Plus

Plus

In a time of Lent
Hiniduma’s Calvary is a place where history, worship and ethnic harmony come together
By Lenard R. Mahaarachchi
Thousands of men, women and children flock here not only during Lent, but also throughout the year. Some come with pleas and others come to fulfil vows for special favours granted. Many childless couples, who have visited this hallowed shrine of Calvary in Hiniduma off Galle, come back the next year with a cherubic baby in their arms.

“That’s the wonder of our own little Calvary,” says Parish Priest Fr. Boniface Perera, making arrangements to meet the swelling crowds that will climb Calvary, pausing at each Station of the Cross to relive the last hours and passion of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago, as Good Friday (April 14) draws near. The Way of the Cross marks the last journey of Christ, before his crucifixion on that first Good Friday in 29 A.D.

Seeing it as a place of unity, because it is visited by Christians, as well as Tamils from far off areas such as Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya and also Kotahena, he says Hiniduma’s Calvary is in a Buddhist village, around 32 miles from Galle. This sleepy little village, nestling among the hills at 900 feet above sea level, has a salubrious climate similar to that of Kandy.

How did this venerated shrine come about? Legend has it that a devout woman by the name of Ignatia first sowed the seeds of Christianity in this Buddhist village long years ago. Ignatia’s rosary is preserved in the church at Hiniduma.

Calvary is believed to be the brainchild of Fr. Cyril Edirisinghe, who had worked as an assistant priest here. Early stories indicate that Hiniduma was caught in the grip of a vicious drought in 1947/48, when the present Calvary area was thick forest. A week before the Good Friday of 1948, the area had caught fire, and looking into the spreading blaze Fr. Edirisinghe had seen something like a cross and a figure nailed to it. This apparently had given him the idea that with the support of the Buddhists and Christians the area would be ideal for the location of a Golgotha outside Jerusalem. Fr. Edirisinghe had then got down to work, clearing the area and marking the 14 Stations of the Cross with timber crosses, later replaced by concrete cement crosses.

Talking of numbers, Fr. Perera says that each weekend sees 15,000-25,000 people visiting the shrine, with peak days being Friday and Saturday. “The shrine itself can accommodate about 2,500 people and the village, the rest. It is a small way for the villagers to earn a little money to keep their home fires burning,” he says.

Explaining that the pilgrims have to cross the Gin Ganga to get to Calvary, Fr. Perera says that earlier there was a suspension bridge, which used to get washed away in the smallest flood. “In 1994, a concrete bridge was built by the church, but in that terrible flood of May 2003 that too went with the waters. Now, thanks to the government we have a solid arched steel bridge. It is permanent and very safe.”

As Good Friday, the most poignant day for Christians, draws close, Fr. Perera’s message is, “Come to Hiniduma’s Calvary, and be a part of the passion of Christ in our own Sri Lankan setting.”

Back to Plus