Sending of Kapilavastu Sacred Relics, a gesture of friendship by India:

Mass veneration of Relics

Priyanka KURUGALA

* Special consideration to President’s request

* Signal measure during Sambuddhatva Jayanthi year

Thousand of devotees with flowers lined the roads eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Sacred Kapilavastu Relics from India, considering this the fifth arrival of The Buddha to Sri Lanka.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa received the Sacred Kapilavastu Relics at the Katunayake International Airport yesterday morning.

An Exposition of the Sacred Buddha Relics will be held at five places from August 19 to September 5 to enable the people to pay homage to the Sacred Relics, Secretary to the President (Religious Affairs) Ven Getamanne Gunanda Thera said.

The specially decorated vehicle carrying the Sacred Relics stopped at Bellummahara, Kadawatha, Kiribathgoda and Bollegala Junction for crowds of devotees to pay homage.

From the Bollegala Junction, a colourful Perahera received the Sacred Relics. The Perehera included Kandyan dancers with Pancha Thurya Nadaya ( local drams as well as Getabera, Davlla and Thammettam).

The Sacred Relics were placed at the Manelwatta Temple under the guidance of Chief Incumbent Ven Dr Bodagama Chandima Thera, for veneration from August 19 to 21. A prith chanting ceremony was also held at the place by Maha Sangha.

Anu Nayake Thera of the Malwatte Chapter Ven.Niyangoda Vijitha Siri Thera and Ven Uduwe Dhammaloka Thera conducted the Buddha Pooja religious activity.

Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, External Affairs Minister Prof G L Peiris, Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities Minister Wimal Weerawansa, Deputy Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna and Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa also participated in this event.

Indian Cultural Affairs Minister Kumari Selja who arrived in Sri Lanka with the Sacred Relics and Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Ashok Kantha also participated.

A large number of members of the Maha Sangha and Dasasil Mathas too participated. The exposition of Sacred Kapilavastu Buddha Relics is held in Sri Lanka for the second time. The first was held in 1978, 34 years ago.

Historical chronicles record that after the Buddha’s Parinibbana (Passing Away), the Holy Relics were taken from the cremation site and divided into eight portions, and handed over to separate groups for preservation.

According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta penned in the Fifth Century BC, a part of the Buddha’s bodily Relics was handed to the Sakyas of Kapilavastu. These came to be known as the Kapilavastu Relics.

Meanwhile, the request made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2,600th year of the Sambuddhatva Jayanthi received the special consideration at the highest level of the Government of India which decided to lend the Sacred Relics for public veneration, making an exception to a decision that it will not be taken outside India since its last exposition in Thailand in 1996.

Thus the Government of India decided to lend the Sacred Relics to Sri Lanka for public veneration once again, since their first exposition in the country in 1978, according to a statement by Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam.

It said:During the landmark State Visit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to India in June 2010, it was decided that the 2600th year of the attainment of enlightenment of Prince Siddharatha as Gautama Buddha (Sambuddhatva Jayanthi) will be commemorated by India and Sri Lanka through joint activities. Following this agreement, President Rajapaksa personally requested the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, to afford Sri Lankan Buddhists an opportunity to pay homage to the Sacred Kapilavastu Relics by allowing the Relics to be taken to Sri Lanka as a part of the commemoration of the 2,600th year of the Sambuddhatva Jayanthi.

These Relics of the Gautama Buddha which are known to the world as the ‘Kapilavastu Relics’ are from a site in Bihar, first discovered in 1898 which is believed to be the ancient City of Kapilavastu. This epoch making discovery was at a stupa site, Piprahwa. The relic casket discovered in 1898 bore the inscription ‘The shrine for relics of the Buddha, the August One, is that of the Sakyas’.

The first Exposition of the sacred Relics of Kapilavastu outside India was in Sri Lanka in 1978. Subsequent Expositions of the Relics took place in Mongolia in August 1993, in Singapore in July 1994, in South Korea in 1995 and in Thailand in 1996. Subsequently, taking into consideration the inestimable value and delicate nature of the Relics, the authorities in India entrusted with the care of the Relics decided that the sacred Kapilavastu Relics will henceforth remain as a venerable object at the National Museum of India in New Delhi and will not be taken outside India for public veneration.

However, the request made by President Rajapaksa in the 2,600th year of the Sambuddhatva Jayanthi received special consideration at the highest level of the Government of India. Making an exception, the Government of India decided to lend the Sacred Relics to Sri Lanka for public veneration, once again. The Sacred Relics are thus being brought to Sri Lanka after three decades since their first exposition in 1978.

Announcing the decision of the Government of India during an official visit to Sri Lanka last year (2011), the Speaker of the Parliament of India (Lok Sabha) Srimati Meira Kumar stated that �39?this sacred expositions would have a calming and peaceful effect in the region and spread the word of non-violence.

Authorities of both countries worked hard, with commitment and perseverance, to make this sacred exposition a reality by making substantial effort in terms of logistics, safety of the Sacred Relics, facilities for devotees to pay homage, and other matters that a monumental event of this nature involves.

In view of the importance attached by both countries to this occasion, the Sacred Relics were brought to Sri Lanka in a special Indian Air Force aircraft by a delegation from India led by Indian Minister of Culture, Kumari Selja and the Director General of the National Museum of India.

Prior to the departure of the Relics to Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Maha Sangha resident throughout India at several sites associated with the life of Gautama Buddha, performed a special religious ceremony and offer Buddha Pooja at the Indian Air Force Base in Delhi.

High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam and the staff at the Sri Lanka High Commission in India organized and attended this important event.

The Sacred Relics were received in Sri Lanka at a state ceremony led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, with the participation of the Venerable Maha Sangha and other dignitaries.

This sacred event is yet another manifestation of the close fraternal ties that happily exist between India and Sri Lanka since time immemorial, especially from the days of Emperor Asoka whose son and daughter carried the message of Buddhism to Sri Lanka 2,301 years ago.

It is a matter of immense satisfaction that the noble initiative taken by President Rajapaksa, has become a reality with the Sacred Kapilavastu Relics of Gautama Buddha being brought to Sri Lanka for the nation to pay tribute, and in particular for Buddhists to pay homage, in continuation of the celebration of the Enlightenment of Prince Siddhartha Gautama 2,600 years ago in the land of Jambudvipa.