Buddha and the big boys

Sri Lanka is a beautiful land, tragically torn by strife. 11 years ago we were here when a massacre of troops took place in Trincomalee – 400 died in one night. Then, information was hard to come by with censorship blackout of any TV coverage and no internet; the only way we knew something was up was the number of tanks rolling past us – not crawling along as you usually see them, but flying past, knocking buses out of the way.

11 years on, the country is beset by troubles once again and tourism has taken yet another blow. ‘Troubles’: that innocuous word used to describe what is basically out and out civil war. During our stay, 10,000 civilians have been cowering in temples while the government uses them as a human shield. The LTTE have shown their range and power by air bombing Colombo International Airport. The government has launched Mig strikes on Mannar. As a tourist, you look at amazing landscapes and wildlife or sacred temples, and wonder how on earth this can be going on less than 100 kilometres from where you are. Its too magical a land to be so crippled.

As with any civil war, the reasons behind it are as old as the hills and virtually incomprehensible to an outsider. This is a racially and religiously diverse country. The people we have met are universally lovely, whether Buddhist, Christian, Muslim or Hindu. How can a purportedly Buddhist government not afford the Tamils equal rights, and advocate war against them? Why are some Muslim and Christian Tamils supporting or practising terrorism? Who has the original claim on Sri Lanka – Sinhalese or Tamil, and more importantly, who cares? Where is the way out of this appalling situation? At least now the papers are allowed to report the situation, and be critical of the government. Unfortunately many of them criticise the government for not annihilating the mistreated Tamils quickly enough.

We were fortunate enough to have a driver who discussed much of this with us quite openly and rationally, though of course he could only give us one side. Luckily for us, his was the tolerant approach. The history books, it seems, are being rewritten. Future generations will not know that Tamil kings once ruled in Polonnaruwa, before Buddhist kings. Politicians here have to be Buddhist, so convert to it in order to enter politics. Yes, Buddhism is quite a different beast here in Sri Lanka.

But it still has its serenity and its beauty. Polonnaruwa is an ancient city with magnificent temples, baths, monasteries and libraries, plus some of the most beautiful granite carved Buddhas. While many of the statues you find dotted around the country are gold and gaudy, the Gal Vihara are understated and tasteful. Here you can gaze at Buddha in meditation, standing and in repose, or as Jenna put it “That’s Buddha having his breakfast. That’s him gone in the kitchen. That’s Buddha going for a lie down.” It was right up there for us with Rhys’ description of The Last Supper as ‘some blokes having their tea’.
The kids were brilliant (and well briefed!) in these ancient and sacred places. They worked hard not to turn their back on the Buddha, which is easy at Polonnaruwa but not so at Dambulla cave temples, where about 60 representations of the philsopher surround you in each cave! They were quiet and respectful, and only quietly grimacing at being barefoot on scorching hot earth. They bore our tour of the ancient sites of Polonnaruwa and Dambulla with patience and good humour, and Rhys even commented that Dambulla was amazing.