The Role of Sri Lanka within the Region as well as in the World

The recent transfer of political power (as it seems to be) in the Maldives was not a coup, India believes even as New Delhi sent a special envoy to the troubled Indian Ocean nation to assess the situation and help work out a way forward.

The Sri Lankan government, purposely keeping hands out in public, only provides protection for the family of the former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed as long as they remain in Sri Lankan soil.

The political history of Maldives is closely associated with the Legend of Koimala Kalou.

Koimala Kalou (Lord Koimala) was the first king of the Homa (Lunar) Dynasty, which some historians call Theemuge.

This legendary nobleman of the Lion Race from Sri Lanka, sailed to Rasgetheemu island (literally King's Town) in North Maalhosmadulu Atoll and from there to Malé and established a kingdom there. By then, the Aadeetta (Sun) Dynasty had for sometime ceased to rule in Malé, possibly due to invasions by the Cholas of Southern India in the Tenth Century. The indigenous people in Malé Atoll, the Giraavaru invited Koimala to Malé and permitted him to be proclaimed king. Koimala Kalou (Lord Koimala) reigned as King Maanaabarana and was succeeded by his nephew Dhovemi. Koimala was a Buddhist.

Since Koimala's reign, the Maldive throne was also known as the Singaasana (Lion Throne). Before then and in some situations since, it was also known as the Saridhaaleys (Ivory Throne).

Several foreign travellers, mainly Arabs, had written about a kingdom over the Maldives ruled by a queen. This kingdom pre-dated Koimala's reign. Idrisi (1099 - 1186) referring to the writings of earlier writers mentions the name of one of the queens. Her name was Damahaar. She was a member of the Aadeetta (Sun) dynasty. The Homa (Lunar) dynasty soveriegns inter-married with the Aaditta (Sun) Dynasty. This was why the formal titles of Maldive kings until 1968 contained references to "kula sudha ira" which meant "descended from the Moon and the Sun".   

Pic 01. Maldive image of the Buddha in a buried temple excavated on Thoddu island in Ari Atoll. Such finds of pre-Islamic relics are systematically vandalised and destroyed. Ordinary people are not encouraged to find out that Maldivians could ever worship a deity other than Allah. Among the artifacts excavated from the same temple included a Roman republican coin that went out of circulation circa AD 100.

In March of 2001, the Taliban destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. These statues had been standing there since the early 6th century. Symbols of universal compassion, these were in the eyes of Taliban, something that had to be destroyed.

Pic 02

Can the Bamiyan Buddhas be put back together again? Afghanistan's government in 2002 wanted to restore the giant pair of carved Buddhas destroyed a year ago by the Taliban. "They need to be rebuilt," Raheen Makhdoom, Afghanistan's minister of information and culture, told the press. Makhdoom characterized the ancient Bamiyan statues—one was 1,800 years old; the other dated from the 6th century—as "a sign of our identity and a sign of our tolerance and our history."

Pic 03.

Smaller Buddha of Bamiyan

Left before & right after destruction

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said in March, 2011 that the 1,500-year-old historic Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, that had been destroyed by the Taliban, will not be reconstructed.

The decision emerged after a two-day meeting of scientists, Afghan officials and donors in Paris.

While some claimed that the statues can be repaired, the UNESCO told the Afghan government it does not support a rebuild project, citing concerns over funding priorities and authenticity.

Replicating the colossal monuments, which once stood 55 and 38 metres tall, could cost between eight and 12 million dollars. However, less than half of the original stone used to build the statues remains.

Pic 04. Taller Buddha of Bamiyan before and after destruction

Arrayed against the tolerant and measured messages of Buddhism, the quagmire of the "Bamiyan Massacre" seems perplexing at best.

First, it is important to recognize that the massacre has little to do with religion. The Buddha is not God or even one among many gods. During his lifetime of 80 years, Buddha Sakyamuni only allowed his image to be recorded as a reflection in rippling water. Images of the Buddha himself did not appear for at least 400 years after his death and even then were created only to remind followers of their own innate "Buddha Nature." This kind of early aversion to "idolatry" is typical of Christianity and other religions — many devotees of Christ railed against material images of Jesus for centuries, especially during two waves of "iconoclasts" (idol smashers) in the Byzantine Empire.

Pic 05. 250 images of laser recreations of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by Japanese artist Hiro Yamagata are on display in Tokyo.

