“Let’s learn lessons from the culture”
The purpose of this article is to discuss how we as a country should consider the significance of the State Ceremony of Sacrifice of Pandu Cīvara to Sangha. First of all, it is important to preserve our homeland Theravada Buddhism, which has a Buddhist history for over two thousand five hundred years, and to preserve it with human life and tradition. Also, this is a common fact that most of us know. The second reason is to determine how University lecturers, as researchers, should be intellectual contributors to policy-making in the country, and to provide a new set of ideas on how to fit and extend the main purpose of this state festival into the development goals of the country.History states that King Parakramabahu IV or Pandita Parakramabahu II (1302- 26), who reigned in the Dambadeniya period, held a grand ceremony in the 12th Century to offer eighty Katina Robes (Cīvara) to the Sangha. Nearly 630 years after the event, the State Ministry of Batik Handloom and Local Handloom Apparel Products has already made all arrangements with the patronage of the state to hold the State Ceremony of Sacrifice of Pandu Cīvara on the 7th of November at the historic Polonnaruwa Somawathiya sacred place.
The State Katina Cīvara Festival is a cultural event that teaches us a series of valuable lessons on the concept of sustainability. We are convinced that environmental integrity is a process that can be used to change the robe dye production system for a better environment and social justice.
According to the Buddhist teachings the monk should have four basic needs known as “Sivpasa” as follows;
The Buddhist robe is known as Cīvaraya and its utilization is described according to four-basic needs (sivpasaya)of a Buddhist monk as Paṃsukūla cīvaraṃ nissāya pabbajjā. This clarification shows that the robe or the cīvara must be made by “Paṃsukūla” which is the shroud to wrap the dead before cremation and that must be found from cremation grounds. This discarded clothing was recommended as the best robe material which shows they had no value to others. The robe represented detachment, symbolized modesty, humility, simplicity and non-elaboration. The robes, shelter, food and medicine were intended to represent the “Middle Path” and symbolize the practice of simplicity in life.
The robe was known as Cīvara in the Pali language which is recorded in the Vinaya-piṭaka of the Pali Canon or Tripitaka. The great chronicle of Mahāvaggapāli in its 8th Chapter- ‘Cīvarakkhandhakaya’ is devoted to describe the robe of Buddhist priests and its traditional practices. Mahāvaggapāli records six varieties of robes of six varieties of textiles such as linen, cotton, silk, wool, and coarse cloth and of hempen cloth. At that time the Buddhist monks accepted lay robes and they would seek cloths in the cremation grounds to acquire paṃsukūla robes (shrouds). The Buddha recommended that any part of the cloth that was unusable was trimmed away, and the cloth be washed. Then the robe was dyed by being with un-boiled dye; subsequently the cloth became ill-smelling. Then the Lord Buddha advises monks to use boiled dyes, which can be made by using little dye-pots. The robe dye is allowed to be obtained from six kinds of substances: roots and tubers, plants, bark, leaves, flowers and fruits The method of dyeing is explained as ‘let a drop of dye fall into water, or on to your nail (in order to try if the dye is duly boiled) and also to use a (large) trough for dyeing (cloth). It is said that in the ancient time robes had become stiff because of too much dye. In order to have smooth robes the Lord Buddha advises to beat it with the hands. The Lord Buddha advises his chief attendant Ananda to make the robe by being inspired by the pattern of rice fields in the village of Magadha. Venerable Ananda observed the Magadha fields and sewed strips of cloth representing a paddy field into a pattern separated by narrower strips to represent paths between the fields. Ananda did this, and the pattern has been repeated on monks’ robes in most schools of Buddhism ever since. The paddy fields can be roughly rectangular and separated by strips of dry ground for paths. The paddy field pattern in the Theravada robe is in five columns, but sometimes there are seven or nine columns. Kaṭhina ceremony or ‘robe giving’ ceremony takes pride of place since such a robe can only be offered once a year only at the ceremony after vas (rainy season). The Buddha brought in a rule that a monk who had observed vas and completed the period could possess another robe in addition to the prescribed set of three.
Ananda Coomaraswamy stated in Medieval Sinhalese Art, that current practice of offering Kaṭhina robes of Sri Lanka started by mid-20th Century. A meritorious act is held to be the presentation to the Sangha, at the close of vas or Buddhist lent, of Kaṭhina robes, i.e., priests’ robes, spun, woven and made up in a single day. Further Coomaraswamy cites Rupavaliya and mentions “even Kings frequently performed this ceremony, employing hundreds of persons in all such work as picking the cotton, after it is extracted from the fruit, weighing, converting it into balls, spinning, weaving, washing, cutting into pieces, stitching, dyeing”. Poojavaliya also mentions that eighty Kaṭhina robes had been made overnight completing all the workmanship including stretch from plucking cotton up to the finishing point. Mahāvaṃsa mentions that “on a certain occasion, King Parakrama Bahu II (1236-70), offered no less than eighty robes to the priesthood, in memory of the eighty chief disciples of the Buddha”. It is mentioned some accepted colours of the robes too. It is further stated that “now at that time the Chabbaggiya Bhikkhus wore robes that are blue, light yellow, crimson, brown, black and brownish yellow or dark yellow colour. Robes that are all of a blue colour are not to be worn. Who so ever wears them be guilty of a dukkaṭa.
