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Goddesses leave a trail of flowers to the Foot print

by Florence Wickramage

Pilgrims to Sri Pada as well as visitors are increasing in numbers daily, trekking uphill to pay homage to the Sacred Foot Print. Concurrently a campaign "Keep Sri Pada polythene-free" is on whilst at the same time educating the general public on the hazards of polluting the environment with un-degradable waste.

The approach to the foot Print is not as hazardous as it used to be in the olden days. A pilgrimage to Sri Pada was considered a hallowed task by our fore-fathers which was undertaken after days of spiritual preparation.

Before undertaking the pilgrimage, vows were made to God Saman with prayers for a safe and successful journey. Records reveal that during the times of the Sinhala kings the location of the Sacred Foot-Print had not been known even though there had been information that such a foot-print was in existence.

This fact has given rise to many interesting and beautiful myths woven round the Sacred foot Print at the Samanala Kande and how it was found. Among them is a story about how King Nissanka Malla was able to trace the Foot Print.

One story is of two brothers of whom one was a kind and handsome monk while the other was an unkind and ugly husband. The wife of the ugly brother became interested in the handsome monk and wanted him to respond to her. When the monk refused she coined a story and told her husband that the monk had tried to make undue advances to her. This made the ugly brother very angry and decided to take revenge from the monk.

Sunrise over Sri Pada

The ugly brother approached the monk and said that their parents had buried a treasure in the jungle which he could not fetch by himself. The monk agreed to accompany his brother to the jungle and unknowingly fell into the trap that was laid for him. Once in the jungle the ugly brother accosted the monk and told him that he brought him to the jungle to punish him for making advances to his wife. So saying the ugly brother cut up the legs and hands of the monk and left him in the jungle. On seeing his brother departing, the monk entreated his brother to leave the Satipatthana Sutta on his stomach. The crippled monk lay thus in the jungle for three days singing from the Satipattana Sutta.

An old lady who worked for the king heard the beautiful singing and traced the source to the crippled monk and took him home to care for him. While returning they heard the king's drummer saying that somebody was stealing flowers from the king's garden in the nights and the person who could trap the thief would be rewarded handsomely with gems and jewellery. The crippled monk wanted to try his luck, but the old lady tried to dissuade him saying he would probably lose his head in the effort in addition to what he had already lost.

Undaunted, the crippled monk stopped the drummer and said that he was willing to undertake the task. The drummer took the monk to the King who ordered him to be placed in the garden hut. The cripple lay in the hut awake at night, singing from the teachings of the Buddha. In the middle of the night goddesses came to steal the flowers and the youngest of them stood outside the hut to listen to his singing. On the third night the goddesses asked the monk whether he could open the door so that they could see him. The monk had replied that he could not open the door since he was a cripple with no hands and legs. On hearing this the goddesses threw in a magic cloth into the hut. The cloth fell on his body and the monk miraculously got back his hands and legs. The monk after hiding the cloth opened the door.

The youngest goddess wanted the magic cloth back saying that she could not fly without it. The monk refused since his intention was to show the king the thieves of his flowers. When the king arrived at the scene at the request of the monk, the goddesses explained why they were stealing flowers from his garden.

The loveliest flowers in the island grew in the king's garden and they were the most suitable to be offered to the sacred footprint of the Buddha. King Nissanka Malla then requested the goddesses to show him where the footprint was for by this time he and his subjects had heard about it but had not known its location.

The goddesses promised the king that they would leave behind a flower-trail leading up to the foot Print. The monk returned the magic cloth to the goddess and on the following morning he with the king set off in search of the foot-print following the flower trail.

According to another myth, there lived a holy man during the days of King Nissanka Malla, who meditated every day asking the gods where the foot-print of the Buddha was. His continuous prayers were one day answered when a group of Gods stood before him. Ordinary people cannot see gods but those with good concentration and pious meditation could see them. The gods had their hands filled with Madara and Parasathu flowers (flowers that do not exist on earth). The holy man inquired from the gods where they came from and why they had flowers in their hands. The gods replied "we come from heaven, and we are on our way to the Sri Pada to offer a pooja to the foot-print of the Buddha".

The holy man asked the gods whether he could join them. The gods agreed and carried him through the air to the Sri Pada. When the holy man saw the footprint in the blue sapphire he had been filled with awe and started a pooja in veneration of it. When he finished his worship he realised that the gods have disappeared leaving him behind. He had no place to go to and did not know the way back. Therefore he continued worshipping the sacred foot print. The departing gods suddenly realised that they had left the holy man behind and returned to take him back to the place where they found him.

Devotees trekking downhill after paying homage to the Foot Print.

The holy man thereafter went straight to the king and related his miraculous experience. The king built two roads up to the foot Print one through Hatton and the other through Ratnapura. The story goes on to say that the king in order to protect the blue sapphire from thieves covered it with a huge stone and had a replica of the original foot-print carved on the stone.

In a third myth, a holy man in deep meditation had asked the gods where the foot Print was to be found. During his meditation one day, he had seen a swarm of yellow butterflies flying uphill and had followed them.

The butterflies were on their way to pay homage to the foot-print. The holy man thereafter informed the king about this location and the king built two paths to the footprint as stated in the earlier myth. The Samanala Kande got its name from the butterflies.

These myths link the Sacred Foot-Print to King Nissanka Malla (1187-1196 A.D.). According to Mahavamsa Nissanka Malla was the first king to make the pilgrimage to the foot Print which increased with the passing of the years finally making it a yearly event during the season.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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