Bodhipuja: Collective Representations of Sri Lanka Youth

Author(s): H. L. Seneviratne and Swarna Wickermeratne

Source: American Ethnologist, Vol. 7, No. 4 (Nov., 1980), pp. 734-743
Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/643479
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Bodhipuja:collective representations
of Sri Lanka youth
H. L. SENEVIRATNE-University of Virginia
SWARNA WICKERMERATNE-Francis Loeb Libraryof Harvard University

a hierarchy of beings and beliefs

The relationship between Buddhism and folk religion has attracted considerable attention in the literature of sociology and anthropology. Durkheim (1915:44) challenged Tylor's
(1871:383) minimum definition of religion as belief in spirit beings by pointing out that Buddhism, an acknowledged religion, had no such belief. Weber (1858a:204-230), who influenced the sociology of Buddhism much more than Durkheim did, defined early Buddhism as a religion without a deity and without a cult. Fortheir understanding of Buddhism,
both masters depended on Western Orientalist interpretations of Buddhist canonical
literature (Weber 1958a:366-367; Durkheim 1915:45); they had no familiarity with the actual beliefs or behavior of Buddhists.
Weber's analysis of Buddhism was prompted by the needs of his theory that of all great
religions Calvinistic Christianity alone encouraged the rational pursuit of asceticism in the
routine conduct of worldly life (Weber 1958b). To Weber, a world enchanted with magic, of
which Protestant Christianity was denuded, was by far the norm in all other great religions.
Although Buddhism in its early phase kept aloof from magic and supernaturalism, it
transformed itself in the post-Asokan era to accommodate popular religious needs for
magic, divine intervention in worldly distress, and the promise of heaven in the hereafter

In traditional Buddhism, the Bodhi Tree-a symbol of the Buddha-is worshipped for the accumulation of merit (pin) for the other-worldly purpose of
gaining desirable rebirths. Subordinately, the Bodhi has also been worshipped
for the purpose of gaining specific ends in this world. Dynamic modern Buddhist
movements in urban Sri Lankaemphasize Buddhist worship as opposed to deity
worship for gaining this-worldly benefit. This latter orientation provides fertile
ground for the rise of a new cult of Bodhi worship among the educated,
unemployed, urban youth of Sri Lanka. It provides them with a means of emotional expression for a new religiosity that is clearly at variance with the serene
piety of traditional Theravada Buddhism. It is also argued that charismatically
mediated religious performances are structurally similar to a modern, popular
secular-musical performance: both of them bind the same youthful devotees to
one another in similar ways in a spirit of communitas. [Asia, Bodhi Tree, Buddhism, Sri Lanka, youth, religious change]

