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 My
visit to Anuradhapuram was a long cherished desire come true. I had
waited all my life to have a glimpse of the Bodhi Tree. This ancient
city was the capital of Sri Lanka till tenth century A.D. It is a
Saga of great Buddhist tradition. Its art, culture, architecture,
shrines, stupas and viharas pay tribute to Lord Buddha. This
beautifully laid out city, has lovely baths made of stone, next to
the natural springs.
The excellent drainage and sanitation system still
exists. This City also contains the first animal hospital built in
the world. There are many stone tubs cut in human and animal shape,
which were used to give therapeutic baths to sick human beings or
animals. The town boasts of many beautiful sculptures. One of these
is that of 'lovers' in Anuradhapuram.
Very close to Anuradhapuram is 'Mahin Tala' or
Mahindra's Hill. Prince Mahindra was the son of Ashoka who later as
a Buddhist monk came to Sri Lanka with the Bodhi tree. His boat had
landed very close to Anuradhapuram. He preached Buddhism to the King
of Anuradhapuram on this very hill and converted him to Buddhism.
The legend is that the King was hunting in the
forest below, when Mahindra spotted him and preached non-violence.
The King was so influenced by Mahindra that he immediately gave up
the barbaric habit of hunting and converted to Buddhism. That was
the beginning of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Today more than 80% of Sri
Lanka's population is Buddhist, who look towards India for spiritual
and cultural inspiration. Next year Sri Lanka would be celebrating
its 2300th year of Buddhism.
Coming back to Bodhi tree, planted by Mahindra and
his sister Sanghamitra, a shrine of Buddha has been established
under the tree. It is a very peaceful experience to sit in the
shrine under the tree. The branches of the Bodhi Tree have been
planted over the years, all over the compound of the temple, in the
village, and in other Buddhist temples throughout Sri Lanka, so now
you see Bodhi tree everywhere.
Another famous temple in Anuradhapuram is the temple
of 'Ishmuni'. Here Buddha's sculpture is in sleeping form'. Buddha
here is depicted after attaining his Nirvana.
There is a substantial entry fee for foreigners to
be paid in dollars both at the temple of tooth and at Anuradhapuram,
which I did not know. I was wearing a saree, and was simply waved
in, as a local pilgrim, in both the places.
While sitting in the shrine of Buddha under the
Bodhi tree, I was so overwhelmed that I started crying. It upset all
the local worshippers who were very caring, genuinely concerned, and
full of enquiries. They thought I had some inner sorrow and prayed
for me. Buddhist nuns came and blessed me. I was touched by the
gesture of the nuns and the others.
When I wanted to have a few leaves of the original
Bodhi tree to carry with me to India, one of the temple servants,
climbed on the terrace of the temple and brought me the leaves from
the original Bodhi tree planted by Mahindra and Sanghmitra, the
children of King Ashoka of Kalinga. This was a very kind gesture
from him.
Women in Sri Lanka
My visit to Anuradhapuram would not have taken place
but for the insistance of Nirmala De'Mello the dynamic proprietress
of 'quickshaw's, a leading travel agency of Colombo. Nirmala is the
vision of the Sri Lankan woman on move. She is intelligent,
independent involved and emancipated. Apart from being a leading
travel agent, she is a well-known tour operator and owns two
excellently run guesthouses in Anuradhapuram called Tissawewa and
Nuwarawewa, which are comfortable, homely and immensely popular. She
also arranged for me to meet the Director General of Tourism in Sri
Lanka which was very useful.
Another equally dynamic lady, from a family of
Indian origin, I met was Prabha Nagalingham. Notwithstanding her
husband's prosperous business, she has an independent business of
her own. She and her sister own a dairy farm. Instead of just
selling the milk, they have a flourishing business of setting the
milk into curds, in beautiful mud pots, and supplying these
personally to all the leading super markets in Colombo. Their curds
are most popular all over the city. If they had sold milk their
profit would have been less than half.
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