Avurudu Hangover

 

Pic by Ravindra Dharmathilaka www.nation.lk

Post-Christmas Stress Disorder is frequently observed in people of western countries after the Christmas season. Dr. Danister L Perera predicts that Sri Lankan people are also on the verge of developing a Post-Sinhala Avurudu Stress Disorder if the current system persists. “Some people go insane due to the significant distress caused during the Christmas season. They become stressed when they fail to organize and plan, financial and social aspects during the season. I fear that our people will soon develop a similar disorder in the Avurudu season,” Dr. Perera opined.

Dr. Danister L Perera is from Pahala Bomiriya, Kaduwela. Having received primary education from the Korathota Village School, he entered Rajasinghe Madya Maha Vidyalaya for his Advanced Level examination. Upon finishing school education he went to one of his relatives who practices Ayurveda medicine. The knowledge he gained there inculcated in him an interest in the field and therefore he decided to join the Gampaha Ayurveda Institute. After graduating, he focused on social science, social and cultural anthropology and herbal plants in his post graduate studies. His main focus is on research and publications while working as a visiting lecturer in several state universities as well as international agencies such as UNESCO. He was the former director to the Herbal Plants Conservation Project at the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine and the Secretary to the Ayurveda Medical Council. He currently works with a few private institutions.

People take loans and salary advances during the season to spend for the New Year gifts, groceries, clothes or household equipment as they want to celebrate it to the best of their possibilities. There were instances reported, where people pawned their gold to raise the necessary money. “After the New Year they have to worry about paying loans or the deducted salaries. All the happiness gained on the New Year day is lost, when you have to worry about paying bills,” he said. “New Year is not about the rituals or traditions anymore. It’s about the party and the way we are going to celebrate the day. It will soon become a day like valentines day, father’s day or mother’s day,” he added. He further explained how people worry about New Year parties and become tired and stressed once the party season is done with. “It’s like a hangover. The purpose of Avurudu, is to refresh and renew, is completely lost,” he added.

Any country has its own cultural values. Likewise, New Year traditions are a part of our culture which comes from ancient times. “Such cultures with traditions continued from the ancient history are rare and very powerful. Fortunately we belong to such a culture and these New Year traditions are a part of that,” he explained. According to astrology, New Year begins when the sun moves from Meena Rashiya (house of Pisces) to Mesha Rashiya (house of Aries). It also marks the end of the harvest. “On one hand, New Year celebrations are a part of the agricultural economy of the country and it is also connected to nature,” he said.

The Sun covers a period of twelve months or one year traveling through the twelve houses of the zodiac in its nonstop traversing. “This explains how our ancestors understood and tuned well to nature. They observed the cyclic changes in nature and they created the time unit called ‘the year.’ Later, with the traditions and rituals, this adaptation to the environment became ceremonial,” he added. He also mentioned how similar ceremonies, originating from worshiping the Sun, are present in the countries near the equator.

As Perera explained, the New Year also became a period during which our ancestors relaxed after the harvest. “I believe that this concept of starting everything afresh formed with the religious influence similar to starting a new birth,” he said. “It also carries an extra ordinary social value.” The precise times when the old year (Parana Avurudda) ends, and the New Year begins. The period from Parana Avurudda to the dawn the New Year is the Nonegatha (inauspicious) period where all work ceases. It brings a relief to the person’s body as well as the mind. It also gives a break to the materialistic equipment used by that person. With everything at ease the person has time to think about the spiritual side of life and focus on religious activities. “This is what should happen. But sometimes these are ignored with cultural transition of the society. It is difficult to practice what should be practiced because of the ways of businessmen,” he pointed out. 

He further explained how the Sinhala New Year traditions and rituals are challenged by the culture of the contemporary businessmen. “People forget traditions due to the commercialized economy. Businessmen have succeeded in making people believe that collecting goods from discount sales is the best way to get ready for the New Year. Notice the way people rush to and fro and congested roads two, three days before the New Year day. Media also holds a responsibility in this,” he noted.