Copyright? 1980 by the AmericanAnthropologicalAssociation

0094-0496/801040734-10$1.5011

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(Weber 1958b:237). Durkheim and Weber were in agreement in their view of Buddhism insofar as both of them considered Buddhism to be free from magic, worship, and supernaturalism. The difference lay in that, for Weber, Buddhism did not stay that way: it
changed its face to suit popular psychological needs to believe in magic and supernatural
aid. Thus, Weber identified the existence of supernatural beliefs and practices in Buddhism, but he proposed no systematic relationship between these phenomena and the
mainstream of Buddhist philosophy and practice.
Modern sociologists and anthropologists who spend extended periods of time in
Theravada Buddhist societies see with their own eyes the world of magical enchantment
which Weber saw only in the variegated transformations of his imagination. The Buddhists
of these societies, these writers notice, believe in a neatly stratified variety of supernatural
beings. The Burmese, for example, propitiate a hierarchy of divine beings (nats) and ghosts
(Spiro 1967:33-63).1 The Thais have a similar hierarchy of divine angels (thewada), spirits
(phii), and souls (winjan) (Tambiah 1970:57-61). The Sinhalese system reveals even more
clearly a hierarchy of cults centering around the great gods, provincial gods, planetary
deities, minor deities, spirits, demons, and the ghosts of the dead (Obeyesekere 1966).
Each order in the hierarchy has its own cult and special mode of propitiation. Are these
independent of each other, or are they related? And if they are related, what is the nature of
the relationship? These questions have occupied a significant area of the sociology of
Theravada Buddhism since the 1950s. The first answers were rather mechanical delineations of strata of beliefs. For example, Kauffman (1960: 183-196) and de Young (1955:110),
writing about Thailand, talk about religious strata such as Buddhist, Brahman-Buddhist,
and predominantly Brahman-animistic. Ryan's (1958:10-118) work on Sri Lanka posits the
existence of two strata: Buddhism and folk supernaturalism. In an influential essay,
Obeyesekere (1963) proposes a different perspective. He draws attention to the unsatisfactory nature of this approach, emphasizes the need to abandon the image of layers, and
urges us to look at complexes of belief and behavior in their totality. Such study would
yield, Obeyesekere argues, a picture of the beliefs of the people as a coherent whole-Thai
Buddhism, Burmese Buddhism, Sinhalese Buddhism, and so on, as the case may be
(1963:139-153). Using Sinhalese material, Obeyesekere demonstrates that at the levels of
structure, ideology, and behavior, Sinhalese Buddhism, though appearing to have a number
of cultic strata, in fact constitutes an integrated whole. Structurally, the hierarchy is integrated by the supreme position held by the Buddha in the pantheon and the dogma that
all mystical beings participate in the human world by the Buddha's permission. Ideologically, the Buddhist doctrine of karma-the inexorable law that one's fortunes or misfortunes
are rooted in one's own past deeds-is used by Buddhist villagers as an ultimate cause to
explain misfortune, thereby bringing order and meaning into an otherwise chaotic and
capricious causality. Behaviorally, making merit by worshipping the Buddha and the
transfer of such merit to supernatural beings intensifies the integration of the pantheon
(studies that exemplify this integral approach include Ames 1964a, 1964b; Combrich 1971;
Leach 1962; Yalman 1964).
It was noted above that according to Weber religion for the masses consisted of divine
intervention in stress in this world and the promise of heaven in the next. He used the terms
this-worldly and other-worldly, respectively, to refer to these two types of religious
benefits.2 Thus defined, Obeyesekere (1963:151; 1966:22) states that other-worldly benefits
are attained by Sinhalese Buddhists through worship of the Buddha, and this-worldly
benefits are attained by the propitiation of gods and other mystical beings. He notes that
religious roles and functions
are based on this fundamental differentiation of the two aspects of the system-the Buddhist monk
assisting humans to achieve their other-worldly goals, and the priests of the lower cults acting as in-

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termediariesbetween men and gods... presidingover the affairs of the gross material world
(1963:152).
Subsequent writings on Buddhism in Sri Lanka have explicitly or implicitly assumed the
validity of this dichotomy. The present paper, while building on Obeyesekere's integral approach, suggests that this dichotomy is not as clear-cut as it might appear from the existing
literature on Sinhalese Buddhism. As Obeyesekere and others note, asking favors directly
of the Buddha is uncommon if not altogether nonexistent. However, Buddhist sacra have
been and are used today for the attainment of this-worldly benefits. A prominent example
is the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha that was historically used for rainmaking in the
great public rituals of Sri Lanka(Seneviratne 1978:65-88). Similarly, the Buddhist ceremony
of chanting pirit is performed for avowed this-worldly reasons, with monks mediating to
transfer the potency of the sacred words to the worshippers (Tambiah 1968:177-180).
This paper discusses the renewed interest in the worship of a most venerable item of Buddhist sacra, the Sacred Bodhi Tree. It suggests that, while the Bodhi Tree has been
associated with this-worldly benefits from the earliest times, the new form of its worship exhibits unusually pronounced interest in it and belief in its efficacy. This new worship is seen
as an attempt by modern reformist movements to lure adherents away from the cults of the
lower mystical beings, which the reformists consider to be non-Buddhist. On the part of the
devotees, the new form of worship expresses an emotional religiosity similar to the sentiments of bhakti of Hinduism, a novel phenomenon in Buddhist religious behavior. We further suggest that the new Bodhi Tree worship has a specific demographic and social
stratificational focus: it is confined to the major urban centers of the island and is
predominantly practiced by the educated, unemployed youth. The new worship must be
understood as a part of the varied expression of dynamic urban Buddhism in modern Sri
Lanka. More narrowly, the specific nature and style of the worship, distinguished by the
presence of a charismatic mediator who is also a representative of modern reformist Buddhism, meets the socially generated emotional needs of the educated, unemployed, urban
youth. We will demonstrate a striking similarity of the ceremony to a modern musical performance that is popular with the same urban youth, and we suggest that its appeal rests, in
part, on this replication of performance structure.

