Celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of Anagarika Dharmapala’s birth are being held across Sri Lanka from 1–17 September. Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933), whose anniversary falls on 17 September, is remembered for his campaigns to preserve Sinhalese Buddhist culture and the promotion of Buddhist education.
Anagarika Dharmapala's descendant, Dinuka Jayasuriya, pays homage to his statue.
From www.sundaytimes.lk
Participants at the opening ceremony at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations and Strategic Studies in Colombo on 1 September included Maha Nayake Theras (the most senior monks in the sangha, literally “great ones among the Elders”), the chief incumbents of various temples, members of the Anagarika Dharmapala Trust, and various relatives and other invitees. The Sunday Times reports that the ceremony began with the recital of the Five Precepts led by the Maha Nayake Thera of the Amarapura Maha Sangha Sabhawa, Ven. Davuldena Sri Ganissara Thera, and the traditional lighting of the oil lamp. The great-great-grand-nephews of Anagarika Dharmapala, Prajiv Hewavitarne and Dinuka Jayasuriya, laid flowers at the feet of a large statue of the late national leader inside the auditorium, and a keynote speech was given by the principal of the monastic college Vidyodaya Pirivena, Ven. Balangoda Sobitha Thera, on Anagarika Dharamapala’s life and struggles.
Statue of Anagarika Dharmapala at Vihara Mahadevi Park, Colombo.
From www.omlanka.com
A documentary, Dharmapalavalokana, produced by Professor Rohana Luxman Piyadasa of Kelaniya University, was also screened at the gathering. The film outlines Anagarika Dharmapala’s contributions to Buddhism and the formation of a Sri Lankan identity. The book Anagarika Dharmapala abiyogaya saha api [Anagarika Dharmapala challenge; and us] was also launched. The book was written by Edmund Ranasinghe, veteran journalist and one-time editor of the newspaper Sinhala Bauddhaya, and published by the Anagarika Dharmapala Trust.
According to Melissa Somawardana of News1st, a special vehicle parade was organized for 7 September. Leaving from the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Mahabodhi Society in Maradana, the parade traveled across various parts of the island, including Anuradhapura, the first capital of ancient Ceylon, and Dambulla, reminding the people of the great leader and his services to Sri Lanka. Melissa Somawardana further reports that the parade also included the “Sobana Maligawa,” the type of vehicle Anagarika Dharmapala used while spreading his message across the country.
Outside Sri Lanka, India and the UK also organized celebratory programs. A commemorative stamp honoring Anagarika Dharmapala has been issued in India, while the London Buddhist Vihara, which Anagarika Dharmapala founded, has arranged various events. “The Most Venerable Bogoda Seelawimala Nayake Thero, Head of the Vihara, has been the driving force behind a series of special tributes prepared to honor the life and work of this great Sri Lankan Buddhist visionary,” reports Tissa Madawela of the EXPRESS. Esteemed speakers from the Buddhist world will attend a celebration at Hammersmith Town Hall on 21 September, such as Ajahn Amaro, abbot of Amaravati Monastery; Professor Bellanwila Wimalaratne, chancellor of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura; and Desmond Biddulph, president of The Buddhist Society. Professor Asanga Tilakaratne of the University of Colombo will deliver the keynote speech.
Route of special vehicle parade marked in red. From www.newsfirst.lk
According to the EXPRESS, the London Buddhist Vihara will also host an exhibition, The Flowering of Buddhism, from 13–20 September to provide “. . . an opportunity of understanding a unique individual, his dedicated contributions to Buddhism and the other renowned figures in the Buddhist Revivalist movement in the 19th and 20th centuries.”
Anagarika Dharmapala is credited with pioneering the revival of Buddhism in India, and during his campaigns for Buddhist education, worked together with Henry Steel Olcott and Helena Blavatsky, who founded the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875. A pilgrimage to India in 1891 was the catalyst for his involvement with the conservation of ancient Buddhist sites such as Sarnath and Kushinagar, and led him to establish the Mahabodhi Society the same year.