Cultural Heritage and Branding of Localness
View(s):From time immemorial, as per the written history of Sri Lanka, weaving was a part of our culture and Kuweni was known as weaving when Prince Wijaya landed in Thammbapanni back in time. Ever since then, as per the historic evidence, we have had a rich and colorful culture which was enriched with handloom and later having additions such as Batik and apparel. Sri Lankan cultural heritage invariably sits next to Buddhism as it all known to be begun with the arrival of Arhath Mihindu thero during King Dewanam Piyatissa’s time. Aritta was a chief minister of his regime who became monks and later achieved the state of Arihath following the teaching of Mahinda maha thero when he arrived in Sri Lanka during King Dewanam Piyatissa’s time.
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 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.
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 utilisation 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, symbolised modesty, humility, simplicity and non-elaboration. The robes, shelter, food and medicine were intended to represent the “Middle Path” and symbolise 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, 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 advices 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.
Continue to next week… (1/3 Part)
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.