the worship of the Bodhi Tree-traditional

and modern

The Bodhi, Ficus religiosa (Skt. Asvattha; Sinhalese, asatu, bo), symbolizes Wisdom or
Enlightenment, referring to the fact that the Buddha attained Enlightenment (nirvana) sitting in meditation at its foot. It is likely that the Bodhi was an object of worship in preBuddhist times; but with the rise of Buddhism, its worship became preeminent in India and
other parts of tropical Asia where Buddhism spread. Buddhist informants point out that Sujatha, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, had already received an answer to her prayers
to bear a child at the time the Buddha sat in meditation under the Bodhi, prior to Enlightenment. Myth and legend portray in great vividness the Bodhi luxuriantly growing on the
banks of the river Neranjara:the Buddha, sitting in meditation at its foot, resolving never to
arise until he reached Enlightenment; the advent of the ferocious forces of Mara (death)
and their attempt to break his determination; and the Buddha's heroic victory over these
forces of evil and the attainment of nirvana.
The Buddha's victory under the Bodhi is one of the most magically potent incidents in
Buddhist belief, and the Bodhi is the physical manifestation of that potency. De Silva (1978)
has perceptively demonstrated that the magically potent pirit texts are chanted by monks
seated inside a pavilion (man4apay) that symbolically recreates the Bondhimanda, the

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Pavilion of Enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree. Informants emphasize that the Bodhi is
the lordly tree of the forest (vanaspati) and is both capable of attracting "waves of power"
(bala tarariga)towards it and radiating them outwards. Although the belief that worshipping
the Bodhi brings this-worldly benefits has been present throughout Buddhist history, the
overwhelmingly prevalent traditional form of Bodhi worship has been its veneration as a
caitya (a representation of the Buddha) by virtue of it being a paribhogika object (something
that has been used by the Buddha).3 The new mode of Bodhi worship, popularly known as
Bodhipuja, signifies a renewed emphasis on this-worldly benefits in the worship of the
Bodhi.
Although the Sri Lanka Buddhist of orthodoxy has at times considered the manipulation
of supernatural sources for this-worldly benefit as a "beastly science," Buddhism has traditionally maintained an attitude of tolerance towards the folk religion (Ling 1973:85-93).
With the confrontation4 between Buddhism and Christianity in Sri Lanka, especially in the
19th and early 20th centuries, and the rise of new Buddhist movements, certain dynamic
sections of Buddhists have espoused what Obeyesekere (1972,1976) has called "Protestant
Buddhism," a distinctive feature of which is the attempt at "demagicising" Buddhism or,
more accurately, developing a "Buddhist magic" or Buddhist avenues (as opposed to
animistic or exorcistic) for the achievements of this-worldly benefits. The dominant bearers
of these attitudes are the urban middle classes. Far fewer exorcistic ceremonies are seen in
urban middle-class settings than in villages, but there has been no decline in the more
strictly Buddhist magical rites such as pirit (chanting of Buddhist texts) or other meritmaking ceremonies. The dramatic rise in the worship of the Bodhi for this-worldly benefits
must be broadly considered to be an aspect of the new dynamism of urban Sinhalese Buddhism. In narrower terms, however, and especially in explaining the structure and form of
the vastly popular modern ceremonies of Bodhipuja, we must explore the appeal of the
cult to the major stratum of its devotees, the urban, educated, unemployed youth.
Bodhipuja ceremonies of the new type ("new" because they are conscious attempts to
seek Buddhist avenues of immediate mystical assistance) originated at least a quartercentury ago when urban monks, caught in whirlpools of the dynamic "ProtestantBuddhism," appealed to laymen who shared their ideology by showing them that an acceptable Buddhist alternative to exorcistic and other "beastly" practices for gaining immediate ends was available for their use. In this effort, these monks undoubtedly
rediscovered the potency of Bodhi worship in their reading of the classical Sinhalese
literature, as their information to interviewers makes explicit. In their conscious re-creation
of Bodhipuja, however, they innovated by modeling themselves on the supernaturalistic
ceremonies as regards one element-that of officiation. These monks became "priests" in
the classical anthropological sense of mediating between a clientele and a mystical force.5
This innovation has had profound consequences for the rise and popularity of the form of
Bodhipuja under discussion-that which is dominated by a youthful clientele.
The modern Bodhipuja ceremonies differ from each other in detail depending on the officiant, but they are essentially the same. The ceremony consists of decorating the Bodhi
with flags and other "ornaments" (abharana); lighting of coconut oil lamps around the
Bodhi and in its vicinity; fumigation and offering of flowers to the Bodhi; pouring pots of
water, sometimes mingled with fragrant and purificatory ingredients, at the foot of the
Bodhi; offering pleasant sound to the Bodhi in the form of drumming and music; and expressing in chants the wish that the participants receive the benefits they desire, as well as
gain merit, have happy rebirths, and ultimately reach the bliss of nirvana. Individual
Bodhipuja ceremonies vary in elaborateness, some reaching extravagance in the quantity
of offerings, which are brought in by the truckload. Some officiants introduce elements into their performances of another, rather forgotten, Buddhist rite for gaining this-worldly

