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Shrines, Pilgrimage and Miraculous Powers in Roman Catholic Sri Lanka

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

R. L. Stirrat
R. L. Stirrat*
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
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Extract

At present, roman catholics number just under 7% of the total population of Sri Lanka. The dominant religious groups in the country are the Sinhalese buddhists and the Tamil hindus with 65% and 25% respectively of the population. The remainder consists of muslims (around 7%) and a few protestants. Here, unlike sub-Saharan Africa, European religions were introduced into a context dominated by other world religions with long literary and intellectual traditions. Furthermore, religion enters so intimately into the culture of various groups in the island that it is difficult to demarcate an area of thought or activity which can be clearly labelled as ‘religious’.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Church History , Volume 19: The Church and Healing , 1982 , pp. 385 - 413
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 1982

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References

1 Sec Obeyesekere, G., ‘The impact of ayurvedic ideas on the culture and the individual in Sri Lanka’, in Leslie, C. ed Asian Medical Systems: a Comparative Study (Berkeley 1976)Google Scholar; ‘The ritual drama of the sanni demons: collective representations of disease in Ceylon’, Comparative Studies in Society and History 11 (1969) pp 174-216, and Smith, B[ardwell] L. ed, Religion and the Legitimation of Power in Sri Lanka (Chambersburg 1978)Google Scholar all of which deal with the relationship between religion and culture in Sri Lanka.

2 I should stress that the catholic church sees itself as having reduced the importance of caste in Sri Lanka, as in the study by Fr.Don Peter, W.L.A. O.M.I., Education in Sri Lanka under the Portuguese (Colombo 1978).Google Scholar

3 See Stirrat, R.L., ‘Demonie Possession in Roman Catholic Sri Lanka’, [Journal of Anthropological Research 33] (1977) pp 133–157 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; ‘The shrine of St. Sebastian at Mirisgama’, [Man 16] (1981) pp 183-200.

4 There is a large literature concerned with the Portuguese in Sri Lanka. Some of the more relevant works include Boxer, C.R., ‘A note on Portuguese missionary methods in the East: 16th-18th centuries, Ceylon Historical Journal 10 (1960-61) pp 77–90 Google Scholar; Abeyasinghe, Tikiri, Portuguese Rule in Ceylon 1594-1612 (Colombo 1966)Google Scholar; Silva, C.R. de, The Portuguese in Ceylon 161 1617-1638 (Colombo 1972)Google Scholar; Rev. Peter, W.L.A. Don O.M.I., Studies in Ceylon Church History (Colombo 1963)Google Scholar and Pieris, P.E., Ceylon, the Portuguese Era (Colombo 1913-14).Google Scholar

5 The standard work on the experience of Catholicism during the Dutch period is Rev. Boudens, R. O.M.I., The Catholic Church in Ceylon under Dutch Rule (Rome 1957)Google Scholar. Some comments on the prayers and other writings of Fr. Jacome Goncalvez which form the basis of the araksha pot are to be found in Bishop Edmund Picris’s, ‘Sinhalese Christian Literature of the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch) 35 ( 1943) pp 163-181.

6 As yet very little historical research has been done into the progress of the catholic church during the British period. The notable exception is Fr.Boudens, R. O.M.I., Catholic Missionaries [in a British Colony] (Immensee 1979).Google Scholar

7 Critics of the attitudes of Catholic priests appear in Robinson, E.J., Romanism in Ceylon, India and China (London 1855)Google Scholar and Selkirk, J., Recollections of Ceylon (London 1844)Google Scholar. See also the quotations from protestant missionary reports quoted in Boudens, Catholic Missionaries.

8 Tennent, James Emerson, Christianity in Ceylon (London 1850) p 95.Google Scholar

9 Boudens, Catholic Missionaries.

10 Fr.Lawrence, [Claude, Jos. O.M.I.], Work and Working of the Archdiocese of Cohmbo-in-Ceylon (1947-1970)] (Colombo 1970) p 715.Google Scholar

11 Stirrat, R.L., ‘A Catholic Shrine in its Social Context’, [Sri Lanka journal of the Social Sciences 2] (1979) pp 77–108.Google Scholar