The Buddhist robe never abandoned nature and it is significant that even after two thousand five hundred years it still follows the same practice and practice over time. There are great opportunities to strengthen this sophisticated sustained tradition and develop into an eco-friendly industry with the technology tools and knowledge in use today. The Buddhist robe and its process, which expresses the path to natural dyes and the important concept of sustainability, provides impetus for the creation of a natural an elegant industry in the handloom sector of Sri Lanka. Usually plant extracts are used in raw form, or dried form, or powder form. From all three forms, colour intensity was found to be high. The most general method is plant extracts are chopped into small pieces, dried them in sunlight and grind them to obtain a dye power. Plant extracts are not only used as dyes, but also as a mordant (fixing agent) in the dyeing process. Either plant extracts or non-toxic mordants such as Alum are always being used in the dyeing process. Clay pots are used as the dye bath in which dyes and mordant are mixed with the required amount of water and boiled with the yarns using fire wood. The colour fastness to the fabric is checked from time to time by visual observation and the fabric is kept in the dye bath until the cloth absorbs the expected colour evenly. Once taken out of the dye bath, the dyed cloth is dried in a sun shed. Moreover, to achieve better colour fastness, chopped bombu leaves are put into the cold-water during washing. There are quite a number of natural dye substances being used in current practice of robe dyeing in Sri Lanka. Those are Jak tree (heartwood) dust is used to obtain pure yellow colour which is for Siam ordination priests, Jackfruit (waraka) roots , Mahogani roots/ bark/peels, Bombu leaves ,Dried areca nuts (Karunka) ,Dried sepalika flowers, Rath handun powder ,Sudu handun powder ,Turmeric powder ,Raw venivelgeta pieces ,Aralu powder ,Welmadatiya powder ,Banana stem (ambul) -‘sour’ plantaion .
T. Abayasinghe in his “The Portuguese and Ceylon (1597-1658)” claimed that arecanut had been used for dyeing of cloth which is the largest industry in India. It was one of the most exported goods from Sri Lanka during the Portuguese era (1597-1658). It is said that arecanut had been an essential ingredient in dyeing cloth during those days. S. Arasaratnam, in his “Dutch Power in Ceylon 1658-1687” expressed that the Dutch had a trade transporting arecanut to Coromandel and selling it.
Each dye substance is wrought tightly as a pouch with cotton cloth separately then boils in 3 hours. The tanning is strained and then added to dye powders available in the market in order to achieve the required colour (such as yellow / maroon/brown). Wetted cloth is dipped into the dye bath. A trough carved out of a wood (Pandu oruva) is a traditional utensil which is used for dyeing robes for ages and is still used for dyeing. The cloth is spined in the wood trough in order to absorb the dye evenly. Then the cloth is dried in sun shade. The dye fades away in washing needs to re dye from time to time.
Different meanings were given to the robe from time to time, but practiced within the Buddhist philosophy. The colour ‘Yellow’ is bound to Buddhism and has been practiced from time immemorial. It was considered a sacred colour and unacceptable to be worn by people other than spiritual personalities. The Buddhist monks have no substitute colour and yellow colour signified high position. Furthermore, yellow became the colour of renunciation. When the Franciscans visited Kandy during the days of King Vikramabahu (1542-1551) the sight of Buddhist monks were prominent to them because of the colour of their robes.
O.M. da Silva in the book “Vikrama Bahu of Kandy.The Portuguese and Franciscans 1542- 1551” stated that “Royal activities embellished the town with places of Buddhist worship and soon yellow-robed members of the Buddhist clergy were among the most prominent townsfolk’’. The importance that was given to the colour yellow by the society is reflected in the above statement, ‘abandoning the yellow robe’ to denote disrobing. There were deviant colours of Buddhist robe but they were hues of yellow. This unique colour remains as a sacred colour to date. Colour combinations are considered culturally bound with certain ideologies and traditions. It is important to remember that religion is an important part of culture, and that in every religion colours have their associations. In Sri Lanka the yellow coloured robe is a prime marker of Buddhist identity, so it is not surprising that normative texts, such as vinayas, contain a wealth of guidelines relating to its colouration. It was identified that yellow colour was also the colour of discipline in life, physically or morally and spiritually, for it is the colour enjoined upon the Buddhist monks.
