Visakha Bucha

The vesak week of 2014 is coming to an end in Sri Lanka. I wonder whether any other Buddhist society celebrates Gauthama Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinirvana as we Sri Lankans do. Vesak festival ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesak )is one of the most beautiful times in Sri Lanka. Many villages, towns and cities look so beautiful in the evenings when thousands of pandols, lanterns and other decorations shimmer with colorful light. Buddhist style carols and chants reverberate in the air. The aroma of lighted coconut lamps and incense sticks fill the nostrils. The scrumptious meals and herbal beverages offered by numerous dansal (charity food stalls) tickle the taste buds. These sensations please both body and mind alike. Hence it is a complete sensory experience.

                                                        Vesak Pandol in Colombo (pic from internet)

                                                               Vesak Lantern (pic from internet)

When I was a very small kid I remember that our eldest brother Ananda used to make small pandols in front of our house for the vesak festival. They were about 4 m high and imitated the much larger versions seen in Colombo and other towns. Lighting design was done by his best friend Karunarathne. Our cousin sister Rupakka did water color paintings for the pandol to show the incidents of Buddha’s life. Once our second brother Sarath even wrote few verses of viridu (a uniquely Sri Lankan form of poetry) emulating what he has heard near big pandols in Colombo. One of the verses I still remember goes as follows. 

උයන තුලදි මහමායා දේවිට බඩරුජා හැදී

සල් අත්තක් අල්ල ගැනීමට අත දිගු කරන ලදී

Vesak is a time for Sri Lankan people to engage in more pious activities, visit many temples and revere the life of Buddha. We used to visit famous temples like Warana, Attanagalle, Kelaniya, during the day time and visit Colombo and suburban towns in the evenings to admire wesak decorations. Visiting few dansal on the way was a sure itinerary on these excursions. We miss that amazing experience after leaving Sri Lanka for higher studies and work. We have seen vesak festivals with decorations and lights in Japan, South Korea  and Thailand but they were no way comparable with Sri Lankan way of vesak celebration. Particularly in Thailand where we lived over a decade, we never witnessed vesak celebration in such grand scale as in Sri Lanka.

Vesak festival is called “Visakha Bucha” In Thailand. It is celebrated on the full moon day of May as we Sri Lankans do. But it is basically a one day festival in Thailand. The most important event of the day takes place after the sunset. It is called “vian tian” ceremony. Vian means to circle and tian means candle.  Vian tian is performed by walking around an image house or a chedi (stupa) for three times while holding a lighted candle and a white lotus flower. This is done in clockwise pattern with the right side of the body turned towards the image house (vihara) or stupa (chedi).  We Sri Lankans call this pradakshina but never do it in such an organized way as Thai people do. Vian Tian ceremony is the grand finale of Visakha Bucha festival. It is a sight to behold and an experience to cherish. 

  

                               Vian Tian ceremony at Wat Yai Chai Mongkol in Ayuthaya (pics from internet)

When we were living in Thailand we used to visit Ayuthaya Historical Park on Visakha Bucha days. Ayuthya is the last royal capital of Thailand (1351 – 1767) before Bangkok became the national capital. The ancient city of Ayuthaya has been conserved by the Royal Thai Government with the help of UNESCO. Presently it is a UNESCO world heritage site ( http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/576  ). Wat Yai Chai Mongkol (ජය මංගල මහා විහාරය) was our favorite destination in the historical park. Any Sri Lankan visiting this temple will be very happy to read the information board at the entrance and learn that the central stupa has been constructed following “Lanka style”. Thai people have learnt this style during the Sukhothai period (1238 -1438). Before that, stupas in Thailand had influence from Khmer and Lanna styles. Perhaps the predecessors of Sukhothai Kingdom had religious and cultural ties with Anuradhapura Kingdom (377 BC – 1017) and Polonnaruwa Kingdom (1017 -1215) in Sri Lanka. The Lanka style stupas in Sukhothai and Ayuthya are bell shaped. There are no bell shaped stupas in Polonnaruwa as far as I know. Does that mean the inspiration for “Lanka style” has come from none other than Thuparama Stupa in Anuradhapura, the very first stupa constructed in ancient Sri Lanka? 