Bamiyan lies on the Silk Road which lies in the Hindu Kush mountain region, in the Bamiyan Valley. The Silk Road is a caravan route linking the markets of China with those of Western Asia. Until the 11th century, Bamiyan was part of the kingdom of Gandhara. It was the site of several Buddhist monasteries, and a thriving center for religion, philosophy, and Indian art. It was a Buddhist religious site from the 2nd century up to the time of the Islamic invasion in the 9th century. Monks at the monasteries lived as hermits in small caves carved into the side of the Bamiyan cliffs. Many of these monks embellished their caves with religious statuary and elaborate, brightly colored frescoes.

The Buddhas of Bamiyan (Persian: بت های باميان – but hay-e bamiyan) were two 6th century monumental statues of standing buddhas carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan, situated 230 km (140 mi) northwest of Kabul at an altitude of 2,500 meters (8,202 ft). Built in 507 AD, the larger in 554 AD, the statues represented the classic blended style of Gandhara art.

On 8 September 2008 archeologists searching for a legendary 300-metre statue at the site of the already dynamited Buddhas announced the discovery of an unknown 19-metre (62-foot) reclining Buddha, a pose representing Buddha's passage into nirvana.

 Pic 06.

Members of an Afghani family had recently been jailed for life in Canada for the honour killing of three teenage girls – Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13 – and their stepmother. Mohammad Shafia, the girls' father and husband of the fourth victim, was secretly taped by police describing his daughters as a "disgrace" and complaining that they dated boys and wore inappropriate clothes. The bodies were discovered along with that of their stepmother, Rona Amir, inside a car which was submerged in a 19th century canal lock in Kingston, Ontario, where the family had stopped on their way back home to Quebec following a trip to Niagara Falls.

Although, I have never experienced such an incident, even in Sri Lanka it is traditionaly said, in case of daughters misbehaviour they are supposed to be cut into pieces and thrown to river. However, with the enforcement of the european law, at present, such evil girls are not killed but expelled from family in order to maintain the dignity of the family (if there is any).

The above afghani family had moved to Canada in 2007 as part of a programme for wealthy immigrants. Perhaps, before migrating, they were not well aware of the fact that in countries ruled by white people, it is realy hard to maintain the dignity of the family as well as the asian family standards, since their social and cultural structure does not support such. In simple words white caucasoid people have been evolved to survive in a cold and harsh environment of the northern hemisphere where temperature may sometimes fall down to -30 c. Some social and cultural values which are commonly accepted as normal by them become automatically anti cultural and anti social in Asia.

Although, at the beggining of this millenium, I had opposed the western military interference in Afghanistan https://picasaweb.google.com/111485490681542872308/NewspaperArticles#5234680872009794130  some of my assessments have been proved to be wrong in the sense of the war against LTTE in Sri Lanka. Along with the western interest of war on terrorism we managed to defeat the LTTE and establish peace in the island. Now it is our turn to get the leadership in war on terrorism in the region and restore the Barmiyan Buddhas back in place in Afghanistan. On the other hand, the extended sri lankan military influence in Asia may ensure the deduction of unwanted western armed forces in the region as well.

Concept of worshiping a tooth

The historical premises of famous temple of tooth relic in Kandy became once again a battle ground when chief Monks of the temple declared a riotous gathering of monks, in front of the temple, just after the arrest of defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka by SL army, demanding his release. Although, the attempt of riotous monks has temporary been withdrawn, tendency of Kandyan monks toward misuse of their dignity and social benefits against the moves of the SL government should seriously be taken into consideration. As soon as we look back at our past we can easily identify another Thibbotuwawe who had, in 17th century, led monks to establish a separate kingdom in mountainous central parts of the Island leaving rest of country at risk of invasion of Portuguese. Regardless of race, cast or religion, whoever attempts to divide the Island is convicted of offence, subjected to beheading.

The Kandyan Kingdom suddenly came to existence at the beginning of 17th century as a result of Portuguese intervention using Konar (Konappu bandara- Son of an officer of Rajasingha 1) as a puppet to create disorder in central region of the Island against the dominion of King Seitawake Rajasingha. Konar, who entered the country from east via Batticaloa with Yamasinha Bandara and Portuguese soldiers, was welcome and supported by monks, Devanagala Rathanalankara and also Gampola Darmakeerthi. With the help of them Konar implemented the plans of Portuguese by devastating property as well as looting residents. Unfortunately, Seitawake troops led by Aritta Kee Wendu- Emigrant from India- against Konar failed twice due to suspicious reasons. This was soon followed up by sudden death of Rajasingha the first in 1592 leaving Konar as provincial ruler of Kandy.

