Veheragala Nidane (nee-da-ne)

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On the 19th June I got a call from Chintake from Mihintale to say that there was a Nidane that was discovered in 1977 and now displayed in a nearby village by the a Chief Monk of that temple. Around the 3rd Century BC, some Buddhist statues made out of pure gold encrusted with large precious stones had been buried underground and out of reach of the then Kings from India that invaded the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. You should note that I have no intention of going into detail about the history and the names of past Kings etc. There are many books written on these subjects and frankly it’s boring to write leave alone read about it. Since I write this blog with a view to create interest about my country and not to bore you with historical and archaeological jargon, I shall refrain from such detail.

Nidane—is treasure that belonged to some statesman or the other, usually Kings or Brahmins who possessed great wealth. There are many tales that reason out as to why they hide such wealth. I have now visited a few sites where people in bygone times have made attempts to discover this hidden treasure. The sites I have seen are deep in the forests or nearer historical cities. The only common feature that I noticed was that it is almost certainly buried under extremely large boulders of rock and there is also evidence of some signs that indicate the treasure is somewhere there—carved into the rock these signs indicated what type of treasure is hidden. Despite the various clues that are evident, it is also said that such treasures are given protection by spells and voodoo. This puzzled me greatly. As to why a wealthy man would hide his treasure before he departs; gives a clue or two, and then curse the seeker with deadly spirits? Perhaps it is because he cannot take his wealth with him on his onward journey—beyond death. In Buddhism we believe that there is rebirth. Since the only problem that is faced by one who intends passing on to his next life is to take with him all wealth that is his, he may have had the view of returning by the process of rebirth, discovering the hidden treasure and hence enjoy the wealthy life he had previously. So it would appear that the person had full intentions of remembering this wealth that he had protected with the various spirits and voodoo techniques but yet left a few memory joggers so that he could discover it in his next life. Even though this explanation I am giving you may not be the most accurate it is certainly one that intrigues me. Phantom or not, let’s stick to this theory, shall we? There are many tales of people who seek such wealth of others and end up in fatal circumstances. Being cursed by the spells and also losing their lives have not prevented others from pursuing such goals to discover a Nidane. There was one site I visited in the Kumana Jungle where allegedly certain incumbents of the security forces who were posted in the vicinity during the war had aimlessly dug out with the hope of discovering treasure. Rock boulders were destroyed with dynamite in the attempt but to no avail.

Having said all this, the Veheragala Nidane was discovered by the Head Monk of the temple who stumbled upon it when he dug the grounds to build some foundations. He immediately notified the authorities in 1977 and the President of Sri Lanka at the time H. E. President Jayewardene had made it possible that the temple would exhibit the findings at the site. Subsequently due to the war and a shortage of adequate security the discovered treasure was brought back to be stored in Colombo for safety.

On this occasion the authorities had permitted the Temple to display the statues at the site for four days so that the villagers and visitors alike can see these discoveries and that’s how I got the tip from the villagers with whom I have now made acquaintance due to my travels.

I made this trip by train so that I would be able to mention the conveniences of the Great British Railway introduced during those times of colonisation. Therefore please excuse my brief interlude whereby I take the trouble to explain this mode of transport and then revert back to my archaeological discovery. In fact nothing much had changed since this introduction of the railway. Of course the steam engines had been replaced with Diesel thereby robbing the theatrical notions I perceived of such a trip. I would rather have preferred the steam engines and compromised on the speeds which have perhaps improved only marginally. There is much to be appreciated in the service and the cleanliness of the trains. It simply isn’t clean. However if you have been to India and travelled on their trains you are likely to appreciate the Sri Lankan ones better. The toilets weren’t meant to walk in; not if you don’t want to come out of it reeking of urine. Simply take aim from the doorway as that seems to be the way everybody else had used the toilets. Another explanation I could give you is; that the guy stood in the middle and worked his way round the walls. Incidentally I haven’t yet figured out how the ladies used the same facilities but I have it on good authority that in Nigeria they do the same as what men do; so why not in Sri Lanka? Personally I preferred to hold my bladder for the whole of the six hours.

One appreciative feature of our trains in Sri Lanka is the doors of the carriages. They are always open even if the train is travelling at seventy miles an hour and this I assure you is the best seat in the carriage. As the train jolts to & fro at great speed, there is the odd chance that you could lose balance and fly off and join the others— those who are not travelling at that speed. If you do, don’t worry, nobody in here would miss you anyway. That said, I firmly gripped the railing on the side and witnessed the exceptionally beautiful countryside pass me with frivolity. I saw children walking home after play with their cricket bats and young girls riding their bicycles through the country roads. There were men idling near a brook and farmers washing up after a hard day’s work. An occasional resting place for the traveller known as the ‘Ambalama’ passed by reminding me of the olden day architecture mentioned in the Sri Lankan classical novels. There was also the odd guard ‘s house or a building that contained the railway points from the colonial times which brought much character to the countryside. As I am writing this there is this feeling of a great poem coming up. So watch out for that.

