Funday Times

Gaveshaka continues his trail in the Kandyan Period Gallery
Special items used for ceremonial occasions
The political stability of the Sinhalese kingdom began to deteriorate by the end of the 15th century. The Portuguese made use of the internal dissensions to gain a foothold in the country. They managed to take control of the maritime provinces. Having first acted as protectors, they later became the successors to the King of Kotte, Don Juan Dharmapala who was baptized as a Catholic.

The Portuguese suppressed Buddhism, the national religion of the Sinhala people. Buddhism deteriorated rapidly until King Vimala Dharma Suriya (1592-1644 A.D), who ascended the throne of the hill capital, Kandy tried to resurrect what was once a great religion practiced by the people of Sri Lanka. He had to get down monks from Burma to restore the ordination of monks. However, the state of the Order of monks was unsatisfactory in the years that followed and a general decline of the religion was evident.

Things began to change following a valiant effort by a young monk named Velivita Sri Saranankara Thera who donned the robes in 1714. Having found a teacher at the Suriyagoda temple where he got ordained, he gradually trained a set of monks to follow the traditional way of Buddhist life as taught by the Buddha. This was a time when the average monks could not even administer pan sil - the Five Precepts.

Sri Saranankara Thera went on pindapata visiting homes to collect his alms. He arranged for devotees to come to the temple on Poya days and observe ata sil - the Eight Precepts, a practice continued to this day in every temple throughout the country. The devotees observed religious rites, listened to Dhamma sermons and listened to Pirith chanting. He convinced King Kirti Sri Rajasinghe (1747-87) to request the King of Siam to send monks and establish the Upasampada or higher ordination in Sri Lanka. This was achieved and Sri Saranankara Thera was made the Sangharaja for his erudition and devotion.

Since then the religion flourished and Kandy became the centre of Buddhism. Various objects were offered to the monks as a mark of recognition. The vataapata (fan) was such a symbol of recognition. King Kirti Sri Rajasinghe presented a richly carved fan to Sri Saranankara Sangharaja Thera as the insignia of office. Several such fans are displayed in the Kandy Period gallery at the National Museum. While monks carry a vataapata when going for an alms-giving or delivering a sermon, the fans you see in the museum are ceremonial fans.

These are offered to monks when appointed to high office as was the case of the Sangharaja. The handles of these ceremonial fans are carved in ivory and they are larger that the ones generally used by monks. The fans are covered with embroidered velvet or silk cloth. They are heavier than the normal fans and are exclusively used for ceremonial occasions. The size and decorative style would determine the office held by the monk. For example, the ceremonial fan offered to the monk holding the office of Maha Nayaka Thera in a Nikaya would be much more elaborate than the one offered to a Sanghanayaka Thera.

Scent sprinklers are another item displayed in the Kandy Period gallery. These are made of decorated ivory and used for the purpose of sprinkling scents on flowers offered to the Buddha or the sacred relics of the Buddha. Some sprinklers are made of metal too. These sprinklers are similar to the present day scent sprayers.

Just as much as the Maha Sangha was recognised, the royalty and chieftains of the Royal Court carried certain items indicating their rank or position. The Kastana sword was one such item which was used on ceremonial occasions. These swords have highly decorated gilt handles as well as scabbards.

These swords display the best works of Kandyan craftsmanship. The handles assume the form of an open-mouthed lion often having the tongue jutting out. The curved end of the scabbard too is carved in the form of a bird's head with a precious stone fixed to the eye.

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