Buddhist Ceremonies and Rituals of Sri Lanka

final month of the three-month rains retreat. During the following month kaþhina robes
are offered to the monks who have duly completed the Vassa. The high esteem in which
this ritual is held by the Sinhala Buddhists may be gauged from the fact that the month
is popularly referred to as the “month of robes” (see Chap. 8). The November full moon,
called Il, signifies the terminal point for the kaþhina ritual. It is also the day for
commemorating such events as the despatch of the first sixty disciples by the Buddha on
missionary work, the prospective Buddha Metteyya being declared a sure Buddha-to-be
by Gotama Buddha, and the passing away of the Arahant Sáriputta, the Buddha’s
foremost disciple.
The Unduwap Poya that follows in December is of great moment to Sri Lanka as
commemorating two memorable events connected with the visit of Therì Sanghamittá,
sister of Arahant Mahinda, from India in the third century B.C. (Mhv.iv,18–19). The first
of these events was the arrival at Anuradhapura of a sapling of the sacred Bodhi-tree at
Buddhagayá, brought to Sri Lanka by Sanghamittá. The planting of this tree is the origin
of the Bodhi-pújá in the country (see Chap. 4).
The other memorable event commemorated by this poya is the establishment of the
Order of Nuns (bhikkhunì-sásana) in Sri Lanka by the Therì Sanghamittá when she
ordained Queen Anulá and her entourage of 500 women at Anuradhapura. Records
indicate that the Bhikkhunì Sangha thus established flourished during the
Anuradhapura period (third century B.C. to eleventh century AC.), but disappeared
after the decline of that kingdom. Historical records are silent as to the reasons for its
extinction, but they do report how the Sinhala Bhikkhunì Sangha helped in the
establishment of the Order of Nuns in China. 12 In the 5 th century a group of Sinhala
nuns headed by the Bhikkhunì Devasárá went to China to confer higher ordination there
and the Bhikkhunì Sangha thus established survives there to this day. 12 The Sinhala
Buddhists commemorate this poya day with peraheras, observance of the Eight Precepts,
and meetings. The day is designated Sanghamittá Day. Nowadays the dasasil mátás (tenprecept
nuns) take an active part in initiating these commemorative functions.
Next follows the Durutu Poya (January) when the Sinhala Buddhists commemorate the
first visit of the Buddha to the island. According to the Mahávaísa, nine months after his
Enlightenment, the Buddha visited present Mahiyaògana in the Badulla District, where
stands the dágaba by that name enshrining the Buddha’s hair relics and the collar bone
(Mhv.i,197). The Buddhists remember the event by holding an annual perahera. This
much-venerated dágaba is also of consequence as the first edifice of this type to be
constructed here, originating the ritual of dágaba worship in Sri Lanka.
The poya that follows, Navam Poya (February), celebrates the Buddha’s appointment of
the two Arahants, Sáriputta and Moggallána, as his two chief disciples. It also marks the
Buddha’s decision to attain Parinibbána in three months’ time. The Medin Poya in March
is hallowed by the Buddha’s first visit to his parental home after his Enlightenment,
during which he ordained the princes Ráhula, Nanda, and many others as monks. The
month that follows is called Bak (pronounced like “buck”), which corresponds to April.
In this month it is not the full-moon day but the new-moon day that invites attention as
signalizing the Buddha’s second visit to Sri Lanka, when he visited Nágadìpa 13 on the
day preceding the new-moon day (amávaka: Mhv.i,47) in the fifth year after his
Enlightenment.
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