‘Politics’ of AMUDE : Archaic with a Proud History! – By KKS PERERA
A few years ago, the government withdrew the fertilizer subsidy sparking widespread demonstrations led by the JVP’s Govi Sammelanaya. The media widely circulated images of the ‘peasants’ dressed in their traditional field attire, the lion cloth (Amude) and protesting on the streets. However, some media outlets were cautious about using the term ‘Amude,’ recognizing that it is becoming obsolete. The government politicians argued that many of the demonstrators labeled as ‘farmers’ were actually individuals from various other industries and trades in the Colombo suburbs.
In the 1930s, during his tenure as Minister of Works in the State Council, Sir John Kotelawala was eager to extend the railway lines beyond their existing routes. He often traveled on his inspection tours in very casual attire—just a T-shirt and shorts. On one such outing, he accompanied his leader, D. S. Senanayake, who requested Sir John to send his car back to Colombo by rail and travel with him. At the railway station, Kotelawala noticed the Station Master deeply engrossed in reading a newspaper with both legs up. Without introducing himself, Sir John, speaking in Sinhala, requested to book a wagon.
The Station Master, assuming the speaker was just another villager, didn’t bother to look up and reprimanded him for the interruption, saying he should have known better than to disturb him while he was reading. Kotelawala recounted this incident to D. S. Senanayake, and they both returned to the station. Upon realizing who Sir John was, the Station Master fell prostrate and begged for mercy. Later, Sir John remarked that he would remove the royal attire of all Station Masters and have them wear ‘Amudes’ (loin cloth). This statement received widespread attention and ended up causing more harm than good to the minister’s reputation : An Asian PM’s Story—JLK
During the economic depression in the 1970s, textile imports were restricted allowing only cheap varieties to be issued on ration. Dr. Dahanayake, a controversial former Prime Minister, chose to protest the scarcity by attending Parliament clad in an Amude (loin cloth). Media men had a field day capturing Dahanayake almost in Andersen’s “Emperor in new clothes.” However, authorities barred the “improperly attired” veteran legislator from entering the chambers. The Secretary General’s instructions were loosely interpreted by a junior member as “half-naked,” provoking a response from the old-Thomian, English literati to rejoin: “I say, do you know that the so-called half-naked fakir from India was granted an audience with the King of England whenever he sought one?” and realizing the staff member’s ignorance, Dahanayake explained, “Go and tell your chief that Mahatma Gandhi wore a simple dhoti [loin cloth] and shawl, and that he stuck to this dress code even when he was entertained at Buckingham Palace,” saying so, he returned to the MP’s rest room to change. [Mathma Gandhi was contemptuously labeled, ‘Half-naked Fakir’ by west]
This simple dress, a square piece of cloth known as the loincloth, traditionally used by the peasants of our country during fieldwork to cover the non-exposable parts of the male anatomy, was worn by both former Presidents, J.R. Jayewardene and R. Premadasa, at the annual Vap Magul ceremonies in the 1980s, marking the traditional commencement of paddy cultivation, [or hoodwink the farmers?] a ritual practiced by ancient kings.
The writer fondly recalls his kindergarten days when a boy’s mother and the female class teacher struggled to dress the boy in Amude for the fancy dress competition’s “Farmer.” Unable to manage the task on their own, the two ladies eventually sought the help of the Head Mistress’s rickshaw-puller.
Paddy Lands Act of 1958
The writer recalls the Paddy Lands Act of 1958, a key piece of socialist reform introduced by Phillip Gunawardena, Minister of Agriculture and Lands, during SWRD’s 1956 government. This progressive legislation aimed to address the injustices faced by peasants, as one-third of the island’s paddy lands were cultivated by non-owners under the age-old Ande system. The main feature of the proposal was to increase the Ande Goviya’s share from the traditional one-fourth or half of the harvest to three-fourths. The Act specified that unless the owner or their family members were directly involved in cultivation or contributed reasonably to costs, the owner would be entitled to only one-fourth of the harvest.
The large landowners, unwilling to accept such a significant loss without a fight, rallied around the right-wing faction of the Cabinet led by C.P. de Silva, Maithreepala Senanayake, Stanley de Soyza, and Wimala Wijewardene to oppose the Philip-Bandaranaike alliance. This faction staged an unprecedented Cabinet strike in protest. At a secret meeting held at Buddharakkita’s temple (the venue where they conspired to assassinate the Prime Minister a year later), about 50 men, most of whom had never been to a paddy field, were dressed in loincloths by supporters of Health Minister Wimala. [Wimala, who had ‘enjoyed’ free access to Buddharakkita’s inner chambers at Kelaniya, facilitated this, which became a famous word-of-mouth gossip in the absence of social media.]
The ‘farmers’ were dropped off opposite the Treasury at Lotus Road, where they began shouting anti-Philip slogans. Before they could reach the entrance to the Parliament building, a significant portion of the strong labour Union in Harbor, were mobilized by Philip’s trade unionists to attack the Amude-clad ‘Goviyas’ who scattered in all directions, with some even dropping their loosely worn unfamiliar dress as they ran for their lives.
‘It is not only the village peasant, but habitually every male four centuries ago, was seen wearing amudes unless on a special occasion; it is considered a quite respectable casual dress especially among the Kandyan villages’— Wrote Robert Knox in his, “An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon”-[1681]
In the mid1990s, while holding a responsible position in a corporate body, the writer was compelled to reveal information about the Chairman’s unscrupulous dealings in response to queries from the Board of Directors. The Chairman, a crafty lawyer, ‘cross-examined’ the writer until he declared, “I cannot reply off-hand.” The beleaguered Chairman insulted him by saying, “You have come in amude, no shirt and tie,” to which the writer retorted, “Chairman, my amude conceals well what your bottomless shirt and tie expose.
To wrap up this tedious tale… let me quote a famous anecdote on the hill-country’s poor traditional polygamist brothers who shared a single wife under the same roof; a ‘ritual’ famously called “Eka gei Kema” [sharing a single plate under the same roof]. As the saying goes, each brother would hang his, let’s say, loincloth over the lock-less door to signify to his sibling about his ‘lawful’ occupation of the multi-coloured reed-mat under the magnificent sylvan rays of the magic moon that radiated through the cadjans exposing all obscurities.
An instrumental tech metal outfit from Raleigh, North Carolina took the name ‘Loincloth’ and their music became popular in the 1990s—
Should we fight shy to call it Amude? After all it is our ancestor’s traditional casual-wear.
—-Written by the kindergarten ‘Goviya’, in the 1949’s fancy dress parade—
