SS Quah's Anything Goes: Sri Lanka: Day 5 (Piliyandala)

Back in January, my wife and I, along with several friends from the Nandaka Vihara Meditation Society, including the Chief Abbot, embarked on a journey to Sri Lanka. My initial intention was to document our experiences throughout this land, but various distractions caused me to pause my account at our stay in Nuwara Eliya. I shall now carry on from where I left off. I had concluded my last story with the following observation:

Finally close to midnight, we arrived at the Grand 7 Hotel & Restaurant, where much to our surprise, we found the hotel's kitchen still open. And the bigger surprise was that we were served a full dinner with all the works. The kitchen staff were still on duty to wait on us. We felt guilty that we were unable to finish all the food before us. Such a heavy meal at this time of the night. How could we hope to finish the food and then go to bed? Anyway, we were thankful for the big rooms and the comfortable beds to lay our heads. Tomorrow, in Piliyandala, another day of journeying would await us.

We dragged ourselves awake at about 6.30am with barely five hours of sleep because breakfast was at 7.30am. It did not surprise us to discover that we were the last to arrive for our morning food. The rest of the group, including the monks, were already tucking into their food. the only available space for me at the long table was next to a monk. I never felt so uncomfortable before, seated next to him. Can I stretch my arm across his plate to get some food, I wondered? Ah, never mind, lah, I needed to eat anyway. And very, very soon afterwards, everyone had stopped eating while we were the only ones left still munching on breakfast.

Nuwara Eliya was the only place in our itinerary where our group did not visit any Buddhist temple or monastery in Sri Lanka. Here in Piliyandala, our visits to these holy places resumed. First stop of the day was to the Polgasovita Vipassana Meditation Centre to invite their Chief Abbot, Meetalawe Vineeta Mahãthero, to Penang. Likewise at our second stop, Sri Kalyana Dharma Ashramaya, another invitation was extended to their Chief Abbot, Pahalavitiyala Janãnanda Mahãthero.

In Buddhism, seniority among the monkhood is measured by the number of annual vassa, commonly known as the Rains Retreat or Buddhist Lent, that a Theravadin monk has completed. Vassa spans three lunar months between July and October, during which monks engage in intensive meditation and scripture study. Seniority determines their arrangement during activities such as at mealtimes, with the most senior monks at the front of the line and the recently ordained monks at the end. The Chief Abbot of a monastery is typically, but not necessarily, the monk with the most vassa. Other qualities, such as spiritual attainments and leadership skills, also play a role. However, once accepted as a Chief Abbot, seniority remains important. Ego has no place in a monk's life, so a Chief Abbot from one monastery with fewer vassa than a Chief Abbot from another monastery must still show respect to the latter. Witnessing this hierarchical respect, I was moved when Bhante Dhammasubho from our Nandaka Vihara prostrated himself before the two more senior Sri Lankan Chief Abbots, and only then was he invited to sit beside them in their respective monasteries.

A gift from Bhante Neluve Aranagavesi

Of the three Buddhist temples we visited, I felt that the most impressive was the Dhammadhura Monastery, in no small part due to the finger-licking lunch experience that we fêted there. Truly, one of the most memorable. The place was filled with Buddha statues and exquisite Buddhist artifacts. My breath was taken away when we entered an inner sanctuary, impressively decorated with Buddhist treasures, where homage was paid to their sacred Buddha relics. Outside, the quiet charm of several well-maintained areas provided a serene environment for contemplation, with various Buddha statues serving as the focal points.

But all too soon we had to leave in order to continue with our journey around Piliyandala. We were taken to the University of Sri Jayewardenepura next where we sat through a 45-minute presentation by Ishini Thamodya, a third-year Archaeology undergraduate of the Department of History and Archaeology. The most important lesson from her was the distinction between archaeology and history. Whereas history is written by people and often reflects their interpretations and biases, archaeology provides factual records derived from physical evidence, offering an objective glimpse into the past. Archaeology uncovers artifacts, structures and other physical remains, which allow us to reconstruct past cultures and societies without the distortion of personal opinions.

Another journey criss-crossing Piliyandala brought us to the home of one of Sri Lanka's renowned wood carvers, Dias Weerasinghe, in a suburb known as Thumbowila. The roads were narrow and lined with high walls on both sides. Yet, the driver skillfully navigated the bus through these tight passages and successfully led us to Weerasinghe's house. His living room and front porch were filled with finished and unfinished wooden images of Buddha in all sizes. We spent some time here as our visiting monks wanted to commission him to create a Buddha statue for the Nandaka Vihara. we were tempted to pick up a Buddha image to bring back to Penang, but having already received one from Bhante Neluve Aranagavesi at the Polgasovita Vipassana Meditation Centre earlier in the day, we decided against bringing home yet another religious item.

Leaving Thumbowila at about 4:30pm, the bus took us on our final journey of the day to the seaside town of Negombo. Our destination was the Club Hotel Dolphin, which we discovered to be a relatively posh seaside resort. As we drove northwards, we noticed a distinct change in the roadside scenery. The Buddha statues were gradually replaced by statues of Jesus and various Christian saints. Where once Buddha statues adorned the roadsides, there were now Christian religious figures. Initially, I had hoped to reach the hotel by 6:30pm to catch the sunset over the ocean, but the journey was long. By the time we arrived, the sky had transitioned from an orangey-red to a deeper red. I practically ran to the seaside, thinking I would be alone, but was surprised to see Bhante Dhammasubho and Richard already walking back towards the lobby. Undeterred, I stayed behind for several minutes and managed to capture some fabulous shots of the darkening sky.

Upon returning to the lobby, I found the registration process nearly complete. A refreshing non-alcoholic welcome drink awaited me, signalling the thoughtful hospitality of the hotel. Soon after, each of us was outfitted with a plastic identification wrist tag to ensure seamless access throughout our stay. Dinner followed, and we were escorted to the hotel's restaurant, where we were pleasantly surprised by the lavish buffet spread awaiting us. After dinner, we were guided to our rooms. Long walk, but the porters were on hand to bring our luggage around. As for the room itself, it was spacious yet exuded a comforting homeliness. The highlight was undoubtedly the immense super king-size bed with promises of a restful night's sleep. The hotel's attention to detail was evident in the abundance of pillows, spoilt for choice but further enhancing the feeling that we were being truly pampered.

We could hear the waves breaking, but in the darkness, we couldn't determine how close we were to the shoreline. The French windows opened out to the swimming pool, but we couldn't see anyone using it in the darkness. Never mind, we thought, this was a place we could explore in the morning. Nevertheless, we ventured out to the lounge, where a band of Filipino musicians was just finishing their session and packing up. We sat around to take in the atmosphere and then decided to retire for the night. This was the first night we could actually lie down blissfully on the bed by 10:30pm. Unfortunately, it was also our final night in Sri Lanka.

Dhammadhura Monastery