Senior citizen and less-abled stymied at the two most important sites of Buddhist pilgrimage in A’pura

After more than six months of being locked down and self-locked-in, a friend and I decided to venture forth, with our respective domestics, to much beloved Anuradhapura. We spent the night at the Sanctuary – the old Tissa Wewa Resthouse – with name change and refurbishment some years ago. Mercifully, the bullock drawn passenger cart we call a hackery on display, and ancient mosquito net draped high beds are retained. My friend and I both adore these old places which have so much character and a particular ambience, missing in the flashy new hotels. The hotel staff were, as always, very attentive giving us good service.

Regulations observed and also not

Anuradhapura this last weekend was full of pilgrims, such that queues formed at the entrance to the Ruwanveliseya and Sacred Bo Tree premises. Police were on hand but social distancing was ignored completely. This was the case all over, though all people wore face masks. I was seated on a step in the Sacred Bo Tree area when, with plenty of space available, a person sits right in front of me, not even two feet away.

One cannot say whether pilgrims were quiet or not, quiet with piety and reverence, or chattering and calling out to each other as usual, because the temple loud speakers were on full blast at the Sacred Bo Tree from before 6.00 pm to after 7.00 with gathas being chanted, extra loud. At the Maha Seya, as is the custom, donations were acknowledged with all details of donor through a loud speaker. Five pooja processions arrived with loud “sadhus” and tom tom beating. No complaint about the latter but very severe complaint about the loud speakers at full blast.

The point of this article is to make two complaints. The first is about the prolonged loud chanting of verses from the temple below the Sacred Bo Tree, and the other: total disregard of the less-abled.

Loud temple chanting

In this column and through letters to the editor I have complained many times about the noise in this most sacred of places. In the Kandy Dalada Maligawa, the drum beating and ‘horena’ and conch blowing are at set times and very necessary as being part of the ritual of the sacred place and fascinate both foreigners and locals by the style of tom tom beating. Other than this, there is quiet and people too are completely silent. Not so in Anuradhapura at the site with another ‘relic’ of the Buddha himself – an aged grown sapling from the Bo Tree under which Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment in Gaya. What is expected of people who come here? Pay reverence to the aged tree and the more robustly growing third generation of the sacred tree in Gaya, and sit quietly in meditation or at least in reflection on the life of the Buddha.

But what do the Sangha guardians of the place do and allow? Very loud and prolonged chanting early morning, mid day, and long into the late evening. They also allow those white clad charlatans to bless people who pay them to chant gathas. The most Sacred Tree is to be fervently revered and not sought help from. True, there are devathavas present, but the greater significance is to get us ordinary people meditating as the Buddha did before and after he realized a solution to the suffering of samsaric births.

This first complaint can hardly be remedied as the Atamasthana Mayanayake and the monks resident in the sacred sites make the laws. I do not suppose even the Ministry of Buddha Sasana can advice more silence, leave alone order it. But my second complaint can be remedied by the central authority, meaning the Ministry seeing to religious affairs.

Created difficulty to reach the two

most sacred sites

I found this last weekend that I had to walk much longer to reach both the Sacred Bo Tree site and the Ruwanveliseya. Result of the 2019 Easter bombing, I suppose. We used to park the vehicle fairly close to one site and walk along that paved path to the other and have the car collect us at that end or even walk back. Once with my sister we found a wheel chair available. I most definitely feel that private cars especially, need not have to park so far away from the entrances to the sites. They can drive much closer to the entrances, drop passengers and drive back to the vehicle park. Who are those who come with most fervour and anticipation to these places? The aged. And they are kept out unless they possess wheel chairs and at least three pairs of strong arms apiece to lift the chairs over steps.

This is really deplorable. To worsen matters, there are no ramps to accommodate wheel chairs to either the apron of the Maha Seya or the Maluwa at ground level at least of the Sacred Tree premises. While I sat on steps distant from the two places, I saw about five old people in wheel chairs being carried in their chairs itself or lifted off the chair and carried to be set in the chair, having to repeat this business several times. I use the word shameful to describe this utter disregard of the old and helpless who are in most need of the solace of visiting our most sacred sites. 70 odd percent Buddhists in the country, with a Ministry for Buddhist Affairs and hundreds of monks in Anuradhapura, but no one has seen the need to help the less abled visit the Sacred Sites.

Universal laws in place

On my return I complained to an architect in the US and said this may be my last visit to worship at the two most sacred sites. He gave me information that actually should be passed onto the authorities. Our Prime Minister is the Minister of Buddhasasana, Cultural and Religious Affairs; with Secretary Prof Kapila Gunawardena. One of our group suggested we tell it to the President as people are complaining about everything to him. No! He cannot be bothered with shortcomings. The Buddha Sasana Ministry should look into the matter of doing the needful to accommodate the less able to pay their reverence to the two most sacred sites in Anuradhapura.

Prevalent rules in ‘more civilized’ countries

The architect I spoke with said that one regulation observed and carried out in the US is Universal design – “design of buildings, products or environments to make them accessible to all people, regardless of age, disability or other factors.”

The term ‘Universal design’ was coined by Architect Ronald Mace with the aim stated above. “It was however the work of Selwyn Goldsmith, author of Designing for the Disabled (1963), who really pioneered the concept of free access for people with disabilities. His most significant achievement was the creation of the dropped curb – now a standard feature of the built environment. Universal design emerged from slightly earlier barrier-free concepts, the broader accessibility movement, and adaptive and assistive technology and also seeks to blend aesthetics into these core considerations.” As life expectancy rises with modern medicine etc and those with significant injuries, illnesses, and birth defects, move around, this concept of universal design is incorporated in new buildings and also reconstructed ones, as the architect told me.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA is another step forward in the very right direction which is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. I mention the ADA though it is not absolutely relevant to my subject in this article.

I accessed the website of the Ministry of Buddhasana, Cultural and Religious Affairs (name given in two ways interchanging ‘cultural’ and’ religious’!!) and quote:

Our Vision:

To be the leading facilitator in bringing about a society with qualitative and moral values. Our Mission: Providing assistance to create a qualitative society with better way of living …

Religious observances and making them available to all definitely falls into both vision and mission! What has to be done urgently is build ramps to the sacred sites and let cars drop passengers closer to the sites. It’s as simple as that! I intend posting a clip of this article to the Ministry. Do hope it will beat our oft repeated and believed in “Kaata kiyantada” pessimism.