Sri Lanka
Keerimalai Rises from the Ashes of War
Siva Poomi Madham restores pilgrim services on the northern coast of Sri Lanka, reinvigorating the worship at an ancient holy site
by Rishi
Thondunathan, Sri Lanka
Keerimalai's freshwater spring flows from a cave in the rock face at ocean's edge, fifty feet above sea level. In ancient times a legendary sage with a mongoose face bathed in the springs and his face was made human, hence the name Keerimalai: in Tamil keeri is "mongoose" and malai means "mountain," referring to the rock face above the ocean. Subsequent kings built a retaining tank for the spring waters. For millenia, Hindus of the Jaffna Peninsula have come here to disperse their loved ones' ashes in the sea and perform antyeshti for the deceased. During the new moon in the month of July, known as Aadi Amavasai, Hindus from all over the island pilgrimage here to bathe in the Keerimalai Spring as part of a sacred ceremony honoring ancestors.
Before the civil war started in 1983, Keerimalai was a thriving complex with five major temples. Six established madhams, or rest homes, were filled with a constant stream of pilgrims. The samadhi shrines for great sages who did tapas here have inspired devotees through the centuries.
The war took its toll. Keerimalai was occupied by the Sri Lankan army, displacing local residents.Access for pilgrims was barred, and Keerimalai degenerated in neglect. After nearly three decades of devastating war, Keerimalai lay in ruins. Keerimalai's light started to shine again in 2012 with the January kumbhabhishekam of the Naguleswaram temple, held after restoration and rebuilding.
But the madhams that provided the important services of accommodation and feeding of pilgrims remained in rubble. Dr. Aru Thirumurugan, founder of Siva Poomi, was inspired to do more. He felt that if support for pilgrims was restored, Keerimalai's sacred traditions could be revived and preserved. Owners of the land of one madham transferred it to Siva Poomi Trust with the intention of bringing its services back to life. With the collaboration of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress and the support of many devotees, the Trust began reconstruction of the Siva Poomi Keerimalai Madham in August, 2011. I was blessed to be part of this project. On January 28, 2012, we opened the building along with the head of Nallai Aadheenam, the chief priest of Naguleswaram and other dignitaries from the Jaffna Tamil community.
Once again there is a madham (if still only one) serving pilgrims to Keerimalai. It boasts a beautifully decorated facade, six rooms, bathrooms, a common hall and kitchen facilities. The first section, the Annadhanam (feeding) hall, is complete and in full swing serving the pilgrims at large. A second section will contain additional lodging for pilgrims; this is currently under construction, fully sponsored by the All Ceylon Hindu Congress. The whole project is a shining example of how organizations can come together to accomplish great things.
While the Naguleswaram temple and Siva Poomi Keerimalai Madham are up and running, the rest of Keerimalai's temples and madhams remain in ruin. Only time will tell if Keerimalai will degenerate into just another tourist beach resort--or if the waters of its sacred springs will renew the face of Keerimalai and raise it to its former glory. Restoring the temples and madhams in Keerimalai would ensure that it will always remain a sacred pilgrimage site for Hindus. Like the Ganga sites of Rishikesh or Kashi in India, Keerimalai could rise again as one of Sri Lanka's prime centers of religious and cultural tradition.
for further information, email: sivapoomi _@_ gmail.com and hinducongress _@_gmail.com
Roots
Saint Lucia's Hindu Legacy
How my family reclaimed our cultural and religious heritage
By Gajanan
Nataraj, Saint Lucia
I am a Saint Lucian citizen. i was born in the US Virgin Islands and lived
briefly on the mainland (USA), but for the better part of 23 years I was raised
on the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. I am roughly two-quarters Indian and
two-quarters Negro--meaning both my parents were themselves of mixed heritage.
This is common in Saint Lucia. We are called dougla--which comes from doogala
("two necks"), a demeaning label meaning mixed race or half-caste in
Bhojpuri and Hindi. In Saint Lucia, the term is sometimes used affectionately,
sometimes not so affectionately.
Though many on the island are of Indian heritage, I am one of the very few
Hindus. I have a Hindu name, perform daily puja to Lord Ganesha and consider
the cow a sacred creature. I believe in karma, dharma, reincarnation, the
divinity of the Vedas and in the need for a satguru to guide my spiritual
journey. Of all the Indian families who came to Saint Lucia from Kolkata as
indentured workers in the 19th century, mine is one of the few to reclaim our
Hindu heritage. In being Hindu, I am almost unique among the fifth generation
of Indian immigrants. Even among my close relatives, almost all are Christians.
