Diwali Celebrations in Sri Lanka, The Land of Ravana

Celebrated every year around the autumn months of October and November in India, the Hindu festival of lights Diwali or Deepavali is among the most popular Hindu festivals in the world, signifying the victory of light over dark.

In Sri Lanka, Hindu temples come alive with special offering rituals - from the lighting of hundreds of small lamps to eliminate shadows from one’s house and life. It is also termed the Festival of Lights. This festival has a sublime significance, for it symbolizes the victory of good forces over evil forces.

Diwali dates back to ancient times in India, originally a summer harvest festival – the Persian traveller and historian Al Biruni, in his 11th-century memoir on India, wrote of Deepavali being celebrated by Hindus on New Moon day of the month of Kartika.

Hindustan Times in one of its 2007 article said that the Ramayana is not part of the mainstream Sinhala religious and cultural tradition in Sri Lanka, because Buddhism has been the religion of the majority of Sinhalas for a long. But ancient Sinhala works like Rajavaliya and Ravanavaliya identify Ravana as a Sinhala king and extol him as a great one.

In modern Sri Lanka, there has been a movement to revive Ravana as a cult figure, who represents Sinhala or Sri Lankan nationalism because he was among the first in the island's history to have resisted an alien/Indian invader.

Scholar Arisen Ahubudhu who is the representative of the ultra-nationalistic Hela movement founded by the renowned Sinhala litterateur, the Late Munidasa Kumaratunga. The Hela movement has been urging the Sinhalas to go back to their roots shunning Indian, Hinduistic, and other alien influences.

In his book, Sakvithi Ravana (first published in 1988) Ahubudhu says that Ravana reigned over Sri Lanka from 2554 to 2517 BC. He quotes Ravanavaliya to say that Ravana belonged to the ‘Sun race’ as Ra signifies the sun and vana signifies generation.

Ravana's ten heads represent the ten crowns he wore as a result of his being the sovereign of ten countries. Ravana's ancestors ruled over what is now the Polonnaruwa district in North Central Sri Lanka, the name Polonnaruwa being a derivative of the word Pulasthi, the name of the dynasty to which Ravana belonged. Ravana, however, ruled over the entire island and many places beyond.

Ahubudhu trashes the Ramayana story that Rama invaded Sri Lanka because Ravana had kidnapped Sita. According to the author, Ravana's step-brother Vibhishana, had invited Rama to invade Sri Lanka because he was wanting to oust Ravana from the kingship of the island.

"When considering the fact that Sita's chastity was proved, this can be taken as a story concocted by Yuwaraja Vibhishana in order to discredit Ravana in the eyes of his people and take advantage thereof," he says.

According to Prof Buddhadasa Hewavitharana, the Sinhalas disapproved of Vibhishana's conduct. In popular lore, the area to which he belonged to (Kalutara North, near Colombo) came to be known as the land of the Desha Shatru (betrayer of the country).

Sinhala lore has it that Sri Lanka under the scholarly Ravana saw great advancements in science and medicine. The pushpaka vimana or the aeroplane which he flew, was no figment of imagination, they believe. Ravana holds a high position even as a physician and there exists, to this day, seven books on medicine in his name.

According to Munidasa Kumaratunga, Ravana's medical works Nadi Pariksha, Arka Prakashata, Uddisa Chiktsaya, Oddiya Chikitsa, Kumara Tantraya, and Vatina Prakaranaya were originally written in Sinhala and translated into Sanskrit.

Even Indian lore extols Ravana as a Shiva Bhakta and as the composer of the Shivathandawa Stotra. He was a musician, who had fashioned his own stringed instrument called Ravana Vina.

"The Ramayana may not be in the mainstream of the Sinhala religious culture. But it is very much a part of Sinhala folklore," says Prof Hewavitharana.

"As children were told stories from the Ramayana to illustrate ideas of good and bad, the moral and immoral."

There are places in Sri Lanka that are still identified with the Ramayana, like the Sita Eliya in Nuwara Eliya district, where there is a temple dedicated to Sita on the banks of a mountain stream. As per local legend, this was the place where Sita was confined by Ravana.

Then there is a hill called Ravana Elle, which was supposedly the headquarters of Ravana.

There is a temple for Vibhishana in Dondra in south Sri Lanka, even though he is derided for supporting the invader Rama and letting down his brother Ravana. Sita, Bharata, and Lakshman are popular Sinhala names. But strangely enough, no Sinhala is ever named Rama!

Opposition from Buddhist purists

But Buddhist religious leaders have always had problems with the Ramayana, as indeed, with other aspects of the local religious life which have a Hindu or Indian origin. When in the 15 century, Vishnu and Shiva worship was gaining popularity in Sri Lanka among the Buddhists, the Buddhist purists campaigned against it.

Prof KNO Dharmadasa, the Editor of the Sinhala Encyclopaedia, points to a 15th-century writer who ridiculed the Ramayana in his poems. The poet asked why Rama the God could not hop across to Sri Lanka like Hanuman did and had to get a bridge constructed. "Could a God's power be so small in this world?" he wondered.