The original name of Kandy is Senkadagala which means rocky place of Hindu priest named Senkada. As legend says, when this Hindu priest first arrived at the ground where now the temple of tooth stands, he observed a miracle. A rabbit that had been chased by a jackal suddenly began fighting back which caused the jackal to run away being defeated. Perhaps in reality, when the rabbit being surprised by the sudden appearance of a man on the way may have stopped and turned back to run in opposite direction, the frustrated jackal would have done the same. However, the priest decided to make his residence on the spot which later became palace-ground of Kandyan rulers.

Kandy (Ancient Senkadagala) is the capital of the South Indian Malabari Nayakkar Monarchy the History of which goes back to not more than two centuries before the beginning of the Common Era. The city is surrounded by a ring of mountain ranges and Sri Lanka’s longest river Mahaweli. Kandy enjoys a salubrious climate and still breathes the ancient lifestyle of the people. The Kandyan Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Dance and Music, all such cultural traditions are unique although they are not considered as superb as of Anuradhapura or Polonnaruwa etc. Despite of that Kandy remains the home for all denominations of major world religions.

Located in Kandy, the stunning 17th-century Temple of the Tooth is believed to house the left upper canine tooth of the Lord Buddha himself. This relic attracts white-clad pilgrims, bearing lotus blossoms, every day.

Aside from this specific tooth relic, another relic of the tooth of the Buddha is currently in Lingguang Temple in Badachu, Beijing, China. Fo Guang Shan monastery in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the reliquary hall (shariden) of Engaku-ji in Kamakura, Japan, and the Buddha Relic Tooth Temple in Chinatown, Singapore are also reputed to each contain a tooth of the Buddha.

According to Sri Lankan legends, when the Buddha died, his body was cremated in a sandalwood pyre at Kusinara in India and his left canine tooth was retrieved from the funeral pyre by Arahat Khema. Khema then gave it to King Brahmadatte for veneration. It became a royal possession in Brahmadatte's country and was kept in the city of Dantapuri (present day Puri in Orissa).

A belief grew that whoever possessed the Sacred Tooth Relic had a divine right to rule that land. Wars were fought to take possession of the relic. 800 years after the Buddha's death, in the 4th century AD, the tooth came into the possession of King Guhaseeva of Kalinga, which roughly corresponds to the present day state of Orissa.

Guhaseeva had become a Buddhist and begun to worship the Sacred Tooth relic. This caused discontent among some of the citizens, who went to King Paandu and said that King Guhaseeva had stopped believing in god and that he had started to worship a tooth.

King Paandu decided to destroy the relic, and ordered to bring it to the city. It is said that, as the tooth arrived at the city, a miracle occurred, and King Paandu converted to Buddhism.

King Ksheeradara having heard of this, went with his army to attack Paandu in the city of Palalus. The invaders were defeated before reaching the city, and King Ksheeradara died.

A prince from the city of Udeni who had become a Buddhist came to worship the sacred tooth. King Guhaseeva was pleased with him, and let him marry his daughter. The prince was known as Dantha (means tooth) and the princess as Hemamala.

When King Ksheeradara died in the war, his sons raised a large army to attack King Guhaseeva and destroy the relic. They entered the city, but King Guhaseeva secretly sent Dantha and Hemamala out of the city, with the relic.

According to legend, Hemamala hid the relic in her hair ornament and the royal couple disguised themselves as Brahmins in order to avoid discovery. They set sail from Tamralipti, a port at the mouth of the river Ganges, and landed in Sri Lanka at the port of Lankapattana (now Ilankeiturei).

It immediately became an object of great reverence and was enshrined in a series of nested jeweled reliquaries. The tooth was brought out for special occasions and paraded on the backs of elephants. The concept of political usage of tooth relic was quickly discovered, as a new opportunity of making kings with lack of inheritance, as soon as the belief spread out by monks among Sri Lankans that whoever possessed the Sacred Tooth Relic had a divine right to rule the Island. Hence, the Buddhist monks became rightful king-makers of Sri Lanka who exercised the freedom of putting anyone on throne irrespective of his inheritance and talents. In this regard they had mastered the techniques such as maintenance of chronicles in which mainly rulers who favoured Buddhist monks were praised and also up-heaving the authority of ruling chapters or Nikayas of monks. As a result of this attitude the sinhala throne, through out the history, was time to time occupied by rulers emigrated from Java as well as from different parts of India with the help of Buddhist monks. The only condition, such a ruler had to follow, was to favour the chief monks while having the tooth relic placed in a shrine near the palace.