Bodhipuja In Sri Lanka

737

benefits-the worship of the Twenty-eight Past Buddhas (atavisi Buddha-puja) by hanging

on the Bodhi before the ceremony a painting depicting the 28 past Buddhas. Some introduce a touch of astrology by making offerings to the Bodhi on behalf of the planetary
deities and transferring the resulting merit to them (for which the deities would be pleased
and would bring benefits to the worshippers).
Monks elucidate three methods by which benefits are generated. First, benefits accrue
directly as a result of the great magical power of the Bodhi, which helped the Buddha
dispel the powerful forces of death and gain victory. The chants refer to the awesome
events associated with the Buddha's Enlightenment: the victory over Mara; the miraculous
emanation of rays from the Buddha's body; the trembling of the earth; the declaration by
the Buddha of his supremacy, spoken in a fearless lion-voice that was heard in the innumerable universe; and the Buddha's superhuman expression of gratitude to the Bodhi by
gazing at it for a week without a single wink of his eyelids. The idea that the powerful Bodhi
can directly help devotees is conveyed in the performance. The second method is indirect:
the deities are pleased with those who honor so venerable an object as the Bodhi and help
them achieve their aims and bring them benefits. The third method by which Bodhipuja
brings this-worldly benefits is by the power of the merit of "good karma" achieved in performing a rite so rich in merit potential. Astrologically predetermined ill luck (apala, literally "no fruit") is considered nothing more than the result of previous bad karma; and when
such bad karma is only residual (avaSesa), most of it having been spent, a powerful good
karma can overwhelm it. This is doctrinally sanctioned in the notion of the particular kind
of karma that brings fruit in the present birth (ditthadhammavedanTyakamma).

Bodhipuja and contemporary youth

Modern Bodhipuja ceremonies contain elements that invite the special affinity of
youthful devotees. A discussion of these must be preceded by a brief account of the youth.
The youth literacy rate in Sri Lanka is approximately 90 percent, the general literacy rate
being over 80 percent. By contrast, the rate of employment among the youth is very low;
the overwhelming majority of the high school graduates are unemployed. Overcrowding at
the universities does not allow any but a minute fraction of young people to proceed to
higher studies leading to university degrees, and even among university graduates employment is more the exception than the rule.6 Thus, the two avenues along which the young
can meaningfully progress-employment and further education-are closed. The rise in expectation levels, as well as cultural prejudices, prevent all but a handful from engaging in
unskilled or semiskilled labor.
The youth of Sri Lanka have in a real sense lost their way and naturally feel a sense of
frustration and oppression. This sociopsychological condition is often expressed by the
youth themselves and by their interpreters as asahanaya (strain or oppression; sahanaya =
amelioration, and the prefix a signifies its opposite). The term connotes injustice done to
those who suffer asahanaya, while the term sahanaya implies a superior power who (in keeping with socialist ideals) is obliged to, but does not, grant amelioration. The term also connotes a painful, inner restlessness collectively generated by the question "Why us?" Indeed, it does not seem too farfetched to think of asahanaya as similar in psychological effect to situations of psychosomatic illness characterized by internal oppression that is
sometimes brought upon adolescents by family strains (Obeyesekere 1977:155-181).
Traditionally, stressful situations that fit the label asahanaya were handled primarily by
exorcistic and astrological means which the educated youth now find unacceptable
(Obeyesekere 1977:155-181). Such individual solutions to felt stress were traditionally

