Most of the members of the Sri Lankan delegation including Foreign Minister Rohita Bogollagama and five other senior ministers are schedule to arrive in Chittagong on 17th July 2007 to collect holy hair relics of the Buddha in a ceremony to be held in Chittagong Buddhist Monastery on the 18th July 2007.
Ven. (Dr.) Jinabodhi Bhikkhu, the deputy abbot of the monastery while referring the historical significance, said that a Shakya Bhikkhu, a religious mendicant of Tibet, came to visit this region in 1930 carrying some sacred hair relics of Lord Gautam Buddha. After visiting some renowned monastery in Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar, Shakya Bhikkhu stayed in Chittagong Buddhist Monastery for a couple of days and gave some sacred hair relics to the then chief abbot of the monastery which was later being preserved by the managing committee comprising the lay devotees of Barua Buddhist.
When I asked Ven. Jinabodhi what number of hair relics will be give, he without mentioning the number replied that a few strands of course. He further added that some hair relics would be retained for veneration in his monastery.
Madampe Senanyaka Aramaya Trust, had earlier collected some relics from this monastery in 1958 had been enshrined in a mausoleum keeping the relics in the basement. But as the Buddhist devotees cannot take a look kept under the concrete cover, the Madanpe Sananyaka Aramaya Trust once again approached Chittagong Buddhist Monastery authorities for some more hair relics so that it could be kept for exhibition for the devotees to offer puja and other religious rites.
Later at different times, Buddhist devotees from Japan and Thailand also collected hair relics from this monastery in 1964 and 1979 respectively.
A hair relic of the Buddha will be carried to Sri Lanka from the Chittagong Buddhist Temple, Bangladesh on July 19. The sacred relic is to be kept at Senanayake Aramaya of Madampe, where previously brought hair relics of the Buddha from Chittagong have also been enshrined.
The relic has been offered to Senanayake Aramaya on a request made by its chief patron Keerthi Senanayake and philanthropist Sammodha Caldera. The handing over ceremony in Bangladesh has been organized by the Bangladesh Buddhist Federation. The Sacred Hair Relic is to be displayed initially at Gangaramaya Temple, Colombo 2 for three days before being taken to Madampe, a small town near Colombo.
The Senanayake Aramaya has been a recipient of several such relics of the Buddha, including hair relics from Chittagong and Takshila (Taxila) brought in 1958 and 1956 respectively. These are now enshrined at the Buddha Jayanthi stupa at the Senanayake Aramaya.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has offered state patronage to the event and several leading Buddhist monks and Ministers are to take part at the events related to the arrival of the relic in Sri Lanka. On the other hand the Bangladesh government has also taken up necessary steps to make the hair relics’ presentation ceremony on 18th July a state patronage one. The gift to Sri Lanka would not only improve bilateral relation but also strengthen ‘inter-faith bonds’ between the Muslims and Buddhists, Foreign Advisor (Minister) Iftekhar A Chowdhury told the press on 13th July.
The sacred relic would officially be handed over to the visiting Sri Lankan foreign minister at a simple ceremony on 18th July and he will return to Colombo with the holy hair relic the next day. His return with the Buddha's hair coincides with the Sri Lanka government's plans to celebrate the Thoppigala victory in the East.The road leading to Colombo from Katunayake has already been decorated and religious observances and pujas will be held at the Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo where the relic would be on display round the clock for the public on July 19, 20 and 21. The display could be extended to July 22 if the number of devotees rises. President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa and Mrs Rajapaksa are scheduled to pay homage to the sacred hair Thursday afternoon.
The decision was made during bilateral talks between of the two foreign ministers where they committed themselves to increase the paltry $39 million bilateral trade. The Lankan foreign minister also stressed the need for the two sides to boost intra-regional trade in South Asia. He also said the two sides looked at greater cooperation in BIMSTEC. He also quoted the Chief Advisor (Prime Minister) of Bangladesh to say that he condemned terrorism in all its forms and will look to cooperate with Colombo to eliminate terrorism from the region. Dhaka and Colombo are also looking forward to meet as early a the next month to reestablish direct air and sea links, with Sri Lanka eyeing greater pharmaceuticals, cement, leather goods and food commodities import from Bangladesh.
Despite such grand ceremony under state patronage some researcher and critics have cask doubt over the authenticity of the hair relics, mostly behind the story which was delivered by one Tibetan monk. Their questions are not without logic. If these hair relics in question were believe to be genuine then from where did that Tibetan monk got and why was he carrying such a large amount of precious and rare (more then) antique during his tour? Is there any such record in the ancient Buddhist texts where Buddha had delivered his hair to any person other than his eight strands of his hair given to Tapussa and Bhollika (also written as Thapassu and Bhalluka in different texts) soon after he got his enlightenment in Bodhgaya, India? It is high time for the Buddhist scholars to find avenues in authenticating the genuineness of sacred relics as demanded under the popular belief system.
1. To look for the history of Buddhism in Bangladesh please click:
http://www.sos-arsenic.net/english/intro/index.html#sec9
2. To look for the demographics of Bangladesh please click:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Bangladesh
3. To look for the history of Buddhism in Tibet please click:
http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/tibet.html
4. Madampe is about 70 km southeast of Colombo in Sri Lanka. To see the map please click:
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/mapcenter/map.aspx?TextLatitude=7.49030&TextLongitude=79.84580&TextAltitude=7.00&MapSize=Small&searchTextMap=Madampe
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