How did I come to be a Hindu in a land where Christianity reigns supreme,
even among Indians? I attribute my discovery of this beautiful religion to the
interplay of my soul's natural calling and God's blessing of being born to
parents who are ardent seekers of spiritual truth. Indeed, my growth from
non-religious, Christian-influenced spiritual confusion can only be credited to
the marvelous journey of my parents.
It was really my mother, Toshadevi (Mangal) Nataraj, who never gave up her
search for her spiritual roots and who eventually led my entire family back to
the Sanatana Dharma. She is half Indian, in the fourth generation; her Hindu
ancestors came to the island in 1862 on the second ship of indentured laborers.
Raised by her Indian father, Reese Mangal, she was exposed to those few Indian
traditions that were still practiced on the island in the 1960s. She remembers
her grandfather, Gaillard Mangal, as tall and dark, always singing bhajans,
even though he had a Christian name. Most Indians of the time were at least
nominal Christians, a result of coercive strategies by the churches [see
sidebar opposite].
Gaillard spoke the local French Creole, but also spoke some Hindi, as his
parents were first-generation Indians. His wife, my great-grandmother, was
given the Christian name Charlotte. She is remembered as a strict,
light-skinned woman, quite serious about following tradition, especially the
funeral rites. On the one-year anniversary of a relative's transition, she
would make sure the family did the shraddha ceremony. A shrine was set up to
the departed, their favorite foods cooked and left for them. Separately, the
family would have food served on banana leaves on the floor, eating with the
fingers--apparently the only time they would eat in this Indian fashion. My
mother says the locals of African descent would sometimes mock these Hindu
rituals.
One of my mother's vivid memories about her grandmother was the shrine she
kept on the family land, with an oil lamp, a statue of the Virgin Mary and a
small murti of Ganesha. My great-grandparents may have been devotees of the
Goddess Durga, worshiping the Divine Mother through the image of Mary--an
eclectic blend of Hindu religion and the imposed practices of Christianity.
Every family member had an Indian name, my mother says, but these could not be
used in school. Consequently the European names, such as Gaillard and
Charlotte, stuck with them.
At age 11, my mother had to be baptized as a Catholic to enter the only
all-girls secondary school on the island--the top performing academic institution,
not only then but to this day. She says she never felt any connection to the
Christian teachings. She often asked herself, "Why was I born half
Indian--in a sort of limbo between the quite-different cultures of St. Lucian's
Indians and Africans?" She committed herself to finding the root of her
Indian heritage. She was encouraged by the example of my grandfather's sister
"Joyce," who had returned to India, settled and raised a family, and
was living as a Hindu.
My mother left home at age seventeen to live in the US Virgin Islands with
her mother, a strong woman of African descent. Even though a Christian, her
mother had many books on yoga and Indian philosophy. Reading those tomes, my
mother slowly gained a new perspective and began to realize the beauty of the
culture that her people in Saint Lucia had virtually lost. But it was difficult
to find a path back to pure Hinduism. Again and again she was told the
myth--even by some Hindus--that "you have to be born a Hindu to be a
Hindu." She eventually joined a universalist religious group, attracted by
their worship--albeit Christian in nature--of Lord Ganesha, Krishna, Siva and
the Divine Mother. Their core teachings included karma, reincarnation and yoga.
Meanwhile, my father, whose background had more influence from the African
side, was on his own spiritual journey. In his search for truth, he joined a
raja yoga group in Trinidad where he learned more about Hinduism. He and my
mother eventually ended up in the same universalist movement, where their paths
merged. Several years after they got married, they left the group and continued
their spiritual search on their own.
Because of my parents' continuing quest, my two sisters and I were raised
with an inherent acceptance of the basic Hindu beliefs, such as the laws of
karma and reincarnation, as well as an understanding of the Supreme God's
ability to manifest in multiple forms. Therefore, we were never limited by the
Abrahamic concept of "only one way" that pervades Saint Lucian
society, in particular the education system.
In 2002, my mother discovered the teachings of Satguru Sivaya
Subramuniyaswami through his book Loving Ganesha. The truths of Saivite
Hinduism appealed to us all and were easily understood and accepted. We had
found our spiritual path, Hinduism, the Eternal Faith.
Satguru Subramuniyaswami had attained Mahasamadhi in 2001, but we contacted
his monastic order at Kauai's Hindu Monastery (home of Hinduism Today) and
sought the advice of his successor, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami. We then
began formal study under his guidance.
In 2010 Bodhinatha briefly visited Saint Lucia and came to our home. The
local Hindu community turned out in large numbers to greet him. Consisting
primarily of Indians who had come to the island in the last thirty to fifty
years, the Hindu community has always been welcoming and supportive of my
family. They have assisted with our home ceremonies, including my youngest
sister's coming-of-age ceremony, the ritu kala samskara.
