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No more booming guns at Seruwila, only sadhu chants
By Chandani Kirinde
"Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu....." Once again the voices of the faithful fill the air around the Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Viharaya.

For more than one and a half decades, one of the holiest Buddhist places of worship in the country had become more accustomed to the sound of gunfire than the chanting of prayer. The road leading to the temple remained deadly and desolate with few risking travel on it. But since January this year, devotees have been flocking in their thousands to pay homage to a place said to have been hallowed by the Buddha during His third visit to Lanka and where later a relic of the Buddha - the "lalatha datu" was enshrined.

Today the 50 kilometres from Kantalai to Serunuwara is a busy road. The once lonely stretches are full of busloads of pilgrims visiting the area from all parts of the country. It's a scenic drive on the straight road past farmland and scrub jungle.

The Seruwila dagoba is said to have been built around the 2nd century B.C. by King Kavantissa. According to ancient scriptures, the Buddha had visited Seruwila during His third visit to Lanka where He foretold that a future king by the name of Kavantissa would be blessed with the task of placing a relic in the dagoba there. The reference to "Tissamaha Vaharancha" in the stanza (gatha) worshipping the "ata mastana" is said to be that of the Seruwila dagoba - hence called because it was built by King Kavantissa.

The present day problems in the area began in 1984, just three months after Sumedhahalankara Thero passed away. He had rendered yeoman service to the temple and the propagation of Buddhism in the east coast since his arrival there in 1921, fearlessly searching for the site with only a handful of people to assist him.
With terrorist activities building up in the north and east, Seruwila became vulnerable to attacks. The government decided to move the villagers out of the area for their own security and tried to persuade the present chief incumbent of the Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Viharaya, Seruwila Saranakitthi Thero to abandon the temple as well.
His decision not to leave persuaded at least 75 per cent of the villagers to stay behind but the priest had the task of looking after all their needs, at times even doing the work of public officials, treating patients, helping in the farming and irrigation activities.
Today Saranakitthi Thero is happy to see the large number of devotees flocking to the sacred site.

"No one came to visit the temple for many years. If not for the continued support of some of the long standing dayakas of the temple who continued to send their contributions by money order, the place would have been in a worse condition," Ven. Saranakitthi Thero said.

He is optimistic about the future. "Everyone is tired of the bloodshed. What everyone wants is to live freely so that they can follow their faith without hindrance," the Thero said. Thousands of devotees are expected during this Vesak weekend and national television has made arrangements to telecast the celebrations from Seruwila live.

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