Govigama - Religious Power

Religious Power

By the mid 18th century, upasampada (higher ordination, as distinct from samanera or novice ordination) had become extinct in Sri Lanka again. The Buddhist order had become extinct thrice during the preceding five hundred years and was re-established in the reigns of Vimala Dharma Suriya I (1591–1604) and Vimala Dharma Suriya II (1687–1707) as well. These re-establishments were short lived. On the initiative of Ven. Weliwita Saranankara (1698–1778) the Thai monk Upali Thera visited Kandy during the reign of king Kirti Sri Rajasinghe (1747–1782) and once again reestablished the Buddhist order in Sri Lanka in 1753. It was called the Siyam Nikaya after the "Kingdom of Siam".

However in 1764, merely a decade after the re-establishment of the Buddhist order in Sri Lanka by reverend Upali, a group within the newly created Siyam Nikaya conspired and succeeded in restricting the Nikaya's higher ordination only to the Govigama caste. This was a period when Buddhist Vinaya rules had been virtually abandoned and some members of the Buddhist Sangha in the Kandyan Kingdom privately held land, had wives and children, resided in the private homes and were called Ganinnanses. It was a period when the traditional nobility of the Kandyan Kingdom was decimated by continuous wars with the Dutch rulers of the Maritime Provinces. In the maritime provinces too a new order was replacing the old. Mandarampura Puvata, a text from the Kandyan perid, narrates the above radical changes to the monastic order and shows that it was not a unanimous decision by the body of the sangha. It says that thirty two ‘senior’ members of the Sangha who opposed this change were banished to Jaffna by the leaders of the reform.

The Govigama exclusivity of the Sangha thus secured in 1764 was almost immediately challenged by other castes who without the patronage of the King of Kandy or of the British, held their own upasampada ceremony at Totagamuwa Vihara in 1772. Another was held at Tangalle in 1798. Neither of these ceremonies were approved by the Siam Nikaya which claimed that these were not in accordance with the Vinaya rules. However, those ordained in Amarapura in Burma (Myanmar) were a continuation of Maha Vihara the ancient Theravada Sect from Anuradhapura because Burma obtained the ordination from Maha Vihara in Ceylon during the Anuradhapura Period. From time immemorial the sacred Tooth Relic of Gautama Buddha has been considered the symbol of the rulers of Sri Lanka. As time went on, the seat of the kingdom was moved from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa, then to Dambadeniya and other cities. Upon each change of capital, a new palace was built to enshrine the Relic. Finally, it was brought to Kandy where it is at present, in the Temple of the Tooth. The oldest Buddhist sect in Sri Lanka, the Siam Nikaya (estd. 19 July 1753) are the custodians of the Tooth Relic, since its establishment during the Kandyan Kingdom. The Siyam Nikaya as of 1764 granted Higher ordination only to the Radala and Govigama castes, Sitinamaluwe Dhammajoti (Durava) being the last nongovigama monk receive upasampada An exception is the Rangiri Dambula sect which welcomes all communities while being a Siyam nikaya subsect. Unfortunately the "Siyam" nikaya is practicing one of the 5 unpardonable sins in buddhism,which falls into the category of anantharvedaniya karma namely,

1. Killing one’s mother 2. Killing one’s father 3. Causing a Buddha’s blood to be shed 4. Killing arahaths 5. Creating divisions among Sangha

The caste based discrimination made many Karava & Salagama people to become or remain Catholics & Anglicans. The Siyam Nikaya as custodians of the Tooth Relic have always received the full support and patronage of the Govigama dominated Sri Lankan State and its Ministers and Ministries of Buddha Sasana, Cultural Affairs and others,the monopolisation of the lord Buddha's tooth relic by the Radala Govigama combination on caste based lines have brought shame & a bad reputation to buddhism in Sri Lanka, which resembles the white apartheid rule in South Africa, where only the whites were able to enjoy certain privileges, though in one of his discourses the lord Buddha had specifically mentioned against caste based discrimination. During the late 19th century when Buddhism was losing popularity due to Christian missionaries & the British government, it was the Karava temple Rankoth Viharaya and a Salagama Amarapura nikaya Buddhist monk Migettuwewatté Gunananda, with his oratical skills & sharp logical arguments defeated the Christians at Panadura,(Pandura waadaya) and subsequently, the American Col.Olcott (after reading the book on Panadura debate) decided to visit Sri Lanka and helped Sinhala Buddhist revivalist movement. Col. Olcott was later disgusted and critical of casteism of local Buddism. The Amarapura Chapter was established in 1802 and the Rammana Chapter in 1864 and a number of monks of these Chapters had participated in foreign missionary work throughout the world. Monks such as Narada Thera, Piyadassi Thera, Most Ven.Madihe Pannasiha and Most Ven Balangoda Ananda Maithreeya Thera were some of the erudite monks from the Amarapura nikaya to have done immense service to Buddhism in Sri Lanka.