Religious freedom in ancient Sri Lanka

by L.V. Cabral

The Mahavansa (the Great Dynasty) the national chronicle states, the king Pandukhabaya, the founder of Anuradhapuraya, the capital of Rajarata, after his coronation had laid out the blueprint for the new capital, allocating premises for building a chapel (a place of worship) for Kuban the God of wealth, another one of the sect called Yonas, yet another for various heretical sects and a monastery for wandering mendicant monks. (The Mahavansa - William Geiger).

Moreover, Cosmes Indico Pleustes, a Greek merchant had travelled in the East between 520 A.D. and 525 A.D and given a vivid account of his travels and adventures. "There has been a church of Persian Christians in Taprobane, Greek name for Sri Lanka, with a Presbyter, elder in authority, a Deacon, minister, a body of believers and a group of Christians. (Typographia Christiani).

Further, two crosses were excavated in 1913 in Anuradhapuraya, by the archaeologists. According to H.W. Cordington they are identical with the cross at Saint Thomas mount near Chennai, Madras. Besides, the decorative baptismal font at the museum at Vavuniya, according to Ven. Dr. Kanagaratnam, belongs to the Eastern Christianity of the early period. (Sunday Observer 19.07.1992) Therefore, it is evident, there had been several beliefs, doctrines, religious and philosophers during the kingdom of Rajarata and all the divergent adherents had lived in amity, peacefully, and happily, honouring each others convictions during Rajarata era.

The mission of Fr. Joseph Vaz.

Succeeding the Portuguese, the Dutch in 1658 proscribed Catholicism promptly. The priests were expelled from churches and schools closed down. However, some of the Catholics practised their religion secretly.

Hearing of the plight of the Catholics in Sri Lanka Fr. Joseph Vaz. a Brahmin priest from Goa entered the Dutch province in Jaffna incognito as a beggar and administered sacraments to the Catholics secretly. Anyhow, the Dutch officials got wind of his being in Jaffna and tried to hound him out. On the sly Fr. Vaz left Jaffna for the Kandyan kingdom where there was absolute religious freedom. King Vimaladharmasooriya realized Fr. Vaz was a harmless bonafide ascetic, consequently the king gave him complete freedom to exercise his ministry and treated him with honour and respect.

His successor king Narendrasinha too treated Fr. Vaz with good wishes and regards.

Fr. Vaz could travel freely anywhere in the kingdom and secretly on the suburbs. In Historical Relation's robert Knox says there had been several Portuguese priests, all refugees at Kandy. Whenever the English prisoners wanted counsel or guidance they had consulted the priests who had enlightened them and guarded them legitimately.

Further more, there had been Brahmin, Hindu and Muslim priests, practising their faiths freely, unchallenged. During the Kotte period Brahmins, the chaplains to the king had their own shrines, Pashandas, a kind of ascetics who blessed people and predicted their future had places of worship.

The message poems give accounts of several kovils that had blossomed in the Kotte kingdom; the prominent and most popular kovil was the Vibhishana Devalaya, shrine at Kelaniya. Another devalaya dedicated to God Kataragama, yet another to God Iswara were in the capital while the shrine of Goddess Kali was on the suburb of Kotte.

At a later stage, there had been a chapel at Etul Kotte, put up by the king Buvanekabahu for a group of Franciscan missionaries, next to the king's palace.

Obviously, it is to the credit and honour of the Buddhist public that there had not been any major religious conflict or antagonism anywhere in Sri Lanka, save a sectarian clash during the British period in 1915. The immense number of kovils, devalayas, temples, mosques, wayside shrines and churches all over the island speak eloquently of the religious amity and harmony that has been prevalent from the primeval days of the country.