Epic reaffirmation of Hindu-Buddhist unity

[urmila]

Epic reaffirmation of Hindu-Buddhist unity

Chandan Mitra

Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s recent mission to Sri Lanka celebrated the
living legend of Ramayana and reinforced the amity of two Indic faiths

Our arrival in Sri Lanka on Friday, June 25, coincided with a
particularly auspicious occasion. Nearly 2,300 years ago on this full
moon night, Emperor Ashoka’s children Mahendra and Sanghamitra reached
the shores of this island to spread the message of the Buddha and
extend the civilisational boundary of their legendary father’s empire.
It is a public holiday here and the capital city of Colombo wore a
festive look. Travelling as a member of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s team, our hosts, particularly the amiable
Federal Minister Dinesh Gunawardene, repeatedly reminded us of the
historical significance of the date during the reception at the
airport. The Chief Minister was quick to point out that his native
district is Vidisha, where the Buddhist pilgrimage of Sanchi is
located and it was precisely from there that Ashoka’s children had
embarked upon their journey to Sri Lanka.

The following morning we travelled by helicopter first to Sita Eliya,
on the outskirts of the fabled Ashok Vatika and then to Divrumpula,
the spot where Lord Rama’s wife undertook her first agni-pariksha
(trial by fire) after being rescued from Ravana’s captivity. It is
interesting to observe how conflicting legends meet and merge in this
assimilative sub-continent. Although Rama vanquished the king of Sri
Lanka and destroyed Ravana’s golden capital before slaying him, Sita
is universally worshipped here. A temple to her stands at Ashok
Vatika, the garden where she was held Ravana’s prisoner. And now a
magnificent temple will be built at the site of the agni-pariksha,
under the aegis of the Mahabodhi Society in collaboration with the
revered Hindu Swami, Dayanand Saraswati.

The Ramayana is a living legend in Sri Lanka as in most parts of South-
East Asia. Even in Muslim-majority Indonesia Ramayana performances are
routine and Ramlila shows are held with greater fanfare than in India.
In Hindu-dominated Bali, they still observe Kartik Purnima as Bali
Yatra — commemorating the annual journey by traders from Odisha to
that faraway island. The celebration of Mahendra-Sanghamitra’s arrival
in Sri Lanka or Bali Yatra prove not only the deep civilisational
connectivity between India and its cultural domain in the East, but
also the commitment with which people outside our country perpetuate
that connection as part of their history. Unfortun- ately, a perverse
interpretation of secularism in India classifies observance of such
occasions as obscurantist and communal!

The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister was invited to Sri Lanka for two
reasons, first to participate in the bhoomi pujan of the new Sita
temple and second, finalise plans to promote Sanchi as an upcoming
international Buddhist destination. A university for the study of
Buddhist tenets will soon be built at Sanchi, which is being developed
as a major centre of religious tourism. The Madhya Pradesh
administration has identified 65 acres of land close to the Sanchi
Stupa, a Unesco heritage site, for construction of the Buddhist
University. Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan is keen to get going quickly on
the project and proposes to have its foundation stone laid during the
annual Buddhist festival at Sanchi in October-November this year.

We got a real feel of assimilation when we reached Divrumpula where
Sita is believed to have undertaken her first agni-pariksha. A
Buddhist monastery with fine ancient paintings depicting scenes from
the Ramayana has stood there for as long as people can remember. Under
a huge banyan tree just outside the building is a small structure
commemorating Sita’s trial by fire. Amazingly, the legend has been
scrupulously nourished by Sinhala Buddhist monks. The presiding Abbot
gave us a guided tour of the complex, explaining its various facets
before leading us to the spot just outside its precincts where land
has been earmarked for building a magnificent Sita temple.

Under Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s supervision and in close coordination
with Sri Lanka's Buddhist clergy, the ground-breaking ceremony was
performed with appropriate sobriety amid the chanting of Hindu and
Buddhist hymns. Local people congregated in thousands to witness the
historic event and pay their respects to Sita, who despite the
quibbles among scholars about her historicity, continues to live in
people’s emotions here. The temple, when completed, will symbolise the
civilisational bond between the two countries and also become an
example of the harmony with which different faiths can coexist in our
extended sub-continent.

The Government of Sri Lanka is currently developing what it calls the
Ramayana Trail linking various sites associated with the greatest epic
of Asia. It hopes that the trail will soon become not just an added
tourist attraction for thousands of Indians who visit the island, but
will also draw many devout pilgrims from across the Ram Setu. Indeed
the geological formation, which the British named Adam’s Bridge,
spanning the narrow, shallow Palk Straits, is so distinctly visible
while flying that it seems a travesty that the present regime in Tamil
Nadu actually wanted to destroy it to create a passage for small
ships!

We learnt that religious-minded people in Sri Lanka still consider
their lives unfulfilled without a visit to Jambudweep (ancient name
for India), particularly for offering prayers at sites connected with
Buddhism such as Kapilvastu, Sarnath (Bodhgaya) and Sanchi. Mr Chouhan
promised to develop a Buddhist Circuit within Madhya Pradesh so that
pilgrims travelling to Sanchi were also able to easily touch upon
other sites associated with the Buddha and Ashoka who made Buddhism
the state religion and ensured its spread to the north and east of
India.

The brief stay in Sri Lanka was an eye-opener in many ways. We tend to
treat Sri Lanka only as a leisure destination, soaking in the sea and
sunshine on its fabulous beaches. But there is so much more to that
small country, one-fifth the size of Madhya Pradesh with a population
of just over two crore. I was deeply impressed by the depth of
knowledge and intellectual calibre of its Buddhist clergy,
particularly their concern for the preservation of history and our
shared culture.

A visit to the Temple of the Tooth Relic at Kandy was especially
illuminating. The spectacular temple was thronged by multitudes and we
had to wait for over one hour before being escorted into the sanctum
sanctorum where a tooth of Lord Buddha is preserved inside a
shimmering gold casket, taken out only on two occasions in a year. The
temple, incidentally, was built by the Hindu king of Kandy centuries
ago. The upsurge of devotion we witnessed here and earlier at the
Kelaniya temple in Colombo underlined the depth of the island nation’s
religiosity.

Our meetings at the Mahabodhi Society complex in Colombo and with the
Mahanayake of Sri Lanka’s biggest Buddhist sect in Kandy reaffirmed
that different faiths could prosper without hostility or
confrontation. The commonality between the Hindu and Buddhist
religions that we discovered is truly a fitting rebuttal to the
sectarian and confrontationist approach of some self-styled neo-
Buddhist leaders in India who have turned professional Hindu-baiters
and seek to drive wedges between two of the greatest Indic faiths.