12 Vandana gamanak literally means a ‘worshipping journey’.

13 There is a large literature on pilgrimage in Sri Lanka mainly concerned with the Sinhalese buddhists. The most useful include Gombrich, R., Precept and Practice (Oxford 1971)Google Scholar; Obeyesekere, G., ‘The Buddhist Pantheon [in Ceylon and its extensions’ in Nash, M. (ed) Anthropological Studies in Theravada Buddhism] (Yale 1966)Google Scholar; Kekulawala, S.L., [‘The Religious Journey into Dharma (Dharmayatra):Pilgrimage as an expression of Buddhist Religiousness’ in Carter, J.R. ed Religiousness in Sri Lanka] (Colombo 1974)Google Scholar; Pfaffenberger, B., [‘The Kataragama Pilgrimage: Hindu-Buddhist interaction and its significance in Sri Lanka’s polyethnic social system’ Journal of Asian Studies 38] (1979) pp 253–270 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. On pilgrimage in the Indian tradition, see Bharathi, A., ‘Pilgrimage in the Indian tradition’ History of Religions 3 (1963) pp 135–167 CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Bhardwaj, S.H., Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India (Berkeley 1973).Google Scholar

14 Stirrat, ‘The Shrine of St. Sebastian at Mirisgama’.

15 Eliade, M., The Sacred and the Profane (New York 1959) pp 11–12.Google Scholar

16 Christian, [W. A.], [Person and God in a Spanish Valley] (London 1972) pp 45, 101.Google Scholar

17 Lévi-Strauss, C., ‘The Structural Study of Myth’, in Structural Anthropology (London 1968) pp 206–231 Google Scholar; ‘The Story of Asdiwal’ in Structural Anthropology II (London 1977) pp 146-197.

18 St. Antony’s church at Kochchikade in said to stand on the site of a Pattini shrine.

19 Rev. Prakasar, S. Gnana O.M.I., ‘Popular cults of the Jaffna District’ Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register 7(1922) p 149.Google Scholar

20 Administration Report for the Puttalam District for 1867 pp 66-67.

21 Another variant of the origin myth claims that the shipwrecked trader didn’t return to Talawila. Instead the statue was found in the tree years afterwards when it called out to a traveller passing by. Some of these stories can be found in Pieris, Bishop Edmund O.M.I., Talawila Santana Maniyo hevat Talawila Sidhasthanaye Puravruttiya (Chilaw, Sri Lanka 1950)Google Scholar and in [Rev. Clinton] Anandappa, J.B. [O.M.I., The Catholic Directory of Sri Lanka 1975-76] (Colombo, n.d.) pp 245–246.Google Scholar

22 These figures come from Modder, [Frank], Gazetteer [of the Puttalam District of the North-Western Province of Ceylon] (Colombo 1908) p 72 Google Scholar. The full figures he gives are, 1857, 8,000; 1869, 12,000; 1873, 25,000; 1889, 16,000; 1895, 40,000. Noyes, the government agent at Puttalam in 1898, reckoned on ‘not more than 30,000’ although the Mudaliyar estimated 36,000 and the inspector of the Puttalam local board ‘who has much experience’ estimated ‘nearly 35,000’ (1898 Administration Report for the Puttalam District p G 12). In 1907 the government agent estimated that around 5,000 pilgrims came to the March feast and ‘some 35,000 people’ attended the July feast including ‘some 2,000 Hindus’ (1907 Administration Report for the Puttalam District pp F 12-F 13). After this the government lost interest in the figures for pilgrimages and no more estimates are published. This loss of interest seems to be related to the decline in the danger of cholera epidemics.

23 [Modder, Frank,] Manual [of the Puttalam District] (Colombo 1908) p 171.Google Scholar

24 Modder, Manual p 156.

25 The copy of Modder’s Gazetteer in the Archbishop’s library in Colombo is inscribed, ‘Dedicated to St. Ann by the Compiler, St. Ann’s feast 1910’.

