The historical background of the origin of the Dalada Perahera

Rohana R. Wasala

The Dalada Perahera which is held annually in Kandy, the seat of government of the last monarch of Sinhale, has a long history of 1700 years. The Sacred Tooth Relic (the Dantha Dhatu) was brought to the 'island of Sihala' (Sri Lanka) during the reign of King Sirimeghavanna (301-328 CE), nine years after he ascended the throne. Verses 92 to 97 of the 37th Chapter of the Mahavamsa (continued in the form of Culavamsa) as translated by Wilhelm Geiger refer to the event thus:

"In the ninth year of this (King) a Brahman woman brought hither (to Anuradhapura) from the Kalinga country the Tooth Relic of the great Sage (Buddha). In the manner set forth in the Chronicle of the Tooth Relic the Ruler received it with reverence, paid it the highest honours, laid it in an urn of pure crystal, and brought it to the building called Dhammacakka built by Devanampiyatissa on the royal territory. Henceforth this building was the Temple of the Tooth Relic. The King his heart swelling with joy, spent 900,000 (Kahapanas) and arranged therewith a great festival for the Tooth Relic. He decreed that it should be brought every year to the Abhayuttara Vihara and that the same sacrificial ceremonial should be conserved". (Culavamsa Part I, Geiger translation, 1929, p.7-8)

(The last part of the above section is translated as "... and then he ordained that a similar festival should be annually celebrated, transferring the relic in procession to the Abhayagiri Vihara" in Mudliyar L. C. Wijesingha's rendering, in two parts, of the Mahavansa incorporating the Culavansa (p. 154, Part I), which preceded Geiger's, the former having been published in 1889.)

Buddhist monasteries

The Tooth Relic was conveyed here in rather interesting circumstances. Religious discord prevailed at both its source and its destination points, which were respectively Kalinga in South-East India (roughly corresponding to modern Orissa) and Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka; but not the same type of tension was in evidence in the two places. In India, Hindu opposition to the Tooth Relic being venerated by Indian kings endangered its survival there, whereas Sri Lanka experienced an internal split within the Sangha. There was doctrinal dissension between the two main Lankan Buddhist monasteries - the Mahavihara and the Abhayagiri Viharas - which were vying for royal patronage, recognition, and power; this was an ideological conflict capitalized on by Mahayanist incursion.

Sirimegavanna's father King Mahasena (274-301 CE) got involved in this long standing dispute between the Mahavihara and the Abhayagiri bhikkus, which had arisen in the time of King Vattagamini Abhaya (Valagamba:) (29-17 BCE). It was Valagamba: who built the larger and newer of these two Vihara complexes, the Abhayagiri monastery, and naturally he patronised the Abhayagiri bhikkus.

About this time, adherents of Mahayana Buddhist doctrines from India made inroads into the Sri Lankan Buddhist church where the orthodox Theravada or Sthaviravada form of Buddhism had already established itself as the religion of the state. This was a new development facilitated by the fact that the Sinhalese Ariyadeva, a free thinker in his own right, held to have been from the Sinhalese royal family of the time, was the chief disciple of Nagarjuna, the celebrated teacher of Mahayana Buddhism in India. Unlike the Theravadins the Mahayanists believed that the worship of the cosmic succession of Buddhas, and of Buddha aspirants (bodhisattvas) for divine grace was one way of gaining emancipation in addition to the one of accumulating merit through individual effort and spiritual development, this latter being emphasized in the Theravada tradition. The worship of images and relics was popular with the Mahayanists.

The present Sri Lankan cult of relic and image worship originated under Mahayana influence. While the Mahavihara bhikkus opposed Mahayanist intrusions, their Abhayagiri counterparts responded to them positively. The battle between the two monastic sects simmered for centuries. [At a later time, the Mahavamsa author Mahanama, a member of the Mahavihara describes Mahayanism as the 'Vetulya-doctrine'. Thera Mahanama was himself of the royal family, being uncle of King Dhatusena (455-473 CE).]

The Mahavihara bhikkus condemned deviations from their own teachings as heresy. They persuaded King Voharika Tissa (209-31 CE), a predecessor of Mahasena, to re-establish 'the true doctrine' by suppressing the alleged heretical school:

"Suppressing the Vetulya-doctrine and keeping heretics in check by his minister Kapila, he made the true doctrine to shine forth in glory."

(The Mahavamsa, Chapter 36, Verse 41, p.259)

As Professor K.M. de Silva points out in his 'A History of Sri Lanka' (Vijitha Yapa Publications, 2005, p.63) such repressive measures failed to keep the Mahayanists down for long. Within a generation, there was a resurgence among them. King Gothabhaya (249-62) did not believe that coercive methods adopted in support of orthodoxy were effective in dealing with problems arising from dissension among the Sangha over doctrinal issues. The truth was that the king himself was rather inclined towards Mahayanism. Under King Mahasena the Mahavihara monks were even less successful in their campaign against the new doctrine. In fact, there was a stark reversal of their fortunes vis-a-vis the so-called Vaitulyavadins, with Mahasena totally identifying himself with the latter.