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possible because the problems were individual and therefore amenable to individual treatment. Asahanaya, as it is understood today, is social and clearly transcends the individual.
Although the individual must ultimately find a solution to his particular asahanaya, such a
solution must be mediated through collective representations. Just as asahanaya manifests
itself socially (for example, in social and political discussion and in the rate of unemployment), it must be relieved socially before individuals find their distinctive, private solace.
The new Bodhipuja is such a rite of collective amelioration.
The monks who are the leaders of the new Bodhipuja movement are well aware that the
youth are unwilling, even under normal conditions, to conform to traditional Buddhist
practices such as sil (the observing of the eight precepts on full-moon days). Sil requires a
certain rigor and commitment; it means getting up early on a specified day, dressing in
white cloth, skipping all afternoon and night meals, abstaining from other activities such as
smoking, avoiding comfortable seats, and in general giving up ordinary comforts. Sil also
takes up the entire day. When even ordinarily the rebelliousness of youth rejects such
discipline, it is no wonder that youth laboring under asahanaya finds it doubly unacceptable. Sil brings merit; but the accumulated benefits from its merits are to be received in
future births, while the youthful sufferers of asahanaya need immediate benefits. Bodhipuja, as it finds popular expression today, is an attempt by its monk leaders to reach the
youth, both to give them some comfort in their asahanaya and to do it "now," in a "Buddhist" way.

the appeal of Bodhipuja: charisma and communitas

The Bodhipuja monk leader who has gone furthest to reach the youth is the Venerable
Ariyadhamma, from the coastal town of Panadura 32 km. south of Colombo. He combines
the appeal of his personality and pleasing appearance, his sonorous voice and persuasive
manner, his organizational skill, and his understanding of contemporary society and its
disgruntled youth-not to mention the textbook Buddhist virtue of compassion (metta) in
the amelioration of the suffering (dukkha) of others-and the modern Protestant virtue of
relentless effort towards perfection in one's work. Through this combination of virtues,
Ariyadhamma has created a religoaesthetic cult of extraordinary appeal for the contemporary urban society of Sri Lanka, with apparently significant consequences for the future
course of Buddhist worship on the island.
The Ariyadhamma Bodhipuja can be meaningfully understood as repeating a pattern
that characterizes a new kind of musical performance that has arisen in urban Sri Lanka,
which we shall briefly describe. The popular music idol of urban teenagers and young
adults is Victor Ratnayaka, known for several years as a singer on the state-owned radio,
the most effective mass medium in Sri Lanka. In the early 1970s, imitating the popular rock
concerts of the West, Ratnayaka launched well-advertised and well-organized musical performances. The first of these, known as the Sa program (apparently deriving this name from
sadsa or sa, the first note in the octave of the Hindustani musical system), became an unprecedented popular success, drawing more crowds than the auditorium could accommodate at each performance and leading to greatly inflated prices for advance tickets. The
audience largely consisted of urban teenagers. Ratnayaka's rather tinsel voice, his
histrionic style, and the stage decor, all of which imitated popular Western musical performances, had an electrifying effect on his youthful audiences (who still ensure that his performances are sellouts). The themes of his songs-lingering images of adolescent love as it
is understood in Sri Lanka, of absence and longing, of erotic union under traditionally

