COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — It was time to reclaim the holiday. To put the Buddha back into Vesak, so to speak.
But as Sri Lankans prepared to celebrate Vesak, the holiday this week commemorating the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death, the government shook a stern finger. The celebrations had become too indulgent, a directive warned.
The commemoration should be a time for prayer and meditation, not fun and games, the minister of Buddha Sasana, a government department dedicated to Buddhism, had declared in March. The minister banned the pandols, large illustrations depicting the Buddha’s life in bright paint and neon lights, which cost hundreds of dollars and take hours to build for the holiday, only to be thrown out after the celebrations.
The outcry against the ban, from citizens and within government itself, surprised the minister. A compromise was struck: The first day of Vesak would be reserved for prayer while the rest of the week would be more lighthearted. And, yes, pandols would be allowed. But only on the second day.
Secular fun, excess and garish display would keep their place.
The struggle over the soul of Vesak reflects tensions in the place of religion in Sri Lanka, whose population is 70 percent Buddhist. The pandols have become a symbol of a growing class of Sri Lankans drifting away from their religion as they embrace a more consumer-driven lifestyle. The festivals have become corporate marketing opportunities.
Meanwhile, Buddhist priests denounce the excess surrounding a festival commemorating a man who shunned his family fortune for an ascetic life, saying the waste around Vesak has become too much. They argue the festival as it is celebrated now often fails to promote the Buddhist traditions of simplicity and the pursuit of a life that sought spiritual satisfaction instead of acquiring material goods that they say weigh the soul down.
Vesak is celebrated in Sri Lanka when the first full moon of May rises. Buddhists across Asia observe the holiday, which may fall at different times depending on the calendar each country uses. Also known as “Buddha’s birthday,” Vesak is one of the most important holidays in the religion.
“We want people to focus on Lord Buddha’s birth, the spirituality,” said Piyal Kasthurirathne, a religious Buddhist preparing to celebrate the holiday. “This shouldn’t become a Mickey Mouse religion.”
Like others in this nation island, he looked at Christmas’s evolution with concern: Jesus Christ giving way to Santa Claus, church forgone for boozy holiday parties. Conservative groups in the United States are also reacting, demanding the country “put the Christ back in Christmas,” as the common refrain goes.
On Sunday, the devout, clad in all white, gathered at temples across Sri Lanka at the break of dawn to mark the start of Vesak, praying, burning incense or offering flowers to Buddha statues.
At Kelaniya, a temple that attracts some of the more dedicated practitioners in and around the capital, Colombo, the crowds heaved in the morning’s already sweltering temperatures. Throngs of worshipers sat on the earth around the bleach-white stupa, a large dome that represents the earth’s elements and is used as a place of meditation.
About five miles away, at the Gangaramaya temple in the heart of Colombo, the urban elite gathered, those who are described as more “socially Buddhist,” the type of people the minister’s decree took aim at.
Vesak commemorations at Gangaramaya tend to be more festive, with prizes given for lantern building, another tradition that has become too commercial, critics say. Families historically came together at home to build lanterns on Vesak, but now the tradition includes a popular cash prize competition, with businesses and even separate police divisions competing at temples like Gangaramaya.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/world/asia/sri-lanka-vesak-buddhas-birthday.html
