by Desmond Kelly ‘the Star of eLanka’
As the years go by, too quickly it seems for those who wish to remember a beautiful little Island in the Indian ocean, hanging like a teardrop at the southern end of India, I find that being able to remember places as they were, even long before I was born, is a gift, not given to most people, and even more, to be able to read and “put down in writing” my own versions of the “treasures” this little Country possesses, in the twilight of my own life, is very special indeed.
Even in my day, travelling by train was one of the best ways of really gazing out at the Countryside, strikingly picturesque, no matter where you looked, paddy-fields that looked for all the world, like lush green carpets, waving gently in the breeze, little Villages & their folk, going about their business as usual, the odd bullock-cart, making it’s way up a dirt track, the old driver sitting in front with a short stick to urge the bulls forward whenever they started to slow down, streams of fast-flowing water where native women could be seen wearing their “reddhas”over their breasts as they took their daily bath, some, washing their clothes & beating them on handy rocks, a practice I could never understand. To me, life out there in the Countryside always seemed like a holiday, compared with life in Colombo.
Then, as I started to dream about what it might have been like, centuries ago. As the train would travel towards Anuradhapura, Ceylon’s ancient Capital, one would get a glimpse of the dense jungle, in which Nature sought to bury the buildings that the Sinhalese Kings of old erected to the glory of Gautama Buddha, who, nearly three thousand years ago, found the way to end the miseries of humankind. The forest begins soon after one passes Kurunegala, Ceylon’s Capital, during the 14th Century. The approach to it is heralded by swarms of cream-coloured butterflies, all bound, it is popularly believed, for Samantakuta (Samanalakanda), also known to everyone as Adam’s Peak, held in reverence especially by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims & respected by Christians who feel that, this place, once being known as the true Garden of Eden, also boasted Sananalakanda or Adam’s Peak where the imprinted footprint of Adam is still visible.
The Buddhists claim that it is the footprint of Buddha, but who cares? , it still is, and always will be, a place of rare beauty.
Now & again, through the vine-festooned trees that stand alongside the railway track, the silver sheen of an artificial lake, it’s bosom bedecked with pink & white lotuses which, in turn, symbolize “ideal life”. Just as this flower is unpolluted by the slime in which it’s roots are buried, so, it is said, should man live in the World without being contaminated by the utter grossness all around him. It is for this reason that the feet of the Buddha are referred to, as “lotus-feet” and painters & sculptors represent him as seated or just standing upon a full-blown lotus flower. Prince Gautama (the Buddha), was a very good Man. The Buddhist Religon (or Philosophy), is practised by many millions all over the World simply because One Man, of that particular era, gave up everything he had to sit under a “Bo-tree” meditating on how he could rid a wicked World out of all it’s miseries. He was a very good Man & I have proud to say that I have read extensively on his life & am privileged to even be able to write about him. It really does not matter as to which religion you follow, the Creator has given us some very special ICONS who did nothing but GOOD in a BAD World. Prince Siddahartha Gautama Buddha was quite certainly one of them.
Desmond Kelly.
Star of eLanka.