As he pointed out Nonegatha is not a time to relax anymore. It is a time to listen to the radio announcers jabbering and a contest between television channels to see which one telecasts the best rated Hindi movie. “They are responsible of destroying the structure of the New Year,” he stressed. “The countdown to the Neketh times is the other mania media practices. People are made to believe that they have to attend to Neketh at the exact correct second. There is no base to this. It is not about lighting the match or eating the first piece of Kiribath at the correct second,” he added.

According to Perera, these ancient rituals are all about inculcating good habits among people. The Avurudu schedule is the ideal time table for a person to practice throughout his or her life. He explained that the Sinhala Avurudu rituals contain effective elements than the Japanese 5S organization methodology. “The 5S methodology was taken in to our systems with gratitude since it came from abroad. But if one is to analyze the elements of the Avurudu rituals, it has better organizational schemes from health, cleanliness or timeliness,” he exclaimed. He said that Avurudu Neketh is a reminder to renew the family, social and cultural values which people should practice everyday. He further explained this with the ritual or atoning oil.

“Hisa thel gema is a reminder to live healthy throughout the year. Atoning oil should be done frequently to maintain health. But today, people are made to believe that it’s for Apala (malefic period) and if they don’t do it on the Neketh time or there will be no use. But it’s a myth,” he said.

He further said that media should be held responsible for destroying the provincial diversity of the New Year rituals. “Avurudu rituals and the culture were different from region to region. Over the years media introduced new customs to people disregarding that. Regional identity is nonexistent now. What we see on TV is all made up,” he reiterated. He also pointed out how people have deviated from environmental friendly practices like playing Rabana during Neketh time to firing crackers and how environmental unfriendly things have become the norms.

Anyone could witness Colombo city deserted during the Avurudu week. There is no traffic or people rushing along the payments. Dr. Perera said that this is the best example to understand the power of the New Year. “People leave the city to go to their hometowns, where they belong to. Therefore Avurudu is also an event which reminds people about their origins,” he said. “There is a danger to this too. When people leave Colombo, they take Colombo culture to the village. That should not happen. The value system of the village is untouched. Bring the village culture to Colombo. But don’t spoil the village with city evils,” he reiterated.

“When you leave Colombo, take nothing with you, not even the Colombo gifts. Village is richer than the city. It doesn’t expect gifts from the city. That is the concept which should be promoted during the New Year season,” Perera added. He also mentioned the environmental hazards caused on days like Valentines Day, fathers’ day or the mothers’ day by polythene and plastic wrappers. He stressed that similar harm is caused by the gifts exchanged on Avurudu season.

Perera believes that media does not have a way out since they are funded by these businessmen who have their own agendas. They create needs among people in order to sell their products. Therefore the actual needs are replaced by these introduced needs. “We used to make our New Year delicacies at home. If you analyse this you will realize that most of these rituals are skill based. Since everything is available in the market, people started loosing their skills,” he pointed out. “It’s not bad to have a piece of cake on Avurudu, even Kokis is not an indigenous delicacy. But don’t buy cake from a shop. Bake it at home.”    

However according to Perera protecting the culture does not mean that the rituals and traditions should remain static over the years. “It doesn’t mean that we need to have a Thirikkal race instead of bicycle races. I believe it is okay to wear denims and t-shirts instead of the national costume as long as they still appreciate prostrating at the feet of their parent with beetle leaves,” he opined. “The core of tradition should be protected while adapting to the new world,” he added.

Dr. Perera believes that it is still not too late to protect these traditions. “It’s time to think back. “Leaving these unhealthy habits is not impossible at all.  We have to leave the party concept and go back to healthy practices. Making that happen is my dream,” he said. “In the worst case scenario someone will take this to a western country and repackage and sell it to us in the form of a new system like the 5S,” he added.

Passive literature

People sell their art or their talent to earn a living, it is no secret. Selling literature has a long history. In fact, Guththila in the Guththila Musila story competes with morality to get the right value for his talent. Fortunately, God Shakra was there to save art. It seems that god has also started to care less about art that it requires artistes to pray god to protect good literature. Similarly, the concept that contemporary society lacks good taste for art, music, drama or any other form of art is not new.