    

          Thuparamaya Stupa (210 BC) in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka (pic shows the 1862 reconstruction)

                                                                                            (pic from internet)

                                            Wat Sa Si in Sukhothai (late 14th Century) - (pic from internet)

                                                    Wat Yai Chai Mongkol (1357) - (pic from internet)

According to chronicles, the Siamese monks from Ayuthaya Kingdom have helped Sri Lankan monks to re-establish Sangha order when there was a crisis during the colonial period in Sri Lanka. That has given birth to the Siam Nikaya (Siam sect) of Buddhist monks based in Kandy. Later the Sri Lankan monks have returned the favor when Siamese monks were experiencing a crisis. The new Sangha order established in Thailand is called “Lanka wong”. We were thrilled to learn such intrinsic details during our numerous visits to Ayuthaya. We also learnt that a venerable monk called Upali thero was the leader of the Siamese delegation that visited Sri Lanka to re-establish Sangha order. He has stayed back in Sri Lanka and passed away in Kandy. His former avasa ge (monk’s residence) in Ayuthaya was conserved by the Sri Lankan government around 2002. We were fortunate to participate in the inauguration ceremony. To my very pleasant surprise I could meet the most venerable Ambanwalle Pnnnasekara thero who came from Sri Lanka to represent the Malwatta Chapter of Siam Nikaya. He was the anu-nayaka of Malwatta Chapter at that time. He was my Buddhism teacher in grades 9 and 10 at Ananda College in Colombo. He said that “wherever I go in the world I always meet Anandian sons”. Needless to say that I was very proud and happy to hear such words from a former teacher.

 

This post is incomplete without some remarks about Ayuthaya’s cuisine. In Thailand, almost every province has a signature dish or a product. Ayuthya has three signature dishes, (1) Ayuthaya boat noodle, (2) Roti Sai Mai (A Thai Muslim sweet similar to cotton candy wrapped in a very thin roti)  , (3) Wing bean salad (Yum Tua Ploo). The third one is my all-time favorite. I have tried to make this dish several times but I never could achieve the authentic taste offered by many river side restaurants in Ayuthaya. Here is the recipe. You can try.

                                                                    Wing Bean Salad (Yum Tua Ploo)

                                                                   (pic from internet)

Ingredients

250 gm tender wing beans

3 twigs of cilantro coarsely chopped

5-6 shrimps peeled and deveined

4-5 red hot chilies

3 tbsp thick coconut milk

1 tbsp tom yum paste (can substitute with chili paste)

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tbsp cashew nuts coarsely ground

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp salt

4-5 dried and fried red chilies (for garnish)

6 thinly sliced red onions deep fry half (for garnish) and keep the rest

3 tbsp shredded and dry roasted coconut

2 eggs hard boiled and sliced/quartered

Method

Boil 2 cups of water and add 1 tbsp salt

Blanch winged bean in boiled and slated water for 1 minute and remove to a bowl of cold water for 1 more minute. Place in a colander to drain all water. Soaking in cold water will help to keep them green. Slice the blanched wing beans diagonally and thinly as possible.

Boil shrimp until just done. Do not over boil.

Warm the coconut milk.

Put sliced wing beans, boiled shrimp, sliced red onion, sliced red chilies, chopped cilantro in a bowl.

Add coconut milk, tom yum paste, sugar, lime juice, and fish sauce.

Lightly toss like a salad. Adjust sour and salty tastes as desired by lime juice and fish sauce.

Plate the salad on a flat dish and garnish with roasted cashew nuts, roasted coconut, deep fried dry red chili and deep fried red onion.

Plate boiled and sliced/quartered eggs on the side.