In 2011, after several years of study, I formally entered Hinduism through
the namakarana samskara, the name-giving rite, on Kauai island in Hawaii.
In 2012, I came back to Kauai for the monastery's six-month Task Force
program, which includes helping the staff of Hinduism Today. That is how I came
to be writing this article, with the blessings of Lord Ganesha, to shed some
light on the status of Hinduism in Saint Lucia and possibly many other
Caribbean Islands.
Today I continue my studies of Saiva Siddhanta. I am working hard to become
a formal shishya of Satguru Bodhinatha. My family practices Hinduism, and we
adhere as best we can to all of the traditions.
Richard Cheddie said it well: "Imagine that the last shipload to
arrive was only 112 years ago. There are still St. Lucians alive today whose
parents came from India. There are a few that still speak some Hindi
(Oudh/Bhojpuri dialects), some that still sing the old songs and some that
still have knowledge to pass on. In my visits to Africa, the Middle East,
Europe and North America I have seen much of the strength of many people who
have held on to their culture, some for thousands of years, despite what
conquerors have tried to do to strip them of their beliefs."
My name is Gajanan Nataraj, and I am proud to be a Hindu. I am proud to be
Saint Lucian. And I am exceedingly grateful to be a Hindu man in Saint Lucia,
with profound truths of culture, faith, philosophy and selfless devotion to
pass on to the next generation of Saint Lucian Hindus.
Saint Lucia's Hindu History
Saint lucia is a volcanic caribbean island of just 238 square miles,
originally inhabited by Amerindian tribes. In the 17th century both France and
England coveted its natural harbor, Castries. They fought fourteen battles over
it, the island changing hands after each one. The British won final control in
1814. Today Saint Lucia is an independent nation with a population of 176,000
and is a member of the British Commonwealth.
The Europeans had established sugar cane plantations in the 17th century,
using slave labor. When slavery was abolished in 1838, the freed slaves refused
to work the plantations. The British responded by bringing indentured workers
from India.
According to Saint Lucian genealogist Richard Cheddie (whose name is likely
derived from Chedi), thirteen ships carrying indentured laborers were brought
from East India, with the first ship, the Palmyra, arriving in 1859. The
Indians who came on these ships called themselves Jahajis (seafarers) and
developed significant bonds during their journey to the Caribbean. Many of
their decendants remain close to this day.
Cheddie's research indicates that when the Indians first came to
British-ruled Saint Lucia, they were able to continue their traditions without
much opposition from either the Christian British authorities or the Africans
who had been converted to Christianity. The Indians wore traditional clothing,
celebrated Deepavali and settled disputes using the Indian village panchayat
system.
In the late 19th century, the local Christian churches began work to
convert the Hindus. They realized, however, that Hinduism was deeply ingrained.
It was more than just religious practice; it pervaded all customs, values and
traditions of the Indians. A cunning and effective strategy was therefore
crafted.
The Catholics ran most of the schools. They decreed that in order for
Indians to enroll, they first had to convert to Christianity. Initially, this
was resisted, but eventually many gave in. Securing work away from the sugar
plantation required a formal education.
The convert was pressured to use his "Christian" name
exclusively. As a result, there are many Indian clans on the Island with
surnames like Joseph, MacDoom and Ragbill. Many names also became Anglicized or
Gallicized (made to sound French). As a result, Bihari became Beharry. Shripal,
a name of Vishnu, became Cepal; Kanhaiya, a name of Krishna, became Canaii.
Some names suggest a place of origin. Ajodha, for example, is from Ayodhya, the
birthplace of Lord Rama. Other names retained their Indian spelling but were
pronounced in an English way. So, a name like Kadoo was pronounced,
"Kay-Doo." For a long time, a Christian priest was required for the
name-giving process. As recently as the 1990s, some refused to register names
associated with Hindu Gods and Goddesses.
Even more critically, according to Cheddie, "A couple married in the
Hindu custom had no rights as far as the law was concerned"--the same
policy Gandhi protested in South Africa. Moreover, those who had converted to
Christianity were told it was now their duty to marry another Christian--a task
complicated by the sectarian divisions within the Christian community itself!
Even clothing was a target, with Indians being required to dress
"appropriately" for work, which meant no traditional clothing. Among
those who remained Hindus, Cheddie tells us, traditions such as the telling of
stories from the epics were discouraged. Eventually many Indians joined the
Seventh-day Adventist Christian church, since its family- and
community-oriented approach to religion reflected their own cultural values.
Many remain members today.