26 Modder, Gazetteer p 171. To put these figures into some sort of perspective, Obeyesekere reports that numbers attending Kataragama in the 1870s varied between 44 and 7,000, although it should be added that this pilgrimage was strictly controlled because of the danger of cholera. See Obeycsekere, G., ‘Social change and the deities: [rise of the Kataragama cult in modern Sri Lanka’ Man 12] (1977) pp 377–396 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Between 1910 and the 1930s the annual estimates of crowds at Kataragama were between 3,000 and 4,000, whilst during the 1930s the total rose to 10,000-15,000 per year. By 1973 the government was estimating that 800,000 pilgrims were visiting the shrine each year. As for Anuradhapura, another major pilgrimage shrine, levers the government agent in the 1890s estimated that over 8,000 pilgrims attended the major poya day. By 1924 one of his successors was estimating a crowd of 100,000 for the same feast and in 1932 over 200,000 are claimed to have watched the enshrinement of some relics at Anuradhapura. Large though these figures may be, what is striking is the even larger (proportionately) numbers of catholics who visited Madhu and Talawila at this time.

27 Anon, , Madhti: A short historical account [of the Historical and Devotional Development of the Sanctuary of Our Lady at Madhu] (Jaffna, Sri Lanka n.d.) p 2 Google Scholar. Other sources on Madhu include, Streit, R.L., Madhu: Die Geschichte e. Heiligtums in d. Urwäldern von Ceylon (Frankfurt 1914)Google Scholar which I have been unable to consult, Fernando, S. Joseph, [The History of Madhu Church] (Colombo 1938)Google Scholar and Anandappa.

28 Anon, Madhu: a short historical account p 2.

29 Fernando p 12.

30 Fernando p 12.

31 Boudens, Catholic Missionaries p 88.

32 Fernando p 13; Boudens, Catholic Missionariesp 159.

33 Administration Report for the Northern Province for 1890 p D17.

34 Anon, Madhu: A Short Historical Account p 7.

35 Fernando p 15.

36 Kekulawala p 63 reports exactly the same linguistic usages amongst Buddhist pilgrims to Adam’s Peak.

37 But even today the more difficult the journey the more blessings one will gain. I was continually reminded of this the first time I went to Madhu when the ancient car I was travelling in broke down every few hours.

38 Boudens, Catholic Missionaries p 159.

39 Rev. Collin, J. O.M.I., ‘“Madu” or “Madhu”’ , Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register 2 (1917) p 193 Google Scholar; Lewis, J. P., ‘“Madhu” again’, Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register 2 (1916-17) p 124.Google Scholar

40 Lewis, J. P., ‘Some folklore from the Northern Province’, [Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register 2] (1917) p 180.Google Scholar

41 Administration Report for the Puttalam District for 1867 p 66-67.

42 See René Luneau’s interesting discussion of the gap between priests and laity in nineteenth-century France, in ‘Monde Rural et Christianisation. Prêtres et paysans français du siècle dernier’ Archives de Science Social des Religions 43 (1977) pp 39–52.Google Scholar

43 Administration Report for the Puttalam District for 1867 p 67.

44 Lewis, ‘Some folklore from the Northern Province’, p 180. Interestingly, in this particular case Lewis is describing a hindu at Madhu, whilst Macready mentions hindus at Talawila. But what is clear is that catholics were doing the same sort of thing.

45 Anon, Madhu: as short historical account p 11.

46 Picris, [Bishop Edmund], Marian Devotion [in Ceylon] (Colombo 1948) pp 75–76.Google Scholar

47 Ibid p 76.

48 [Rev. Ph.] Dissanayake, [O.M.I., Teewatte, A Short Historical Sketch] (Maggona, Sri Lanka) p 11–12.Google Scholar

49 Ibid p 14.

50 Ibid p 12.

51 Ibid p iv.

52 Ibid p 17.

53 Lawrence pp 34-36; Dissanayake p ii; Pieris, Marian Devotion, p 77.

54 Lawrence p 46.

55 Ibid; Dissanayake p iv.

56 Dissanayake p 30.

57 Lawrence p 46.

58 Anandappa pp 92-93; Lawrence p 46.

59 Lawrence p 661.

60 Anandappa p 93.

61 Lawrence p 183.

62 Ibid

63 Throughout the 1950s and 1960s catholic newspapers such as The Messenger were full of articles about Teewatte and advertisements for the various feasts at the shrine.

64 This failure of Teewatte to win mass appeal is mentioned in Lawrence p 451 where there are complaints that ‘Parents/Family Day has not caught on yet as well as could be desired.’

65 Picris, Marian Devotion p 76.

66 See Turner, Victor, The Ritual Process (London 1969)Google Scholar; Dramas, Fields and Metaphors (Ithaca 1974) and Victor, and Turner, Edith, Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture (Oxford 1978)Google Scholar.