According to Professor Chandrasena Palliyaguru, even an acclaimed writer is discouraged if the reader’s taste doesn’t tally with his level. What WA Silva said about his novel Hingana Kolla exemplifies this. Palliyaguru explained how WA Silva’s Lakshmi, which Silva considered his best work, did not receive much attention or appreciation from the public. Dissatisfied, he wrote his next novel Hingana Kolla. But to his surprise it became one of the best selling novels, which also brought him fame. “Readers don’t want good food; they want pol kudu (coconut refuse). I will give them pol kudu this time (Upanda Sita, 1962),” WA Silva has said to Martin Wikramasinghe. “In fact, Hingana Kolla sold off as soon as it came out from the printers,” Palliyaguru said addressing the gathering at the State Literary festival lectures held at the Foundation Institute, last Wednesday.

“If we consider Meena by A Saiman De Silva as the first Sinhala novel ever written, the Sinhala novel is over 108 years old. Though no one can say the exact number of novels written since then, it should exceed 3,000,” he added.
According to him, there are two theories about how novels were introduced to Sinhala literature. According to Martin Wickramasinghe, it was influenced by western literature. Prof Wimal Dissanayaka held the concept that the novel was introduced to Sinhala literature by the Western countries. “There are flaws in both the theories, but yet we can’t completely dispose of them. We can’t agree 100 percent with them either,” Prof Palliyaguru said.

“However, the Sinhala novel is not compatible with the definitions of Eastern classics. Scholars attempt to give Western definitions to Sinhala novels. Indian scholars believe that the novel originated in India itself,” he iterated.
French critic Hippolyte Taine (1828-93) argued that literature was largely the product of the author’s environment, and that an analysis of that environment could yield a perfect understanding of the work of literature. “According to him, we can assume that the Sinhala novel as well as the Sinhala literature is a product of our environment and the authors’ creative thinking,” said Palliyaguru. He further explained that, in a historical perspective, the country’s politics, economics and social life have also had a vital impact on the final product. “See, for example, the difference in the literature of Anuradhapura, Polonnaru eras and Dambadeni and Kurunagala eras,” Palliyaguruge explained.

At the dawn of the 20th Centaury, the main intention of writers was to educate the society with ethics and moral values. “When the heat of the religious evocation faded, mundane stories and translations started to get published in newspapers and then in the form of books. Jayatissa saha Rosalin hewath wasanawantha wiwahaya by Piyadasa Sirisena can be considered as an example. Through his fiction Piyadasa Sirisena aimed to implant good values like patriotism,” he pointed out.

Realistic novels were also welcomed by the readers in the 1940s and this shows that there is a clear influence of literature to the growth of the society. The Gamperelia, Kaliyugaya and Yuganthaya trilogy by Martin Wickramasinghe established this trend of realistic novels. Wickramasingha’s Viragaya created another trend for autobiographies. “Aravinda of Viragaya was a passive and pessimistic character. This also triggered a trend of passive characters. Top novels like Parajithayo by K Jayathillake, Akkara Paha by Madawala S Ratnayake, Siri Gunasingha’s Hewanallea and Gunadasa Amarasekara’s Delowata Nathi Aya all followed this pattern and made a negative impact on the juvenile readership. In other words, the readers adopt this passiveness and spread among the young crowd like a disease,” he clarified. He also said that it is too early to comment on the impact of the first two decades of literature in the 21st centaury.

There are arguments among the literati that some of the novels which were recently nominated for literature awards shamelessly included private behavior of people. It is not clear whether the writers are eager to include sexual behavior, which is still a taboo in open discussion, as means of making money and be on the best selling lists or because they are all corrupted with the influence of Western literature which is incompatible with our culture.