Not only the English but also those of African descent scorned Indian
culture in the early years. They ridiculed Indians as weak and uneducated--and
continued to do so even after many had become wealthy and their children
excelled in school.
Most Indians who came to Saint Lucia during plantation times either went
back to India after their five-year contracts were up, or moved to other
Caribbean islands with larger Indian populations. Now, 152 years after the
first Indians arrived, the religion and culture have been largely eroded. There
is little racial tension, mostly because nearly everyone is a Christian. A
recent new influence is the arrival of many students from India to attend the local
medical universities, as well as Indian entrepreneurs, doctors and technicians.
Hinduism in Saint Lucia Today
By Gajanan Nataraj, Saint Lucia
It's a sad thing when little Ravi and Nalini Gajadhar have no clue as to
the significance of their beautiful names. They likely never heard the words
mandir, Sanskrit, Bharat, shanti, dharma or even the sacred syllable Aum. They
may have been told that their names are of Indian origin, but the Hindu element
of this part of their identity has been virtually lost. This is the lamentable
cultural condition of at least one hundred of Saint Lucia's present-day Indian
clans.
Many Saint Lucians of African descent have come to realize that, while
nothing is wrong with practicing Christianity, they were actually robbed of
their African heritage, culture and most importantly, religion. Many have
re-embraced whatever remains of African culture within and around them and now
seek to bring back the ancient values and traditions of their motherland to
their Western home in the Caribbean. Our Saint Lucian Indian families have yet
to catch on to the realization that our heritage is more than just a racial or
ethnic concept. It is also a spiritual wealth that all descendants of India
should at least know of.
In spite of the apparent absence of Hinduism in its splendor on our little
island, the Sanatana Dharma is still present in enticing glimmers here and
there. Indians on the island are still very family-oriented at their core and
generally take care of their own. Businesses are often handed down from father
to son, just as was done in India before the infiltration of modern,
individualistic Western thinking. The Indians have integrated quite well in
society, overcoming the racial tensions between themselves and the Africans. Many
"black" people can trace their roots back to at least one Indian
ancestor, a major factor in the virtual absence of racial tension on the
island.
In recent years, some descendants of the original Indians, myself included,
have shown a growing interest in reclaiming their heritage and reconnecting
with Indian traditions. My friend and fellow Indo-Caribbean history enthusiast,
James Rambally, has done a lot of work on the island to raise awareness of an
"Indian Identity." He has independently educated himself in long-lost
traditions.
Recently a young local Indian couple opted to have a traditional Hindu
wedding [see photo right] in addition to a Christian ceremony--possibly
launching a new trend. It was inspiring to see none other than Lord Ganapati
Himself on the wedding invitation.
An even more inspiring story is that of a local Indian woman who told me
she had a vision of Lord Krishna telling her that He was God. She was deeply
inspired, and although her friends and family members ridiculed her, she would
not be deterred. She returned to India as a third- or fourth-generation Indian,
studied and learned the beauty of Vaishnava Hinduism, then came back to Saint
Lucia and married. She and her husband, of African descent, opened a Jaganatha
Temple affiliated with ISKCON in the south of the island. Their story has
always served as a source of inspiration for me.
There are a few other Hindu groups on the island. Devotees of Sri Satya Sai
Baba have a local satsanga group that meets monthly, embracing all Hindus and
even non-Hindus. The Sanatan Hindu organization recently brought a Hindu
teacher from Europe, but it's rare for any Hindu leaders to visit our small
island. The main way one can learn more about Hinduism is by drawing close to
the small community of practicing Hindus--mostly recent arrivals from India.
The government is starting to take notice of this resurgence in Hinduism.
In 2010, with the aid of the Brahma Kumaris of Trinidad, my family, along with
two other families from India and Guyana, represented Hinduism at a
government-sponsored "National Day of Prayer" interfaith event.
In exploring one's Hindu roots, one encounters the question of how to
re-enter the religion. In school we're taught that Hindus don't accept
converts, and even some Indian teachers have said the same. I know now it is
possible. In fact, organizations such as the VHP and the Arya Samaj actively
convert people to Hinduism--especially those like us who come from Hindu
ancestors.
I look forward to seeing more Indo-Saint Lucians courageously reconnecting
to their Hindu roots. Maybe in the years to come, the large Indian settlements
like Forestiere will be home to one or two Hindu temples for future generations
who are drawn to the beauty of their Indian/Hindu heritage.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations to Sadguru Sri Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
ji, Satguru Bodhianatha Velayanswami ji, Hinduism
Today for the collection)
(The Blog is reverently for all the seekers of truth,
lovers of wisdom and to share the Hindu Dharma with others on the
spiritual path and also this is purely a non-commercial blog)
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