Since the capital was shifted mainly due to invasions new relic shrines were built up at different locations. As it is commonly accepted by Buddhists, the tooth relic survived numerous attempts to capture and destroy it. It is reported in the messenger poems such as Hansa, Gira, and Selalihini that the temple of tooth relic was situated within the city of Kotte during the reign of King Parakum the sixth who came to power with the help of China. However, as Chinese chronicles report the original tooth relic had been looted by Cheng Ho and taken to China, years ago, during the reign of Veera Alakeshwara. As a fact the originality of relics does not matter the belief of Buddhists, there was always a replacement. Later in 16th century, there is evidence enough to believe that provincial leaders, such as Veediye Bandara of south Indian origin, had been carrying their personal relics with them to prove that they were supporters of Buddhism.

Whatever was the tooth relic placed in Kotte had to be shifted secretly to Seitawake Kingdom in 1557 as soon as Kotte fell under Portuguese rule and it was hidden and protected in a grinding stone at the Kuruwita temple, Ratnapura. When King Rajasingha 1 came to throne as the successor, over his father Mayadunne's death at the age of 80, he ordered the annual pageant (Perahera) to honour the tooth relic. Thus, eleven processions (Dalada Perahera) had been conducted till his death in 1592.

When the capital was moved to Kandy, the tooth was considered to be taken to the new city and placed in temples to honour it. The present day temple is said to be originally built under Kandyan kings between 1687 and 1707, but later severely damaged during the 18th-century colonial wars against the Portuguese and Dutch. After the wars, the original wooden structures were restored in stone by Malabari Rulers.

On the outside, the temple buildings are not magnificent or elaborately decorated. White with red roofs, they cluster around Kandy Lake. This is the wrongly but commonly accepted life style of Buddhists being very simple and charm only in outward guise while maintaining an inner complex nature. Hence, in striking contrast to the plain exterior, the interiors of the temple buildings are richly carved and decorated with inlaid woods, ivory, and lacquer.

Around the entire complex is a low white stone wall, delicately and simply carved with openings that give a filigree effect. During celebrations, candles are placed in the openings, lighting up the entire front. The relic of the tooth is kept in a two-story inner shrine fronted by two large elephant tusks. The relic rests on a solid gold lotus flower, encased in jeweled caskets that sit on a throne.

The temple is joined to the Pattiripuwa (Octagon) tower, built in 1803 by the last king Sri Vikrama Rajasimha who was later expelled to Malabar, India with his family by British, that was originally a prison but now houses a collection of palm-leaf manuscripts. The king's palace is also in the temple compound.

The Relic Shrine is approached by a large draw-bridge over the moat and through a decorated frontispiece. A tunnel ambarawa, leads to the main shrine complex, having a central courtyard surrounded by storied structures. The two-storied open pillared hall in front constitutes the area where visitors and devotees gather. The lower hall has its central part set apart for the beating of drums and other forms of traditional music performed during ritual service hours. On either side are the Pallemale Vihara constructed by king Kirti Sri Rajasimha and the Octagon (Pattirippuva) on one side and the small stupa supposed to contain the Bowl Relic of the Buddha on the other. The storied structures to the right and left of the shrine, constitute the residence quarters of the monks engaged during daily service (Tevava), the conference hall, the Library and the Office of the Diyawadana Nilame (Civil officer/caretaker of temple). The whole Royal Complex consists of the Palace, a central courtyard separating the Dalada shrine at its southern extremity, the Audience Hall, Queen's Quarters, Queen's Bath, the Harem (the present National Museum), the Jalatilaka Mandapa (The traditional Island Pavilion) and other British period buildings.

The new three-storied structure (Alut Maligava) at the back of the courtyard consists of the new shrine assuming the design of a Thai shrine on the ground floor. Although, a number of Thai style Buddha statues are more prominent in this shrine, as it is visible on photographs above, there is also a sequence of picture boards with respective descriptions hanging below each of it in order to highlight the tooth relic related History as per the monks.

Since the description recorded on one of them is totally considered as a humiliation to the great king of Sri Lanka who had sacrificed his life to overthrow European invasion in 16th century, several requests were made at different occasions to draw their attention in this regard. The Diyawadana Nilame of temple had once replied that since the same statement had been recorded by Kandyan monks in the chronicle Mahawansa, he was not in a position to proceed further. This shameful and disgusting act of Kandyan Buddhists against King Rajasingha the first is certainly a black mark on Buddhism in Sri Lanka.

The Time when Arabs Served Sri Lankans...

