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Sacred Buddhist day gives way to deadly sickness on doorstep
A koodu maker determined to spread a little cheer amidst the gloom and doom of COVID. Pix by Indika Handuwala
Buddhists and other Sri Lankans marked the most scared day in the Buddhist religious calendar this year mostly indoors, forced into the situation by the coronavirus that is threatening their lives.
And the lives of many poor who depend on Vesak to make a living were also darkened.
Large-scale Buddhist religious observances were shelved and instead people were advised to mark the Birth, the Death, and the Enlightenment of the Gautama Buddha from their homes.
Some Buddhist temples made arrangements to broadcast Dhamma sermons through loudspeakers into villages.
The usual pandals and street dansal (stalls handing out alms) were not allowed by health authorities, but undaunted, Sri Lankans crafted their own decorations and shared them on social media. Some submitted them to television stations which had organised competitions. There were also digital Vesak lantern contests online.
Last year, due to the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks the government restricted the five-day national Vesak festival celebrations to just two days.
Despite the absence of large crowds, some residents as well as commercial establishments decorated their premises. The state Vesak festival was held at Gonapola, Piliyandala.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa urged in his Vesak message: “We have to perform the religious practices of Vesak in the backdrop of a virus pandemic threatening the entire human race. Such calamities are not very rare in human history.
“During the lifetime of the Buddha, the Vishala Mahanuwara of Dambadiva was threatened by three fears. It ended when a recitation of Buddhist stanzas was conducted as discoursed by the Buddha. I am confident that we too could attain physical and spiritual health by practising the teachings of the Buddha during this season of Vesak,’’ the President noted.
The Venerable Narampanawe Ananda Thero, deputy registrar of the Asgiriya Nikaya, said people are carrying out religious activities at home in a simple manner.
Many have even observed the Eight Precepts or the Ten Precepts by listening to radio or TV broadcasts.
H Sarath: Taxi driver turned lantern maker
“It’s sad that as all of us are facing this pandemic globally, but compared to the other years, this time, the people truly followed the teachings of the Lord Buddha,’’ the Thero said.
“The true meaning of the Vesak can be seen this time as families are marking the occasion together.’’
The Thero said Buddhist temples including the Sri Dalada Maligawa were deserted.
“This year, Vesak was not an orchestrated strategy; it eradicated the incoherent traditions followed by society. The pandemic helped to regain lost religious values and morals among the youth,’’ the Thero said.
Vesak pandals are missing from Colombo. In some areas around Colombo, traders were seen selling Vesak lanterns. But now, there are only a few takers.
H. Sarath, 40, a resident of Piliyandala who is a taxi driver, said: “I started to make lanterns thinking some people would buy them. Eventually, I got an order for 200 lanterns.’’
Meanwhile, traders lament a missed opportunity.
“We made almost 3,000 Vesak lanterns. We are wholesale traders. And due to the [Easter Sunday] attack we didn’t make money,’’ one vendor said.
Meanwhile, flower sellers at prominent Buddhist temples during Vesak are in a dilemma due to the curfew.
Those at Kalutara Bodhiya, said they had been selling flowers for several years to make a living and now they are devastated.
Vesak decorations are also being sold online and delivered by a taxi service. Lanterns have been made by needy individuals and the money goes to them.