See Kavantissa as role model

Chief Justice points to historical examples to prove Sri Lanka has been a land of peace

Guardians of Sri Lanka’s cultural inheritance should emphasise the country’s “common identity” and heritage of peace and amity, said Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva.

The Chief Justice was speaking informally at the Heritage Achievements 2007 ceremony, held on Thursday at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. The event was organised by the Central Cultural Fund to recognise the contribution of the country’s heritage researchers. Justice Silva stressed the importance of showing the rest of the world that Sri Lanka had a “heritage of harmony”.

Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva and Netherlands ambassador Reynout van Dijk.

Referring to a speech given at the ceremony by Reynout van Dijk, ambassador of the Netherlands in Sri Lanka, the Chief Justice said the ambassador had touched a vital chord when he said that Sri Lanka shoulad be known not as a country of conflict but as a nation of peace and amity.

Justice Silva said Sri Lanka had historically enjoyed racial amity, preferring conquest through the Dhamma rather than conquest through war. He cited King Kavantissa who, back in the 2nd century BC, had sought victory through the Dhamma, and pointed to Seruwila, where the king had built the Tissa Maha Vehera.

“Kavantissa from Ruhuna had the support of two princes, Prince Abhaya, whose origins were in Kelaniya, and Prince Siva, whose name indicates Dravidian origin,” Justice Silva said, adding with a smile that Dutugemunu, a warrior, seemed to be enjoying a recent vogue in Sri Lanka, when in fact his father Kavantissa, who chose the path of peace, offered the country a better role model.

“Kavantissa’s reign shows that peaceful co-existence was a part of our culture as far back as the 2nd century BC,” the Chief Justice said.

- Pi c by M.A. Pushpa Kumara

UNESCO mulls Seruwila

UNESCO has received a proposal from the Government that Seruwila be declared a World Heritage Site. The Tissa Maha Vehera in Seruwila enshrines a bone (frontal or forehead) relic of the Buddha. UNESCO will make a decision on Seruwila at its annual meeting in June.