Govt stirs wasp nest at Dambulla Temple
Do Government ministers have a death wish? A perverse masochistic delight in precipitating their own downfall and a sadistic bent in ensuring that the government as a whole falls as well? That they pay no heed to the folly of rushing in where even angels dare not tread? Have they no fear in throwing stone after stone at wasps’ nests? Not to steal its honeycomb but to invite its stinging wrath? Do they savour getting needlessly stung? Even if it means it will lead to condemnation in the eyes of the Lankan public?
This week saw the government waging another battle against the windmills and realising not only its futility but also the prospect of getting its head decapitated by the whirl of the wind blade.
No less a personage than the Education Minister Akila Kariyawasam rode, like a modern day Don Quixote saddled upon his horse Rocinante with the faithful valet Sancho in the collective form of an Archeological Committee walking on foot to the rock caves of Dambulla to unsheathe their swords and order it be to closed down indefinitely merely because UNESCO had threatened to remove the Dambulla Caves from World heritage status if conservation work was not done immediately.
But is this necessary and is this politically wise? Will it not only serve to raise a wasp nest of Buddhist protest and leave the Government horribly stung beyond redemption?
Perhaps Education Minister Akila Kariyawasam should have spent more time studying the Dambulla dossier before he gave the green light to his officials to announce on Monday to place a blanket indefinite ban on the Dambulla Caves and its temple which had existed for over two thousand years. Cannot the restoration work be done cave by cave -- for there are three caves and in the main cave, cannot it be done section by section - instead of closing down the whole complex? Why does it have to be closed indefinitely and left to a ministerial decision to decide if and when it is to be opened again for public viewing and worship? Has the government minister the power to deny freedom of worship as guaranteed by the constitution on the basis of conservation? Was the Kelaniya temple closed down indefinitely and the public banned from paying homage to the Buddha when Soliya Mendis was painting his murals for nineteen years? Or, come to that, was the Sistine Chapel indefinitely closed and the Pope debarred from prayer in his private church at the Vatican whilst Michelangelo spent four years painting his masterpieces on the chapel’s ceiling? On Wednesday the Prime Minister stepped into the wasp storm and said that if the chief monk of the Dambulla Temple which comes under the overlord ship of the Asgiriya Chapter was agreeable to forfeiting Dambulla temple’s UNESCO’s World Heritage status due to a reluctance to effect restoration work, then it was not an issue.
He said: “It is essential to conserve the Dambulla Rajamaha Viharaya also known as the Cave Temple Complex if the historic site is to retain its world heritage status. The Government is prepared to stop the conservation work if the Maha Nayake Theras want it stopped. However, it is up to the Maha Nayake to decide the fate of this historical site. It is unfortunate if the Cave Temple Complex is to lose this status.”
So what if UNESCO denies Dambulla its heritage status? Would it mean that tourists will not visit the art filled rock caves of a thousand Buddhas