Excess zeal leads doctor to robe Aukana Buddha
An excess of religious zeal had made an ayurvedic doctor drape Lanka’s famed sculptural wonder, the 1600-year standing Aukana Buddha statue, with a forty-footlong robe to make it appear in his eyes ‘like a living Buddha’.
Public outrage broke out last Monday when photographs showing the world famous statute, kitted up in bright red robes, appeared on social media. It shocked Buddhists to see the icon of their faith distorted in this manner and angered archaeologists and art connoisseurs alike to see a work of noble art desecrated.
The 38-foot tall Aukana Buddha was long held to be the tallest stand-alone statue in Lanka until the derelict Maligawila statue which had fallen to the ground was re-erected in the early 1990s and found to be a few inches taller.
King Dathusena built the Aukana statue in the 5th century AD on the banks of the Kala Wewa to coincide with the commissioning of the reservoir. The statute remains a sculptural masterpiece with the lines of the robe delicately etched by expert artistic hands. It did not need a philistine hand to ‘paint the lily or gild refined gold’. It’s a cultural treasure, an object of antiquity protected under the Archeological Act.
The Department of Archaeology warned last Monday that modifying a statue of archaeological significance is subject to legal consequences. Violation of the Act carries a fifty thousand rupee fine or a five-year jail term or both. On a complaint filed by the department’s officials at the Galnawe Police station, the police have
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taken into their custody the robe and a pair of giant slippers which the ayurvedic doctor had thoughtfully provided as footwear to go with the robe.
But misplaced zeal in rites and rituals often replace the diligence required to follow the Dhamma. And this ignorant ayurvedic doctor, ignorant of the true teachings of the Buddha and ignorant of the secular laws of the land, allowed excessive zeal get the better of him.
The unregistered ayurvedic practitioner, Leon Amaranath from Wattala, had this to say in his defence: ‘I had been doing Katina Pinkamas like this for the last ten years. I have offered robes to
Sri Maha Bodhi, Ruwanwelisaya, and Thanthirimale Maha Saya. This time I thought of offering the new robe to the Aukana Buddha to make it like a living Buddha. Therefore, two weeks ago, I contacted the Aukana temple’s viharadhipathi on the phone and discussed my intention with him. He did not object. Therefore, I robed the statue on Poya day. I haven't done anything wrong.’
This act of folly is akin to a doctor who, in ridiculous excess of medical faith in antibiotics, prescribes a deadly overdose of penicillin to a patient to grant him a speedier recovery.
Beware. Too much of a good thing can not only be hazardous to health but prove fatal. The middle path is still the best.