Through out the 16th century Muslims who were lucky enough to escape from Portuguese arrived in the Seitawake Kingdom seeking political asylum. Most of them had been chased away from Kotte Kingdom as well as from southern India. From the 8th ccentury AD Muslim-Arab traders had been sailing to Sri Lanka with Clothe, Horses and Luxury Items in exchange with variety of goods such as Gems, Ivory, Pearl, Spices such as Pepper and Cinnamon, Wood and Handicrafts. Some of them had settled, along the coastal belt, making offspring with local women. Their descendants and wives became always Muslim. Sri Lankan Kings traditionally show tolerance toward other religions. The issue of the belief is a matter of subjects; the duty of the King is to rule them irrespective of their believes. The ultimate concept of this attitude is only a weak ruler would like to force his subjects to believe what he wants in order to rule them. Although Sri Lanka is a multi-religious country, in fact, non of the religions originated in the Island. But all of them came from outside with a political agenda except Islam.

According to chronicles there had been contacts with non- Muslim Arabs as well as Greeks and Romans even at the early period of the Anuradhapura era. Mahatitta, the great port of Mannar, and Jambukola Pattana, Jaffna connected through a highway to Anuradhapura prompted traders to reach the interior of the Island. Even today there are some tomb stones on the way of some of these Muslims which bear witness to their travel. Later, Muslims also came here as pilgrims. Once the Adem's Peak had been recognized as sacred as Mecca and the foot print on the top was considered as the foot print of Adem while some believed that Adem's tomb was on the rock. When in 1344 the Arab traveller Ibn Battuta arrived in the Island on his way to the sacred Adem's peak, first he entered Jaffna and met with Arya Chakkrawarti, the Tamil Ruler of Jaffna, who controlled at that time the pearl-rich coastal belt of North-West. Battuta describes the Tamil ruler as a Sultan. On the way to Adem's peak he passed through "Konakar" which probably sites "Ratnapura" or "the town of the King" (The unfinished task of Seitawake Rajasingha). This famous Arab trotter states that the Adem's tomb on the top attracted large number of Muslim pilgrims. The sacred mountain that has been forgotten, through the period of European colonization, should be unveiled to the Muslim world and their traditional annual pilgrimages to the Adem's peak must be reawakened.

In the 16 the century, the Muslims being beaten and chased away by Portuguese found shelter in the Seitawake Kingdom under the mercy of King Mayadunne, father of Rajasingha the first. As political asylum seekers, probably for the first time in their history in the Island, the Muslim community faced the challenge of finding life-supportive jobs other than trade. Actually this was a real challenge for them being used only to single occupation for generations. Some clues of the life style of Arab traders camped out in Sri Lanka during the arrival of Battuta can be found in the chronicle "the war of Alakeshwara". This is all about the war and the victory of the provincial ruler of west named Alakeshwara against the invasion of Tamil ruler Arya Chakkrawarti who received Ibn Battuta in Jaffna a decade before. As the chronicle indicates the Arab traders had been camping out with their Horses and stocks of goods in the marshy land south of the river "Kelani". Alakeshwara, as the first step of war, attacked them and occupied the land naturally protected by marsh, and established his troops, where later the rich capital of the Kotte Kingdom arose. Even today the Parliament complex is situated on the soil of the camp site of Arab traders.

During the reign of King Rajasingha 1, the Muslims, who had been chased away from Kotte by Portuguese in the first half of 16th century and sought refuge in Seitawake Kingdom, were absorbed into the "Badda" or "Rajakari system" allowing them to serve the people as well as state in various occupations. A few of them who managed to strongly impress the Monarch were given land "nindagam" with the order to be engaged in different royal departments. One of the well known examples is the story of the ancestor of Wajya Waidyasekera Duwegoda Ranasinghe Mudiyanselage M. M. M. Irshad who is currently an Ayurvedic physician.

Irshad's great great ancestor who was granted the nindagam of Thalduwa in Awissawella had claimed that he was a physician of the Middle Eastern "Yunani" system. However, presently, his descendants practice Ayurvedic medicine learnt from Buddhist Monks. When Irshad's "ge" name, which was granted to his ancestor by King Rajasingha 1, is being analysed, the first part "Wajya" seems to be in relevance with the word "wijya" which means illusion or science related. Otherwise the meaning of Wajya may be in relevance with "wajee" means "sexual power improving". Thus he had been a physician of that kind. "Ranasinghe Mudiyanselage" was commonly offered for people who contributed at the war with a troop collected from the village. With the fall of Seitawake Kingdom they had to abandon their original occupations in order to work for others. In spite of race Sri Lankans were always proud of their "ge" names granted by sovereigns. The Muslims once served the Monarch of Sri Lanka still proudly maintain the royal titles bestowed on them.