts which were earlier used to transport goods. He proudly said that the hackeries and bullock carts were given by his late father Lewis de Lanerolle.

He said people in the area affectionately called his father "Thirikkal Rajjuruvo" (King of hackery).

He said after his father's demise, people in the area call him also as ` Thirkkal Rajjuruvo', since he is the only person in the area who has a number of hackeries and bullock carts.

Wasantha, also called by villagers as `Sudu Mahattaya' said unlike earlier, hackeries are currently not used for travelling purposes or to transport goods.

He said many people keep their old hackeries in their homes as monuments.

"People visit my house and ask for my hackeries for special occasions such as for new year festivals, hackery races, annual pereharas, religious ceremonies, birthday parties, international events and transport local and foreign wedding couples from their tourist hotels to various destinations".

He said many hackery owners take tourists around the city of Colombo and the Galle Face Green during evenings.

An old boy of Ananda College, Colombo, Wasantha said he owns about 80 acres of agricultural lands given by his father and out of this he has allocated eight acres of cultivable lands with a paddy and fruit cultivation for birds and other animals including his cattle, cows and oxen that are used to pull hackeries and other carts.

Wasantha said his hackeries are used by villagers even to sell Rambutan around the city during the Rambutan season between June and August.

He said he will preserve all his hackeries for the use of future generation in the country.

"If we do not preserve them, the future generation will never see even the shape of hackeries and for what purposes they were used by Sri Lankans.

Wasantha also said a hackery now cost over Rs.100,000, but no one is selling their hackeries as they are no longer manufactured in the country now.

He also said oxen who pull hakeries are given nutritious food such as Kollu, Innala and carrot.

He also recalled about the country's very first strike, organised by a group of hackery owners during the early period of the past century. It was organised over their daily wages. During the strike, the hackery owners stopped transporting goods from Colombo Harbour to outstation markets. But, it was later settled with the intervention of a Senior Police officer John Kotalawela, the father of former Prime Minister Sir John Kotalawela.

A retired Postal Department employee and a hackery owner K.N. Dayasena of Piliyandala said he has been using four hackeries and a bullock cart for the past 36 years and urged authorities to protect hackery owners and preserve hackeries for the benefit of future generation as even the present generation has not seen hackeries.

He also requests cultural organisations to conduct regular hackery races and also hackery rallies to educate the younger generation on hackeries.

A 57-year old hackery owner Anuruddha Priyantha of Dompe said hackery carts are like old vehicles, manufactured in England during the early part of the past centuary.

"We have seen some organisations conduct regular old crock rallies on Colombo roads and old vehicle shows at the BMICH. I therefore request these organisations to conduct hackery rallies also for the benefit of present day children".

A father of three children and an owner of three hackeries, Nimal Premasiri of Hanwella said hackery owners face untold difficulties as people are hardly using hackeries now and propose the Colombo MMC to conduct hackery races regularly to enable them to earn money for their living. He said foreign tourists like to travel in hackeries around Colombo and due to strict restrictions imposed by Police, hackery owners cannot operate them in the city.

He therefore asked Police and MMC authorities to allow hackery owners to carry out their activities in the city at least during the evenings everyday and during the weekends.

A 48-year-old hackery operator, R.S. Wijesinghe said both local and foreign tourists like to travel in hackries and requested authorities to allow them to operate their hackeries at Galle Face areas where a large number of foreigners visit during the evenings.

A 63-year old hackery owner, Gemunu Wijetilaka of Gampaha said, although hackeries were used even by British rulers during the colonial era, they have now become extinct.

"I wish Divisional Secretariats islandwide will identify all the hackery owners living in their divisions and register them to enable them to tell about their problems and seek assistance from the Government".

A 48-year-old hackery owner Sumith Samarasinghe of Kirindiwela proposed authorities at the Bandaranaike Airport to allow hackery owners to start a tour program for the benefit of foreign tourists who wish to travel in hackeries.