Bamba’s bright beacon of learning for monks
The Vajiraramaya library: A haven amidst the bustling city
The Vajiraramaya in Bambalapitiya is an oasis in the heart of a dusty, hot city. Here you enter and leave behind the bustling commerce of Colombo 4 to be ensconced in the soothing presence of saffron robes, incense, ample shade and the pleasant mustiness of the scriptorium and monks’ rooms.
The temple has been here from the time when Bambalapitiya was a peaceful residential suburb with leafy gardens. The Vajiraramaya, named after its founder Ven. Pelene Vajiranana Thera, was from the beginning a hub of Dharmaduta or missionary work, and is probably the best known Sri Lankan temple to spread the Dhamma across the globe.
The temple gets cooler and shadier as you wander inwards. The monks in their simple dark quarters lead lives of scholarly ardour. Their rooms seem to overflow with books, and it does not come as a surprise that the temple should boast a library officially 98 years old.
The ola leaf manuscripts and impressive collection of books (below). Pix by Akila Jayawardana
With more than 8000 volumes and 210 ola leaf books, it is a centre of Oriental learning that had been a bright beacon for our saffron-clad scholars.
Founded in 1901, the Vajiraramaya, vested early as a centre of missionary work making inroads in all the continents save the polar regions, had need of books of sound quality- especially on the Buddha’s doctrine in English.
Ven. Pelene Vajiranana was an ardent lover of books, and the story of the library begins with the one hundred books he possessed when leaving the Vidyodaya Pirivena as a graduate.
Gradually he would inherit his late father’s library and his mother and brothers also left him theirs.
In his speech at the opening of the library in 1924 the Ven. Vajiranana mentioned that early on a “few broad minded Christian friends were kind enough to present me with a series of valuable treatises on Sanskrit grammar” and would go on to speak about 27 volumes of the commentary to the Tripitaka (printed in Siamese characters) gifted by the Crown Prince of Siam; and publications of the Pali Text Society donated by the Colonial Secretary Cecil Clementi.
Pages from the past: Old newspaper clippings of the library’s opening. Pix by Eshan Fernando
However the core of the library was the 2000 books donated with the library building by Mr. and Mrs. G. J. de Silva, built on land donated by the dayakas.
The broadsheets reporting on the opening of this ‘Oriental library’ on July 15,1924 mention ‘a beautiful pandal bearing a message of hearty welcome in scarlet and gold’ at the entrance to Vajira Road from Galle Road; greeting the chief guest Clementi.
At the opening were also present Mr. Silva, James Pieris, Mayor of Colombo T. Reid and L. McRae, Director of Education.
In the early 1920’s Oriental libraries were scarce and as James Pieris mentioned at the opening the three most conspicuous were the Colombo Museum library, the Vidyodaya and the Peliyagoda. Vajiraramaya was to soon join the ranks.
In those promising beginnings, the inky broadsheets inform us, the collection included Dharma, books on rhetoric, prosody, medicine, astrology, history, philosophy, archaeology, dictionaries in Pali, Sanskrit, Sinhalese, English, Tamil, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Marati, Gujarati, Tibetan, Telengu and ‘numerous miscellaneous works’.
Among the pupils of the Ven. Vajiranana who benefited from the library were Ven. Narada, Ven. Piyadassi, Ven. Kamburugamuwe Mahanama, Ven. Madihe Pannasiha, Ven. Ampitiye Rahula, Ven. Denipitiye Sumanasiri, Ven. Soma, Ven. Kheminda and Ven. Metteyya. Lay readers included Gunapala Malalasekera, Sir D. B. Jayatilake and W. A. Silva.
It was out of this classic library that erudite monks like Ven. Narada and Ven. Kassapa (the former Dr. Cassius Pereira) churned out such well-known texts as the Dharma Sanghrahaya, Buddhism in a Nutshell, The Manual of Abhidharma and The Mirror of the Dharma.
Today the National Archives has helped clean the ola leaf books and the more ancient of the books have been restored.
Aa new home is now being created for this valuable collection and for the moment the books in their vintage cupboards languish in the hallways and corridors of the monks’ building of residence – a lofty colonial edifice.
The new building is to be designed to resemble the original, like a schoolroom of yore with colourful stained glass windows letting in sunlight and the collection will be computerized.
It is hoped this treasure trove of Oriental scholarship, augmented with a fringe of the miscellaneous from all ages, will continue to minister to the gentle Buddhist missionaries of Bambalapitiya and their brethren.
Searching for an ideal partner? Find your soul mate on Hitad.lk, Sri Lanka's favourite marriage proposals page. With Hitad.lk matrimonial advertisements you have access to thousands of ads from potential suitors who are looking for someone just like you.