According to Palliyaguru, the novel cannot be rated under the tag ‘strictly for adults’. “The standards of the television and theaters are maintained because they undergo a censoring process. Therefore, there are limits of what they can show. But the novels are not censored like that. Writers don’t like their work to be censored because the quality of their creative work can be affected by screening,” Palliyaguru emphasized.

“When you go to a theater, you have to buy a ticket for what you are going to see. But once a novel is bought, anyone, who can read, will read what is in it. I hope you can remember that some novels and fictions were banned due to direct information given about the private lives of the people,” he added.

Some say that this downfall of Sinhala literature is because there is no censoring process. Some say it is because of the publishers who are more concerned about the monetary aspect of it. “We have doubts about the future of literature in our country. Whatever is said and done, there is no doubt that the current novel has become just a business deal,” he reiterated.

- See more at:http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/21392-passive-literature.html#sthash.ttVojAba.dpuf

Pageant of cultural diversity

Bellanwila
Decorated tuskers, drummers, dancers, trumpeters and the lantern bearers of the Kandy Esala Perahera enchanted the entire country last week. An event of similar grandeur as the Kandy Perehara, the annual Bellanwila Esala Perahera will parade the streets this week in grand scale in the surrounding area of the Bellanwila temple.

South of Colombo about 15 kilometers from the city is the Bellanwila Purana Rajamaha Viharaya bordered by the Attidiya bird sanctuary. Hundreds visit the viharaya every day. There is a custom among Buddhists in the western province, when a new baby is born, he or she is taken to Bellanwila Temple and blessed under the sacred Bo tree. Buddhists believe that the Bellanwila Bo tree’s blessings are very potent.

History
History of the Bellanwila temple also begins with this sacred Bo tree in the middle of the temple, surrounded by small devalas dedicated to different gods.
In the dawn of 19th century, canals were the most reliable method of transport. Thengodagedara hamuduruwo, founder of the Maligawatta Purana Viharaya, Attidiya was traveling in a boat down the canal Katu Ela on his way to Kotte. He heard a distant sound of hevisi from the jungle. The Thera knew that there were no temples nearby and sensed something special about it. He followed the sound of the hevisi and after sometime, he found a Bo tree, in which wild animals had taken refuge. This was the Bellanwila Bo tree, which was one of the historical Bo saplings planted during the regime of King Devanampiyatissa.
This discovery of the Bellanwila Bo tree is the reason the viharaya is there today, receiving high degree of care and devotion from people all over the country. Today anyone who visits the temple never leaves without bathing the roots of the Bo tree wishing for good luck.The Sinhala Bodhivamsaya records that one of the 32 saplings (Dethis pala ruha bodhi) that grew from the Sri Maha Bodhi, Anuradhapura was planted at Bellanwila during King Devanampiyatissa’s time.
“Written history of the temple is incomplete. Information about the temple in some eras is completely missing. Maybe they were destroyed at the time of foreign invasions,” the Chief incumbent of the Bellanwila Rajamaha Vihara Ven Prof. Bellanwila Wimalaratana Thera explained.

Bellanwila is also mentioned in literary works of Kotte period, during which time Buddhism rose to great heights with the patronage of King Parakramabahu VI. During this period Bellanwila was cast in the shadow of Sunethradevi Pirivena, a shrine built by King Parakramabahu VI to train young Buddhist monks. Both Benllanwila and Pepiliyana during this regime appeared to have remained a single unit.Late s17thcentury brought darkness back to Bellanwila. It was deserted following the invasion of the Portuguese until Thengodagedara hamuduruwo rediscovered it.

Architect
“According to legends that Thengodagedara hamuduruwo had heard, he decided that this must be Bellanwila. A new generation of monks was made responsible for the betterment of Bellanwila from that day onwards,” said Wimalarathana Thera. Since then, Bellanwila had a succession of chief incumbents from Ven. Udugampola Sri Ratanapala, Udugampola Sri Dammakkhandha, Abhidhammika Weboda Sri Sangharatana, Asgiriya Devarakkhita, Bellanwila Sri Somaratana, Ven Dr. Bellanwila Dhammaratana Nayaka Thera to Ven. Prof. Bellanwila Wimalaratana Thera. “It is Bellanwila Sri Somaratana hamuduruwo who must be given credit for raising Bellanwila Rajamaha Vihara to its present state of glory,” Wimalarathna Thera recalled with gratitude.Bellanwila Sri Somaratana thera saw the possibility of developing the temple into a major place of worship. “He is the one who built all these dharmashala, relic chamber and Devala premises,” Wimalarathna Thera informed. “He was the architect of the modern Bellanwila Vihara,” he added.