67 Turner, The Ritual Process p 82.

68 Turner and Turner, Image and Pilgrimage p 250.

69 Turner, Dramas, Fields and Metaphors pp 166-230.

70 Turner and Turner, Image and Pilgrimage p 254.

71 Gennep, A. van, [The Rites of Passage] (London 1960)Google Scholar; Douglas, Mary, Purity and Danger (London 1966)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Implicit Meanings (London 1975); Leach, E.R., Culture and Communication (Cambridge 1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

72 Thus the frequent association of pilgrimage sites with miraculous cures mentioned but not fully discussed by the Turners. See also Finucane, R.C., Miracles and Pilgrims (London 1977).Google Scholar

73 This is comparable with the discussion of the origin myths of sacred sites in totemic societies in Lévi-Strauss, C., The Savage Mind (London 1966) pp 228–231.Google Scholar

74 On Kataragama, see Wirz, P., Katargama, the Holiest Place in Ceylon (Colombo 1966)Google Scholar; G. Obeyesekere, ‘Social change and the deities’ pp 377-396; [‘The firewalkers of Kataragama:] the rise of Bhakti religiosity [in Buddhist Sri Lanka’ Journal of Asian Studies 37] (1978) pp 457-476; B. Pfaffenberger.

75 ‘God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of Heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands’ Acts 17:24.

76 See Douglas, Purity and Danger; Leach, E.R., ‘Magical Hair’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 88 (1958) pp 147–164, and van Gennep.Google Scholar

77 Pfaffenberger p 261.

78 Obeyesekere, , ‘The Buddhist Pantheon’, and ‘The Great Tradition and the Little in the Perspective of Sinhalese Buddhism’, Journal of Asian Studies 22 (1963) pp 139–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

79 Yalman, Nur, ‘The Structure of Sinhalese Healing Rituals’, Journal of Asian Studies 23 (1964) pp 115–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

80 This dilemma is apparent in the concluding pages of William Christian’s study of Spanish Catholics. See Christian pp 168-187. Certain similar themes arise in Peter Brown’s excellent paper, ‘The rise of the Holy Man in late antiquity’. Journal of Religious Studies 61 (1971) pp 80–101.Google Scholar

81 Sec Kemper, S.E.G., ‘Buddhism without Bhikkus; the Sri Lanka Vinaya Vardena society’ in Smith, B.L., Religion, and the legitimation of Power in Sri Lanka.Google Scholar

82 See Louis Dumont, ‘World Renunciation in Indian Religions’, pp 33-60 of Religion, Politics and History in India (The Hague 1970) and Das, Veena, Structure and Cognition (Bombay 1977)Google Scholar. Interestingly, in the hindu tradition pilgrims are often equated with world renouncers.

83 To quote some of the instructions for pilgrims to Talawila: ‘All are expected to co-operate with the Administrator and his staff to preserve the serenity and prayerful atmosphere in and around the shrine. As such, alcoholic drinks, singing parties, use of Radio, tape Recorder etc. arc not allowed within the shrine premises.’ Anandappa p 246.

84 Presumably it could be said that the social organisation of the camp is an example of ‘normative communitas’ as described by Turner, Dramas, Fields and Metaphors p 169. But this simply raises the question of how ‘normative’ does ‘communitas’ have to become before it becomes ‘societas’.

85 Indeed, at the height of the feast one can tell when one is nearing Madhu by the stench from the jungle. And it is into this jungle that the well-dressed young men go for their fun!

86 In 1979 this type of trade had been moved completely out of Madhu by the church, for the traders were thought to be interfering with worship. All the stalls were moved to Madhu Road Junction, 12 miles away, a move not welcomed by either traders or pilgrims.

87 See Stirrat, ‘A Catholic Shrine in its social context’; ‘Demonic possession in Catholic Sri Lanka’.

88 Stirrat, ‘The shrine of St. Sebastian at Mirisgama’.

89 Stirrat, ‘A Catholic shrine in its social context’; ‘Demonic possession in Catholic Sri Lanka’.

90 I have discussed these processes at greater length in my paper, ‘A Catholic shrine in its social context’.

91 See Obeyesekere, ‘Social change and the deities’, and ‘The rise of Bhakti religiosity’.