Idyllic holiday by the Batalagoda tank

I had the great good fortune to be invited to holiday at an estate bordering the Batalagoda tank The waters of the reservoir lap against the boundaries of the estate with a kind of music alien to our urban ears but music all the same.

Our hosts, with a keen sense of ecology, provided a semi-religious environment giving enough space for meditation as well as an opportunity for the more worldly among us to enjoy nature’s bounty. This included unbelievable colors of the changing skies of a morning and evening and the birds flying in formation to their roosting places at night

To cap it all, the fishermen plying their boats for pleasure rides or fishing, would come closer to the shore when they see us and serenade us with beautiful, old Sinhala songs. I thought to myself this is a paradise lost and regained.

A frequent subject that came up for discussion was the construction in close proximity to where we were, of a Buddha statue supposed to be the tallest sitting Buddha. The building of this statue carries an interesting story. Our host, a devout Buddhist who is a practicing doctor takes delight in re-telling it.

Soon after the Bamian Budda statues in Afhanistan were destroyed by the Taliban, the priest had overheard a conversation among the youth in the temple of how they are going to avenge the outrage by destroying a mosque nearby. Hearing this, the priest was very disturbed. He called these young men and gave them a talk saying revenge is not the Buddhist way.

We will forgive those responsible with love and kindness and build a small statue as a mark of remembrance and forgiveness. Fortunately the youth listened to him and this caught the imagination of many people around the temple. Assistance came pouring in from the most unexpected quarters. The priest’s dream began taking form and shape.

Muslims, Hindus and philanthropists of different faiths began contributing to make this less-known project a success. Among the prominent supporters was India’s High Commissioner to Sri Lanka who even sought the help of the Indian government.

A prominent Hindu family in Sri Lanka obtained the services of sculptors from India. The end result was a beautiful stone statue sculpted from the living rock. Without any ecological damage, or unsightly destruction of the environment, there sits the serene Buddha, a monument to man’s insanity and his wisdom.

This story fired my desire to meet this priest. I wanted to tell him how much I admired his thoughts and words. I did meet him thanks to the kind assistance of our host and he was happy to hear what I had to say.What I always wanted to say that thanks his great wisdom, the age-old Buddhist words have prevailed. As Leigh Hunt wrote of Abou Ben Adhem in 1834, “May his tribe increase.”

Padmini Nanayakkara