A Vesak pandal in distant Perth
View(s):For Sri Lankans living thousands of miles away it is indeed a most satisfying and pleasant experience to participate in Vesak celebrations just as they did back home. Observing ‘sil’ and listening to ‘bana’ is more or less a routine during Full Moon Poya every month, but to see and absorb a Jataka story on a Vesak pandal is something rare.
This year in Perth large crowds thronged to see the Vesak pandal erected at the Sri Lanka Buddhist Vihara at Kenwick. It was a colourful large Vesak ‘kooduwa’ last year. “The enthusiastic dayakas decided to do a pandal this year,” the chief prelate Beruwela Sobitha Thera told me. “It was hard work. The devotees really appreciate it.”
The pandal depicted a popular Jataka tale – the Serivanija story. Parents were able to explain the story to their children, most of whom are students at the ‘daham pasala’ at the Kenwick temple.
Back in Sri Lanka we are used to seeing a laborious process in erecting Vesak pandals. Now using technology the process seems simpler although it still takes a lot of planning. The team of volunteers managed to complete the job in about two months. “We are now an experienced lot. Earlier we used to take around three months. Now we have got used to the process,” a senior member of the team said. He felt it not fair to mention names since it was a team effort with around 60 joining in to finish the job.
Once the theme was agreed upon, an artist undertook to do the paintings – eight in all – describing the story of two peddlers crossing a river and going to sell their goods. The murals were hand painted directly on to panels to be used in the pandal.
The tricky part of the pandal was to get the lighting right. Technology had played a big role in getting the lighting perfect. The pandal was illuminated with 3,800 LEDs with each LED being controlled using the latest technology. Though I was taken ‘back stage’ to explain how the whole thing was being controlled through a computer, it was too technical or me to absorb! What I admired was the final outcome – the perfect blending of the lighting with constant changes. The ‘budu res’ around the Buddha image was quite effective.
A leaflet distributed free related the story in detail and highlighted the lesson learnt that ‘Greed leads to eternal hatred’.
A ‘dansala’ formed part of the Vesak celebrations where those who came to see the pandal could enjoy a free meal.
This is the eighth year that Vesak displays had been done at the Kenwick temple. The accent previously had been on an elaborate Vesak lantern and this is the second time that a pandal was erected. The team is happy about the outcome and would possibly put up a pandal every other year.
The organisers avoided displaying the pandal during Vesak Poya. It was the following weekend that they had the pandal so that the devotees were not distracted during the ‘sil’ programme. The pandal will be illuminated once again during the weekend after Poson Poya.