Bodhipuja in Sri Lanka

739

idyllic circumstances such as cool breezes and moonlight, of tabooed subjects such as love
for someone else's spouse or girlfriend-continue to have strong appeal.
The language of the songs deserves special mention. Paralleling the national independence movements that climaxed in the late 1940s, there were movements in Sri
Lanka for the rediscovery of national culture. One aspect was an attempt to rid the
language of Sanskritic influences, an extreme attempt being the purist movement of
Munidasa Kumaranatunga. This failed, but the broader tendency to de-Sanskritize the
language has taken effect, especially in the mass media and popular literature. DeSanskritization of language, coupled with the general decline in Sanskritic and classical
education (in order to emphasize "modern" and "useful" subjects), has made the youth unfamiliar with the older linguistic forms of standard usage in popular music up to the 1940s.
About that time, starting with the purist songs of Sunil Shanta and reaching greater acceptability in the songs of Amaradeva, a simple, lyrical Sinhalese style came to influence the
songs. In prose, too, there was a popular style that paid little heed to traditional grammar
and usage and that appeared strange to readers who were literate in the classics. The new
lyrical song reached the widest circles in the work of Victor Ratnayaka.
The Bodhipuja of Ariyadhamma religiously parallels the popular musical performances
best expressed in the Sa program of Victor Ratnayaka. Instead of an auditorium,
Ariyadhamma's platform is the open air, under the Bodhi Tree of the temple. The performance takes place in the evening, which is cool and pleasant in contrast to the tropical
heat of day. The light of the full moon, under which Bodhipuja is usually held, adds to the
atmosphere of the evening, which is further enhanced by the lighting of coconut oil lamps
in the temple compound and around the Bodhi. Then, as Ariyadhamma takes the
microphone, all eyes are on him. The appeal of his personality is enhanced by the richness
of his voice and the expressiveness of his style. Instead of the traditional chants of offering
which are in Pali, Ariyadhamma uses Sinhalese chants in the simple, lyrical style just
described for the Ratnayaka songs. He also uses a variety of meters to enhance the
musicality of the total performance.
Also parallel with Ratnayaka's Sa, the Ariyadhamma performance is an occasion for the
youthful male population to meet young women who are attracted in large numbers to
both performances by virtue of the personal, charismatic attraction of the two performers.7
Performances-religious or secular-are traditionally the only institutionalized means
available in the Sinhalese culture for the opposite sexes to meet. The youth especially look
upon performances as occasions for romance. Going to a movie for the youth means much
more than seeing the movie-hence the elaborate cosmetic efforts and the display of
clothing that is conspicuous at movies and at other performances. It is of little surprise that
youthful devotees have abbreviated the name of the Ariyadhamma performance to dub it
"Ariyadhamma's Ba" (Ba for "Bodhipuja") in an obvious allusion to "Victor Ratnayaka's
Sa." The youth find in both Bodhipuja and the Ratnayaka musical performance a focus for
experiencing what Turner (1969:94-203) calls communitas.
If the dominant aim of the participants in Bodhipuja is this-worldly benefit, as opposed
to the traditional worship of the Bodhi whose result is merit, then in a more special sense
Bodhipuja of the youth is a social attempt to ameliorate their state of asahanaya, whether it
be economic or emotional. The collective nature of Bodhipuja generates sentiments far
greater in intensity than those generated by traditional collective rites. Further, the
stimulus provided by the charismatic performer, the appeal of his voice, the evocative
lyrical language and its imagery that enliven the audience to the act of collective worship
and to expressions of hope, suffuse Bodhipuja with a sentiment different from the serene
piety of traditional Buddhist worship and bring it a shade closer to the Hindu religiosity of
bhakti.

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Bodhipuja and orthodoxy

The revolutionary nature of the new Bodhipuja is attested to by the sentiments of opposition expressed by the orthodox monkhood undisturbed by the modern "Protestant Buddhist" movements of the cities. Exhibiting the traditional tolerance of Buddhism towards
folk cults, they have no problem reconciling "Buddhism" and "folk supernaturalism" and
are perfectly happy to see devotees shuttle between the two kinds of worship. They have
no desire or motivation to go out of their way to lure a clientele to a more purely
"Buddhist" form of worship from allegedly non-Buddhist or primitive forms. Thus, they
stubbornly continue to emphasize the other-worldly uses of Bodhi worship as primarily
causing merit. They insist on the equivalence of the Bodhi with the Buddha for purposes of
veneration and remind inquirers of the Buddha's own statement that the Bodhi is a
representation, a symbol (caitya) whose worship is equivalent to the worship of the Buddha
himself. When questioned, they grudgingly grant the possible this-worldly and immediate
benefits of the worship of the Bodhi but subordinate it to the far more important acquisition of merit for purposes of happy future rebirths and the ultimate crossing of the
ferocious ocean of Sansara. They do not hide their derision towards "those things the
astrologers make of Bodhi worship."
The orthodox monkhood is also unsympathetic to the form of the new Bodhipuja. Accustomed as they are to traditional Pali chants, and steeped as they are in classical
Sinhalese, they find the use of the vernacular both objectionable and desacralizing. The
popularly esteemed lyricism of the language of the new Bodhipuja, its use of variation in
meter for musical effect, and the obvious use of the sonority of the officiant's voice, are
seen by these monks as a violation of the precept against the enjoyment of music that is included in the higher morality consisting of both the eightfold precept (ata sil) and the tenfold precept (dasa sil) of the virtuous laymen and the monks. These upholders of orthodoxy
regard the stage manner and histrionics of the popular Bodhipuja styles as downright
"madness" (vikara). A distinguished orthodox informant made a revealing slip of the
tongue when, out of politeness, he was trying to tell an interviewer that the new Bodhipuja
is good because it "pleases the public"; he nearly said it "deceives the public," but he
quickly corrected himself.

