A temple is a temple is a temple. There are grand ones and humble ones, rich and poor, revered ones and just-visited ones, temples where succor is sought due to reputation of delivery and temples which are comparatively nondescript, less frequented by devotee and then only in an in-passing manner. A temple is a temple is a temple, yes. Brick and mortar with image and color. The omnipresent, by definition, is not contained in one but is ever-present in all; all things, temples included. Simultaneously.
A temple is a temple
is a temple. And yet, there are temples which imperfect mortals believe
are located in rare nodes of connectivity where human voice has better chance,
perhaps, of reaching divine ear. These draw devotees in their hundreds or
even thousands, throughout the year and from year to year, decade to decade,
century upon century, but especially so on those special days when people
believe the divine ear is especially receptive to plea. Such a place of
worship is the Kannaki Amman Kovil and such a ‘holy moment’ is the festival
week of the kovil, located in Vattrapalai, Mullaitivu.
‘Mullaitivu’, not too
long ago, was not a place that anyone would have identified with worship and
divinity. Mullaitivu, after all, was the last bastion of the LTTE leader
Velupillai Prabhakaran and as such was associated with the clash of arms,
blood-letting, destruction and displacement, tragedies that can hardly be laid
at the door or feet of divinity but for which humans alone must take
responsibility even if act was accompanied by murmuring the name of god or
whispered prayer. But then again, as has happened throughout history,
temples survive the battles of men even if edifices crumble in the anger,
revenge-intent and inhumanity that is our creature-signature. Gods do not
flee. Temples survive human onslaught and even those which do not are
rebuilt. The faithful re-flock to sing the praises of the divine.
The Kannaki Amman
Kovil, the annual festival of which was held from June 2-9, has a history that
is more significant than the fact that Prabhakaran has worshipped there during
the heyday of the LTTE. The exact ‘beginning’ is not known, but
remembered history recalls a time during the Dutch period.
Krishna Bhawan, the
chief priest recalls thus. According to legend, a Dutchman had once
mocked the Goddess Kali during a conversation with the Kovil’s Chief Priest of
the time. The clearly uncivilized Dutchman was punished then and there.
He had been hit by a fruit from a nearby tree. It hadn’t fallen on the
man but had flown at a gravity-defying angle to deal him a painful blow. He had
fled into the fort in Mullaitivu but he continued to suffer blow after blow.
Finally he had gone back to the kovil, apologized to the Chief Priest and
promised to donate money to expand the Kovil. What stands in Vattrapalai
today is said to be the Kovil that was built with the money given by that
repentant Dutchman.
Most devotees come to
the Kovil to pray to Kannaki Amman, the deity who in Sinhala belief systems
take the name Pattini. Kannaki Amman, devotees believe, heals the sick.
The goddess also has the power to gift fertility and many childless
couples pray to Kannaki Amman seeking to be blessed with children.
There is another
legend that is of particular significance to this Kovil. Once Kannaki
Amman is said to have taken the shape of an old woman and told some young men
that they could find relief for their problems if they lit a lamp at the Kovil
and offered sweet milk rice (Pongal). However, the men had not been able to
find oil needed to light the lamp at which point the woman had told the men to
use seawater as the sea was nearby. This was done and they were able to light
the lamp. To this day, the lamp seen at the Kovil is lit using seawater,
according to the Chief Priest.
During the most
intense days of fighting, residents of the area had sought shelter in the
Kovil. Not a single person had been injured or killed, the Chief Priest
said. Back then, this was ‘Tiger territory’ or ‘uncleared areas’ or
‘LTTE-held areas’. Apparently the LTTE Leader Prabhakaran had not allowed
any foreign devotee, Hindus included, to pray at the Kovil. Back then,
however, there weren’t many foreigners visiting the area. Neither were
there Sri Lankans from other parts of the country, Hindu or otherwise.
Today, on the other hand, people from all over the world flock to this
place every year, according to the Priest in charge of administrative
activities at the Kovil, Thangaraja. Prabhakaran himself had never prayed
inside the Kovil although his wife and children had participated in
poojas.
Velupillai Prabhakaran
is no more. There’s no more fighting. There still is a military presence
but with a difference. The security forces were at hand throughout the
week-long festival assisting the devotees in numerous ways. It is
estimated that there were 300,000 devotees who prayed at the temple during this
period. The security forces had spent Rs 400,000 to shower flowers on the
Kovil on seven occasions during the festival. They had also organized a
‘dansala’ for the hundreds of thousands who came to petition the goddess and
seek relief. The Chief Priest was grateful. He also expressed
appreciation of parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa who had helped restore the
‘Ther’ chariot that parades around the Kovil during the festival.
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