Mahavihara bhikkus

Under the influence of Thera Sanghamitta who came from India to consecrate him as king, Mahasena lost his patience with the Mahavihara bhikkus. Thera Sanghamitta was of the Vaiytuya sect, and a friend of the Abhayagiri Vihara monks. He, according to the Mahavansa, poisoned the king's mind against his sectarian rivals saying, "The dwellers in the Mahavihara do not teach the (true) Vinaya, we are those who teach the (true) Vinaya, O King". The monarch forbade the giving of alms to them, and imposed the penalty of a fine of one hundred pieces (of money) on anyone who dared to disobey his decree.

The Mahavihara bhikkus left the monastery and found refuge in Malaya (the hill districts) and Rohana. The Mahavihara, which had been built by King Devanampiyatissa, the first Buddhist king of the island, centuries ago, remained abandoned for nine years. Sangamitta saw to it that the monastery was completely destroyed; the seven storeyed Lohapasada (the Brazen palace), which King Devanampiyatissa had originally built nine storeys high for the dwelling of bhikkus, was pulled down. Materials from the demolished buildings were used to expand the Abhayagiri complex. The king constructed a dagaba named Jetavanarama on the deserted Mahavihara precincts. Minister Meghavannabhaya, a close friend of the king, was very angry with him over the destruction of the Mahavihara, and threatened rebellion.

Irrigation works

The king admitted his guilt and expressed regret. He promised to the reconciled minister that he would rebuild the monastery. One of the royal consorts, a scribe's daughter, extremely beloved of the king, in her bitterness over the sacrilegious vandalism committed against the great monastery, got a worker to kill Sangamitta as he came to demolish the Thuparama.

His assistant, Minister Sona, suffered the same fate. The monk who had accepted the Jetavana Vihara was expelled from the order although against the king's wishes. Mahasena later built a number of Viharas including the Manihira-Vihara after destroying temples of the (brahmanical) gods. But this king is also known, and is accorded great honour, as a builder of artificial reservoirs for the irrigation of agricultural land (vaevas).

The largest tank or vaeva he built was the Manihira vaeva (today known as the Minneri vaeva), about twenty miles (thirty-three kilometres) in circumference. On his death, he was deified as a god (Mahasen deviyo) by a grateful people for the services he rendered for the sustenance and promotion of agriculture by building such monumental irrigation works, and is revered even today as a regional divinity.

Meritorious activities

When Mahasena died, his son Sirimeghavanna ascended the throne, "bestowing like Mandhata all kinds of blessings on the world", as the Culavansa author says. It appears that Mahasena, with his dedication to the economic upliftment of his people, left a prosperous country for his son to rule.

Sirimeghavanna adopted a very conciliatory policy towards the Mahavihara bhikkus. He spared no expenses in restoring all the Mahavihara buildings that his father had destroyed misled by Sangamitta and his adherents. He also constructed a life-size gold image of Thera Mahinda who introduced Buddhism to the island, along with the images of his companion theras. He installed these in a shelter built near his palace, and set a watch there for its protection. He is credited to have built 18 Viharas. It was while the king was engaged in these and other meritorious activities that the Tooth Relic was brought here from Kalinga.

The Sacred Tooth Relic had been in the custody of Guhasiva, a Buddhist king of Kalinga. Many other Indian kings who were Hindus did not approve of the worship of the Tooth Relic as a sacred object. They wanted to destroy it. Though they made several attempts to do so, they failed. King Guhasiva then thought that the Sacred Tooth Relic would be safe in Sri Lanka. So he had his daughter Princess Hemamala: and her husband Prince Danta take the Relic to Anuradhapura secretly. They travelled to Sri Lanka disguised as mendicant pilgrims. The princess carried it hidden in her hair. King Sirimeghavanna received the Buddha's Tooth Relic with great joy as described in the extract from the Culavansa with which this essay began.

Annual procession

The Kandy Esala Perahera, today identical with the Dalada Perahera, is thus a continuation of a tradition that started on the very arrival of the Tooth Relic in Sri Lanka 17 centuries ago. King Sirimeghavanna initiated the annual procession that ceremonially carried the Relic from its shrine on the royal palace precincts to the Abhayuttara (i.e. Abhayagiri) Vihara where it was deposited and venerated for three months. The tradition of locating the Dalada shrine near the king's palace also began at the same time.

Over the following centuries, the link between the Dalada and the Sinhalese monarchy evolved to be such that its possession (along with that of the Buddha's Bowl Relic) was considered an essential requirement for the ruler to legitimize his or her sovereignty over the island. From that time (i.e.310 CE) up to 1815 CE (which year marks the end of the Kingdom of Sinhale), the Dalada was taken wherever the capital city was located. So, the Dalada is today found in Kandy, in the wake of its long peregrination across the island in association with the checkered fortunes of Sinhalese kings in the course of its history in Sri Lanka, from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa to Dambadeniya to Kurunegala to Kotte, and so on including secret locations in times of trouble. But the annual Perahera in its honour has been interrupted only on a few occasions.