Perahera
The Bellanwila Esala Perahera festival including the grand Esala Maha Perahera was also an idea of the late Somaratana Nayaka Thera. The first Perahera was held in August 1950. Today, the Elasa pinkam commence with a memorial bana program followed by a day and night Pirith chanting ceremony and a Sangika Dana. According to ancient customs and traditions, the recital of the Dorakada Asna, the Devadutha and Kumbal Peraheras take place respectively. Then a series of Mal Perahera parade the streets for four days. This will be followed by the Pavada Perahera, the Ransivili and the final Randoli Perahera. Concluding the pinkam series, the ‘Water Cutting’ ceremony (Diya Kapeema) will be held at the Boralesgamuwa thotopola and the offering of alms to the deities.
Wimalarathna Thera said that all the expenses of the perahera ceremony are borne by the devotees and donors. “The temple does not ask for financial funds from the government. Yet, we appreciate the services of the security forces and the road maintenance,” he said. “There are a large number of devotees who contribute each year. They all are behind the success of the ceremony,” he added.

Wimalathna thera also mentioned that the expenses have risen since the first perahera. “Let’s say we had to spend one million rupees for the perahera 10 to 15 years ago. Now it has become seven or eight million. Charges of the services are all comparatively very high,” he said. Bellanwila perahera is a pageant which exhibiting cultural diversity. It includes dance events from Udarata, Pahatharata and Sabaragamu traditions. “It basically has all the traditions without exception. It provides a platform to performing artistes from all parts of the country. But we choose only what is suitable for Buddha Pooja,” Wimalarathna Thera exclaimed. “We also allow women to participate in the Perahera. Some people say it is not good to have women participate in such an event. But if women are allowed in other places, why should we make perehara a taboo for them,” he pointed out.

Elephants
A major problem which the perahera organizing committee has to deal with is finding tuskers and elephants for the perahera. “Keeping elephants is a huge expense today. So it is very expensive to hire an elephant too. Most of all it is hard to find trained elephants. There are only a few tamed elephants in the country,” Wimalarathna Thera lamented. “In 1960 there were 105 elephants in the perahera. We cannot have that number today. The country is developed since then yet the elephants welfare wasn’t taken into account,” he added. He also said that in the early days, when elephants were used for manual work, owners sent them free of charge for the perahera just to get the blessings for the animal.

Like ‘Raja’ in Kandy perahera, there was ‘Chandra’ in Bellanwila perahera. “Chandra was one of the greatest tuskers we had. Somaratana Nayaka hamuduruwo brought Chandra to the temple in 1965. Chandra was a legend who was bestowed the honor of carrying relics in the Kelani perahera and Kotte perahera as well,” Wimalarathna Thera informed. After Chandra now there is a new tusker gifted from Myanmar to the Bellanwila temple. “He is still a baby. It will take few more years to train him to carry the relics,” Wimlarathna Thera said.

The perahera pooja is parading the streets for the 63rd time this year. The grand finale of the pinkam ceremony, compromised with over 50 troops of selected dancers, Randoli Perahera will parade the streets on August 30 and 31. The Chief incumbent Bellanwila Wimalaratana Thera is determined to stage the ceremony to the best of their ability as he believes that this is one of the best opportunities they have to pay homage to the Buddha and as well as to their guru, late Bellanwila Somaratana Thera.

Pics by Chandana Wijesinghe 

 

 

 

Published in The Nation on August 26, 2013

Link  : http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/20347-pageant-of-cultural-diversity.html