Dyes derived from natural materials such as plant leaves, roots, bark, insect secretions, and minerals were the only dyes available to mankind for the coloring of textiles until the discovery of the first synthetic dye in 1856. In Sri Lanka dyeing Buddhist robes by using natural dye stuff has a long history that goes back more than a thousand years. The richness of the availability of natural plant extractions of Sri Lanka provides myriads of avenues for promoting an indigenous colour code. The country’s natural vegetation covers about one-third of the total land area, a resource that is both plentiful and a potential market for agriculture, textiles and product development. Sri Lanka is committed to economic development that is sustainable and economically friendly. In this context, the use of natural dyes is consistent with this policy. It offers the growth of more plant life, non-toxic chemical means of coloring and could ensure products that are completely unique to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is at an advantageous position since the country holds a rich reservoir of natural raw materials. Different parts (leaves, bark, seed, flowers, roots and woods etc.,) of a considerable number of plants have been reported to yield dyes, however a large number of them is hitherto unexplored. The applicability of plant dyes for industrial purposes makes high demands on the quality of the product, especially with respect to transportability and shelf life of the dyestuff as well as to the standardization of high-quality dyestuff and the reproducibility of the dyeing results.
For all stakeholders in the local handloom textile industry, and the local handloom apparel industry, the State Ceremony of Sacrifice of Pandu Cīvara to Sangha is a major event that will consider the well- being of all living beings as well as the well- being of all living beings who will own this environment in the future. This event can be considered as the beginning of the re-integration of the concept of sustainability with our culture. Handloom fabric manufacturing is a major globally expanded business. Many countries are inspired by the culture and are engaged in the handloom textile industry according to their own patterns. History has it that in the past these handloom fabrics were dyed using natural dyes. We need to look at how the concept of sustainability relates to the Buddhist monks Cīvara. The Buddhist monk’s robe takes on a multifunctional nature. The highly versatile nature of the Buddhist robe makes it ideal for use as a body covering, blanket, and head covering for protection from storms, as a handkerchief, as a carpet, and eventually mixed with clay after decay. The ability to spread the utility of the Buddhist robe up to the walls mixed with the clay is very optimal. In the twenty-first century, we call it the potential for coexistence between the biosphere and human civilization. We can also identify this as a practice of circularity. The environment, society and the economy must be protected when realizing the potential for a substance to survive. The concept of sustainability means balancing domestic and global efforts to meet these basic human needs while preserving these very parts.
In an era when nanotechnology is mooted to impart anti-microbial features to textiles, we see that with robe dyeing anti-microbial properties have come through the nature extracted dyes. Hence the reduced need to wash again a feature in conservation and supporting existence in resource scarce situations. Today we know quite a number of natures based anti-microbial extracts that could be added on. Natural anti-microbial dyes can certainly take the sweat away differently!
The multi-functionality of the Buddhist robe is an opportunity to demonstrate the recycle system. It must be said that the time has come for Sri Lankans to use recycled fabrics. The circular economy model, another popular economic model of modern times, is another part of the concept of sustainability. The circular economy model includes products, infrastructure, equipment and services in every industry. In addition, technical resources such as metals, minerals, fossils as well as organic resources such as food, fiber, wood, etc. are included. According to the circular economic model, resources are used up to the point of using, reusing and recreating something. Due to this flow method, resources are used continuously. Therefore, this curved flow method is perfect for reusing, sharing, repairing, replicating and recycling resources. This improves the productivity of resources. All waste can be converted into food for other processes. The resources used for one industrial process can be used as renewable resources for nature. If this is considered a natural dye industry, it is clear that the organic substances used to obtain those dyes can also be used as an organic fertilizer.
We can reap many benefits from this circular economic model. That is, reducing the amount of resources used, conserving resources, and reducing pollution. It is assumed that by 2040 the world population will increase to nine billion. The environment will have to struggle to meet human needs. Consumers will be more concerned about their purchases. In the future we will have to let them know where their clothes are coming from. Therefore, it can be said that the time has come for us as a country to adopt the renewed approach to our local handloom and handloom apparel industry in line with the circular economic model.
A variety of dyes and colors that provide natural flowers, roots, fruits, wood and bark for a new industry in Sri Lanka, taking the State Ceremony of Sacrifice of Pandu Chivara to Sangha as a valuable lesson to enter the local handloom textile industry as well as the local handloom apparel industry, customizing natural dyes to suit the needs of the customers. The time has come for all of us as Sri Lankans to be sensitive to the natural environment and natural substances. The bio-diversity that is a rich endowment to all of us Sri Lankan have so much potential for sustainable living and for Sustainable development.
Professor Samudrika Wijayapala
Dr.Virajini Medagedara Karunaratne
Dr.Gayathri Ranathunga
Department of Textile and Clothing Technology,
Snr. Professor Ajith De Alwis,
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering,
University of Moratuwa.