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Focus on Books:
Budu Puda and Colombo poets
Professor Sunanda Mahendra
From time to time I am invited by my good friend Karunaratne
Amarasinghe to conduct a creative communication workshop at Jayawardene
Cultural Centre in Colombo. The workshop is a minor segment of my
friend’s communication course for students who are given a theory and
practical lessons directed towards media channels.
This time my friend presented a booklet titled Budu Puda (offerings
to the Buddha). When I took time off to read the printed pages, I felt
that the material embedded are a long felt necessity, where most of the
Pali stanzas are translated into Sinhala verses. We go to the temple and
places of workshop and hear Pali stanzas recited by devotees. Most of
us, if asked, may not know the meanings. But even if Pali stanzas are
recited without knowledge, they believe perhaps widely, the devotion or
the faith is the dominant factor. The general acceptance is that Pali
stanzas are composed in such a manner that the real effect emerges when
they are recited aloud. Whatever the common belief here is a collection
of Sinhala verses, simply created to clarify the inner meanings.
This booklet has been printed in the first instance as far back as
2001, and now gone into the third edition with these Sinhala verses. Our
good friend Prematilaka Mapitigama had been the originator of this
concept as mentioned in the preface. The five precepts are followed by
the greatness of Buddha, which goes in Pali as Itipiso Bhagava...
Firstly the general meaning is given in prose form . Then comes the
versification.
The nine great virtues of the Buddha are presented in a way that
children as well as adults could remember. Simple versification has
always helped children and adults remember facts and concepts over the
years. This has been a great traditional heritage possessed and imparted
via such simple versifications as Akuru Sahella written by Munidasa
Cumaratunga. He was perhaps influenced by such versifications as
Vadankavi Potha, Pattini Hella and Sakaskada. The Sinhala versifications
over years had produced ballads or more known to the Sinhala reader as
Kavi Katha or Kai Katandara.
A major part of these creations are based on Jataka and folktales.
Perhaps the trend was most dominant during the Kandyan period of Sinhala
literature where the poets’ greatness was measured by the intensity of a
ballad. This concept has given way to the creation of many narrative
poems. Sometimes the trend is still found occasionally during the
religious festival times like Vesaka and Poson.
Speaking of this flimsy versifications called Budu Puda the
Jayawardhana Centre initiated another poetic session launching ten
volumes of Sinhala Poetry by ten well known Sinhala poets, compiled from
various sources such as poetry periodicals and newspaper manuscripts etc
by the journalist P. M. Senaratne. The work covers 10 great poets in
Colombo era.
Ven. S. Mahinda is a Tibetan poet who lived in Sri Lanka, and
composed quite a number of nationalist poems in Sinhala. His forte was
the necessity to reawaken the lost national conscience in the country.
Ananda Rajakaruna was a pioneer poet who wrote poems for children on
nature as well as religion.
All Colombo poets may have been forgotten by the present day literary
climate. As such it is clear that the rediscoveries venture on the part
of P. M. Senaratne is significant.
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