summary
Bodhipuja, as it is popularly manifested in urban Sri Lanka especially among the
educated, middle-class youth, is rooted in the economic problems of the island, particularly in unemployment among the educated youth. In a perceptive essay, Yalman (1962) explores similar meaning in a very different religious movement in Sri Lanka, seeing the rejection of established monasticism by youthful ascetics as possibly having economic origins.
Both Bodipuja and its secular parallel, the musical performances, may be seen as collective representations that periodically ameliorate the asahanaya (oppression) of the youth.
The appeal of the Ariyadhamma Bodhipuja has a psychological basis in the appeal of the
(historically prior)Victor Ratnayaka musical performance. The success of both rests on the
performer's personal attraction, the richness of voice, the presentation, the lyrical quality
and easy intelligibility of the literary forms used, the atmosphere of the occasion, and not
least, the organizational efficiency. The two performances are social patterns whose textures are similar. The popularity of the Ariyadhamma Bodhipuja has prompted other urban
monks to use the vernacular (Sinhalese), rather than Pali, in popular religious rituals. This

Bodhipuja In Sri Lanka

741

Sinhalization of ritual formula, at least in certain contexts, is analogous to de-Latinization

in the Christian ritual. It is very significant that a senior and well-known monk, the
Venerable Piyadassi of Vajirarama, now translates into Sinhalese the five precepts in his admonitions.
As the new Bodhipuja is eminently used for the achievement of this-worldly benefits, its
advent and popularity signifies a further decline of the traditional folk religion and an attempt to enlarge the more strictly "Buddhist" sphere to accommodate what Max Weber
(1958a) called "plebian religious needs." Bodhipuja signifies a preference for ecstatic
religiosity. Such a view furthers the insights gained in recent research (Obeyesekere 1978) in
the understanding of urban religious phenomena in contemporary Sri Lanka. The new
Bodhipuja brings to renewed focus the unacceptability of the long-held anthropological
view (e.g., Ames 1964a, 1964b; Obeyesekere 1963, 1966) that Sinhalese Buddhists seek thisworldly benefits from the folk supernaturalism consisting of the propitiation of deities and
the exorcism of evil spirits and other-worldly benefits from the worship of the Buddha and
other more strictly Buddhist cults.

notes
Acknowledgments.Thisworkwas facilitatedby a Social Science ResearchCouncilgrantawardedto
Seneviratne which enabled him to spend the academic year 1976-77 in Sri Lanka. The authors wish to

thank AnandaWickermeratnefor generousassistancein fieldworkand for manyfruitfuldiscussions.

Specialthanksaredue the VenerableYatavatteDhammakkhanda
NayakaTheraof AsgiriVihara,Kandy; the Venerable Dr. LabuduveSiridhammaof Rajopavanaramatemple, Peradeniya;and several
other learnedmonksof Sri Lanka.Bruce Biel, GananathObeyesekere,and the editorof this journal
made valuable commentson an earlierdraft of the paper.

1 Diacritical marks are used in

transliterating Sinhalese and Pali words, except for those that occur frequently (e.g., Bodhipuja).
2
Some confusions in the usage of "this-worldly" and "other-worldly" are clarified with customary
authority by Tambiah (1970:40).
3
The other two representations or caitya which are therefore as venerable as the Buddha are the
relics (sarTrikadhautu) and images (uddesika caitya).
4 For a
perceptive study of this confrontation, see Malalgoda (1977:191-232).
5
Although we disagree with writers such as Spiro (1970:279-284) that the Buddhist monk is not
traditionally a "priest," it is correct to say that the priestly role of the monk is a subdued one. In the innovative Bodhipuja under discussion, this role emerges as indispensable.
6
The 1971 youth insurrection in Ceylon has been attributed by many analysts to the unemployment and frustration among the educated youth. For a discussion of this, see Obeyesekere (1974).
7
Buddhist literature and lore refer to instances where women devotees were attracted by the
physical beauty of handsome monks.

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Submitted 14 September 1979

Revised version received 5 February 1980
Accepted 5 February 1980
Final revisions received 15 April 1980

Bodhipuja In Sri Lanka

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