In May 2023, MA students from the Buddhist Heritage programme visited Sri Lanka for their annual study trip to Asia. Students arrived in Colombo, in May, on the first day of Vesak—it is the most important festival in international Buddhist culture, commemorating the birth, enlightenment, andÌýparinirvanaÌýof the historical Buddha. Colombo finds itself crowded with revellers during the week. After a warm meal at the Meegama family home, the students lit paper lanterns and set out into the city to experience this Buddhist festival first hand.
Throughout the trip, the group visited six World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka and explored numerous temples, including ancient painted caves and contemporary living archaeological sites. The Ho Centre collaborated with a number of organisations on the ground to organise workshops and guided tours of World Heritage Sites, temples, and museums. The students found it rewarding to meet Buddhist monks, archaeologists, art historians, conservators, curators, artists, heritage professionals, and fellow students during this study trip. They also attended a workshop on the deteriorationÌýof the Sigiriya Mirror Wall and learned howÌýolaÌýor palm leaf Buddhist manuscripts are created at Alu Vihara, where it is believed that the Pali Buddhist canon was first written down.
Students witnessed a Buddhist ritual of the wrapping of a historical monument, ³Ù³ó±ðÌýstupa, with cloth in the sacred city of Anuradhapura and observed the evening Buddha puja at the Gal Vihara, an archaeological site in Polonnaruva that is famous for its monumental stone Buddhas. In Kandy, the students had the opportunity to pay their respects to the Buddha’s tooth relic at the Temple of the Tooth Relic and tour the International Buddhist Museum. In Jaffna, students visited newly constructed Buddhist heritage sites to explore issues about Buddhist nationalism. Students visited a 19th-century southern temple by the Indian Ocean to study wall paintings that were undergoing conservation. They were also welcomed at Samudragiri Vihara where they studied the temple’s collection of sacred objects, while discussing traditional methods of caring for Buddhist ritual objects at temples. Students also visited two pilgrimage sites believed to have been visited by the historical Buddha, even taking a boat in the Indian Ocean to travel to one. In Colombo, the students were invited to observe and participate in daily temple ceremonies at a contemporary Buddhist monastery and listened to ³Ù³ó±ðÌýpirit-chanting ritual at the Meegama home. Through these different learning experiences, they gained a unique perspective on living Buddhist heritage, not just as outsiders, but as active participants.
Sri Lanka, May 2023