In-flight entertainment however, was better than a budget airliner. Vendors walk through with a variety of food and drinks for a small charge. Pay neither attention to any unrequisited parasites that may have rested on the food nor the sweat that drips from the vendor’s forehead that may have contributed to the saltiness of the stuff. It is all sum of the whole that contributes to this experience. Sri Lankan savouries such as Vade look scrumptious. There is fruit as well; mango pickle, pineapple etc. For drinks there are sodas and water, tea, coffee and even Nescafe. Be warned! Sri Lankans drink tea and coffee quite different to the rest of the world. Whilst the rest of the world appreciates the sweet aroma of the tea and its subtle flavours, we Sri Lankans have a cup of sugar syrup with a hint of tea in it. It is one of those things the British miss-communicated when passing down their traditions to us. Of the many traditions we mastered from the great colonialists such as playing cricket rather better than the masters themselves, drinking tea however is not one of them.

As the night fell upon me the carriage became less crowded. I had lost count as to how many stations the train had stopped. It appears I had taken a slow train. But there was consolation in that the man who gave me this news confirmed that the fast one was no better. A bit like the British Rail then! Eleven years of travelling to Mayfair from St. Albans and I have yet to recall a journey that I made five minutes sooner. The better part of the day had passed with me piling in the refreshments to pass time. I felt stuffy and sweaty as you do in a carriage full of people in intense heat and longed to get to my destination and have one of those much desired baths in a natural and cold pond. I dreamt of being immersed into the serendipitous surroundings of Mother Nature. Actually a shower would have sufficed but when I mentioned my dream to Chintake who was waiting with his Tuc Tuc at the station to take me to his place, he most willingly obliged in manifesting my desire to cool down in a beautiful lake in Mihintale.

Avalokitesvara Bodisatva

That night I spent at Chintake’s house. He has a small one room house in which his family resides and another slightly bigger house that he has been building immediate to the other for over a period of fifteen years. He takes great pride in the fact that he hasn’t borrowed a penny to build it and most of it is constructed by his own hands and his closest friends who have lent their expertise to make this little dream of his a reality. In his new house which is only thirty percent complete, there is one room that he has fully furnished. This he lent to me for the night.

I lay in my bed after meditation listening to the night. How serene is the sound of silence? It was about two hours before a vehicle passed on the main road by which time I had faded away into a peaceful sleep. The instructions for the morning were made clear. We were to wake up at six and make our way to the Temple which was situated about three miles away. However early in the morning we received a phone call from an informant at the Temple that the government officials had instructed the statues to be packed and sent to the Colombo Museum that morning. We rushed to the Temple, camera in hand.

The Temple that morning was a busy place and I heard the most amazing story from the Assistant Monk who was in charge of the treasure. It appears that this Monk was in fact behind the request to display these items at this site for a period of a week. The government officials had refused but after much persuasion, he was able to get permission for a period of four days as this was the period of time the Chief Monk had requested. The young and more eager assistant, who had a keen interest in archaeological study however, had insisted on seven days and won the battle to retain the exhibits for the longer period. Fate did dictate its terms on this request. The Chief Priest passed away at the end of the fourth day making this place more vulnerable to hold this treasure for a longer period. Therefore they were packing everything today to be taken to Colombo.

What I had to hear from the Assistant Monk Re: the statues were even more intriguing. An expert sculptor was instructed by the King to produce these three statues. The King, realising the rare gift of the sculptor was instructed that no one assist him, thereby preventing another to learn the art. Upon realising the rare gift that he possessed, he had mentioned to the King that he had intentions of bettering the sculpture which he had just completed. At the end of producing these three sculptures the King executed the sculptor before he could produce any duplicates. And this all happened in the 9th Century BC.

Then the Assistant Monk of the Temple went on to reveal the painstaking detail to which the sculptor had carved these statues, the way he had taken trouble to balance the Buddha’s body to reflect perfection, and how the body takes form in total relaxation when one is in Samidhi in meditation. He pointed out that when one is in Samidhi, (Pure state of super consciousness) how the toes curve into a state of relaxation and how the sculptor had taken trouble over such minute detail. There was much more than this but I shall leave all budding archaeological enthusiast to form an opinion through their own research.

The crux of this story is that such Tantric deities who are more common in other parts of the world such as in Northern India and Tibet were in fact evident in Sri Lanka as well. The Bodisathwa’s statue that I have shown a picture of was in fact chosen as the second most eloquent discovery of all the statues that are being discovered and on display around the world.

As a scholar and a keen practitioner of Buddhist philosophy I found this trip most intriguing and a step closer to understanding how Mahayana was introduced despite the strong influence of Theravada Buddhism in my country.

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