Carlton perahera supersedes Dalada perahera : First lady’s carol cart hooted at and chased away by sangha members
(Lanka-e-News- 08.Aug.2014, 11.55PM) Consequent upon the historic hill country traditional Dalada maligawa perahera being made into a ‘Carlton’ perahera , on the starting day of the Kumbal perahera , the people and the sangha members in protest have greeted the Carlton perahera with a well deserved hoot, according to reports reaching Lanka e news.
The hill country Dalada perahera which is conducted annually in all its splendor and historic traditions ,has been an age old revered Buddhist pageant , which is held in high esteem by Buddhists attended by religious dignitaries . Sadly , this year the dignity , prestige and sacredness of the pageant when the Kumbara perahera was held on the 1 st of August were degraded beyond imagination. This year, in the vanguard of the perahera instead of the traditional whip wielders , was a carol cart of students of Carlton pre School belonging to President Rajapakse’s Christian wife who never forgets to deck herself in gold .
The members of the sangha who were there in the special area allotted to them to witness the perahera were shocked beyond belief when they say a Christian carol cart leading the traditional sacrosanct Buddhist perahera . They were so uncontrollably infuriated and outraged they began hooting at the pageant demonstrating their protest.
At that juncture Ambanwela the DIG of the province had appeared and pleaded with the sangha members to be quiet while explaining that the carol cart was carrying the Carlton school children of the first lady . Thereupon the Sangha members who were further provoked had screamed back ,’Mahathayo, this is our Dalada perahera . We cannot allow prostitutes to dance the way they want with carol carts.’ Ambanwela too was hooted and chased away from the scene.
When the hooting began to spread with all the spectators joining in it, the carol cart of gold decked lady was compelled to be discontinued.
One monk who phoned us in great sorrow and pain of mind over the flagrant breach of Buddhist traditions and desecration of the Buddhist event expressed as follows :
‘Mahathayo, just see what is in the forefront is Carlton Carol, next are the prisoners carrying flags ,thereafter the Tamil prisoners are carrying torches of flame , and following them are the robbed baby elephants , and behind them are the notorious crooks dressed as Nilames. I don’t know , what has become of this ancient perahera which retained its pristine glory until scoundrels and crooks took over the reins.
Our worry is , why there is no sangha council or Mahanayake to look into this?’ he bemoaned with grave concern.
Meanwhile , a former provincial council (PC) member Raja Uswetakeyyawa had lodged a complaint to the police that all the places that were in the previous years available for the public to view the pageant have now been given over to tourists , the affluent class and politicians.
He had pointed out that the Kandy Dalada perahera is a treasured event belonging to the people. It cannot be made a part of the Municipal Council, Tourist board ,urban development authority or Basnayake nilame. It is worthy of note that no action has been taken in pursuance of his complaint. The best places available for the people to see the perahera too were forcibly taken over after chasing them away.
May we recall with deep regret that when all the preparations had been made for the Kandy Dalada maligawa perahera , even ignoring the vehement objections of the mahanayakes , the Rajapakses held a Carlton night race in the sacred city defiling its sacredness .What’s more ! dancers and drunkards made merry in the open areas earning the disgust and bitter resentment of the Buddhist people. They questioned whether the government is promoting ‘thiththata matha’ under the guise of its much publicized program ‘mathata thitha’
(Lanka-e-News- 08.Aug.2014, 11.55PM) Consequent upon the historic hill country traditional Dalada maligawa perahera being made into a ‘Carlton’ perahera , on the starting day of the Kumbal perahera , the people and the sangha members in protest have greeted the Carlton perahera with a well deserved hoot, according to reports reaching Lanka e news.The hill country Dalada perahera which is conducted annually in all its splendor and historic traditions ,has been an age old revered Buddhist pageant , which is held in high esteem by Buddhists attended by religious dignitaries . Sadly , this year the dignity , prestige and sacredness of the pageant when the Kumbara perahera was held on the 1 st of August were degraded beyond imagination. This year, in the vanguard of the perahera instead of the traditional whip wielders , was a carol cart of students of Carlton pre School belonging to President Rajapakse’s Christian wife who never forgets to deck herself in gold .
The members of the sangha who were there in the special area allotted to them to witness the perahera were shocked beyond belief when they say a Christian carol cart leading the traditional sacrosanct Buddhist perahera . They were so uncontrollably infuriated and outraged they began hooting at the pageant demonstrating their protest.
At that juncture Ambanwela the DIG of the province had appeared and pleaded with the sangha members to be quiet while explaining that the carol cart was carrying the Carlton school children of the first lady . Thereupon the Sangha members who were further provoked had screamed back ,’Mahathayo, this is our Dalada perahera . We cannot allow prostitutes to dance the way they want with carol carts.’ Ambanwela too was hooted and chased away from the scene.
When the hooting began to spread with all the spectators joining in it, the carol cart of gold decked lady was compelled to be discontinued.
One monk who phoned us in great sorrow and pain of mind over the flagrant breach of Buddhist traditions and desecration of the Buddhist event expressed as follows :
‘Mahathayo, just see what is in the forefront is Carlton Carol, next are the prisoners carrying flags ,thereafter the Tamil prisoners are carrying torches of flame , and following them are the robbed baby elephants , and behind them are the notorious crooks dressed as Nilames. I don’t know , what has become of this ancient perahera which retained its pristine glory until scoundrels and crooks took over the reins.
Our worry is , why there is no sangha council or Mahanayake to look into this?’ he bemoaned with grave concern.
Meanwhile , a former provincial council (PC) member Raja Uswetakeyyawa had lodged a complaint to the police that all the places that were in the previous years available for the public to view the pageant have now been given over to tourists , the affluent class and politicians.
He had pointed out that the Kandy Dalada perahera is a treasured event belonging to the people. It cannot be made a part of the Municipal Council, Tourist board ,urban development authority or Basnayake nilame. It is worthy of note that no action has been taken in pursuance of his complaint. The best places available for the people to see the perahera too were forcibly taken over after chasing them away.
May we recall with deep regret that when all the preparations had been made for the Kandy Dalada maligawa perahera , even ignoring the vehement objections of the mahanayakes , the Rajapakses held a Carlton night race in the sacred city defiling its sacredness .What’s more ! dancers and drunkards made merry in the open areas earning the disgust and bitter resentment of the Buddhist people. They questioned whether the government is promoting ‘thiththata matha’ under the guise of its much publicized program ‘mathata thitha’