Festival of Lights in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, Diwali is mostly celebrated by the Tamil Hindu community scattered in different areas of the island but mostly concentrated in the north, east, and hill country. Hindu temples of significance include the Nallur Temple in the island’s Northern Jaffna peninsula and Koneshwaram Temple of the island’s eastern seafront town Trincomalee.

In the tea country, particularly in close proximity to Koslanda, the landscape is dotted with more modest Hindu temples, but each with its own burst of colour and architecture that will feature lit lamps – symbolic of the Diwali celebration. The festival preparations and rituals typically extend over a five-day period, but the main festival night of Diwali coincides with the darkest, new moon night of the Hindu Lunisolar month Kartika in Bikram Sambat calendar.

Sri Lankans Don’t Worship Ravana As A God but They Regard Him as A Great King!

According to the Ramayana, Ravana was finally killed in the Battle of Lanka with the help of his own brother Vibhishana, who was crowned new king of Lankapura by Lord Rama after the war.

Thereby, Sri Lanka becomes important in the Dussehra celebrations because its historical name was Lanka which is considered to be the place where Ravana lived. Hence, the celebrations in this country are carried on in its full extent with the ritualistic burning of effigies.

The inflammable statues of Ravana, Meghnad, and Kumbhkaran are burned by the arrows of a person dressed as Lord Ram. Worship of various deities like Goddess Durga and Saraswati are performed on this auspicious occasion.

According to Hindu mythology, Ravana was born to a great sage Vishrava and his wife, princess Kaikesi. He was born in the Devagana, as his grandfather, the sage Pulastya was one of the ten Prajapatis or mind-born sons of Brahma and one of the Saptarishi or the Seven Great Sages during the age of Manu.

Ravana was married to Mandodari, the daughter of the celestial architect Maya, Dhanyamalini, and a third wife. He had seven sons from his three wives.

• Meghnaad (also known as Indrajit because he defeated Indra), the most powerful son
• Atikaya
• Akshayakumara
• Devantaka
• Narantaka
• Trishira
• Prahastha

Ravana’s siblings include Vibhishana, Kumbhakarna, and Ahiravana and a step-brother Kubera, from whom he usurped the Kingdom of Lanka.

In fact, his father was one of the Saptarishis during the age of Manu. Coming from a highly revered family, Ravana was given the right education, both in terms of academics and martial arts.

It is a known fact that Ravana had ten heads, and people often say that this gave him the special gift of knowledge. It is assumed that having 10 heads meant he was a very knowledgeable man and by that logic, a great king who had great knowledge about the administration.

Ravana was noted as a scholar and had knowledge of the Vedas. Ravana also was a musician and was specialized in both singing and the veena instrument.

Ravana was also learned in the intricacies of the Sanskrit language and extemporaneously composed the Shiva Tandava Stotram despite being under excruciating pain under the Kailash Mountain. Ravana was learned in astrology and Ayurveda as well.

There are seven books in Ayurveda whose authorship still stands in his name, thereby establishing him as a great physician. It is said that he wrote a book of ayurvedic remedies for infants at the request of his wife.

Ravana was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. Ravana would meditate for days at an end to please him. Lord Shiva was so impressed by him that he bestowed on him the power to use divine weapons.

There are places in Sri Lanka that are still identified with the Ramayana, like the Sita Eliya in Nuwara Eliya district, where there is a temple dedicated to Sita on the banks of a mountain stream.

The Dave Brahmins of Mudgal gotra and the Shrimali Brahmins, in Jodhpur/Mandor of Rajasthan state who were originally from Gujarat, India claim to be the descendants of Ravana. They say that since time immemorial they are performing the shraddha (death anniversary) of Ravana on Dussehra Day every year.

Koneswaram temple, then-Dakshina Kailasam is a classical-medieval Hindu temple complex in Trincomalee, a Hindu religious pilgrimage center in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. These temples are associated with Ravana and his mother. They had worshiped Shiva at the shrine.

Srilankan devotees in conversation with India Today, said: “Diwali is celebrated not only in Colombo but across Sri Lanka where the Hindu community is present. In fact, our Sinhala friends join us in celebrating this festival.”

An Indian working in Colombo, Navakotti, explained that Diwali in Sri Lanka does not explicitly speak of the victory of Rama over Ravana, but stresses more on the win of good over evil.

It is the essence that matters. In India also, Diwali has a different meaning for the people of the North and the South. Similarly, Lankans have their own variation but at the end, it symbolizes the victory of good forces over evil force, he said.

Women wearing beautiful sarees and dresses offered their prayers and lighting oil lamps at the temple. Amid the sounds of fireworks and the bells of the temple, Diwali festival was celebrated.

Another devotee, Mrs. Gangadharan, wore a smile and welcomed the coming year wishing everybody a good year ahead. Every year we go to temples, we wear new sarees. Then they go to our relatives and our friend's houses. We all do puja. We all pray for a brighter life and a brighter future that is why the symbolism of burning lamps. The victory of good over evil, she said.

In Sri Lanka, this festival is mostly celebrated by the Tamil community scattered in different areas of the island, but mostly it is concentrated in the north.

Diwali is an official public holiday in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, and Malaysia. Outside of Asia other countries that also mark Diwali as a public holiday are the island nations of Fiji, Mauritius, and Trinidad and Tobago, plus two South American countries, Guyana and Suriname.