Podi Hamuduruwo – that’s what everybody calls him. It’s an endearing term,
literally meaning ‘Junior Monk.’ That was how he was called after he
entered the Order 54 years ago as a young boy of eleven. Today, he is a
Nayaka Hamuduruwo, a chief priest. Yet, he remains Podi
Hamuduruwo to all who know him.
His home town is Galboda, a village a few
miles off Matara in southern Sri Lanka. Following tradition, where
one uses the place of birth before the name given at the
ordination, he became Galaboda Gnanissara Thera. He donned his
robes in November 1954 at the Gangaramaya, a temple established towards
the end of the 19 th century in the heart of Colombo. Even after
he obtained higher ordination (‘upasampada’) having being a
‘samanera’ (novice) monk for ten years, he was still a junior monk in
the temple. So he continued to be the Podi Hamuduruwo
When the health of his ‘guru
hamuduruwo’, teacher monk, Ven. Devundera Vachissara Thera started
deteriorating, Podi Hamuduruwo was given the responsibility of
running the temple affairs. Though the Buddhist temple is basically
a place of worship confined to religious activities, Gangaramaya
was different. In addition to being a place of worship, it was
also developing as a social institution concentrating on the welfare
of the people, particularly the youth. A vocational centre had been
established and Podi Hamuduruwo was actively involved in
administering it from the beginning. Being young and dynamic, he
was keen to expand the activities of the vocational centre and also
look for other avenues for social and community development.
The 1971 youth insurrection set Podi
Hamuduruwo thinking. What should be done for the restless youth
without employment, he wondered. The answer was in providing
avenues for training in different skills. The foundation was
already in place, with the vocational centre. He expanded its
activities and prepared a plan for training. An administrative
council was set up. Young people unable to proceed with higher
education were given the opportunity to be trained in an employable
skill.
By the time he took over as Viharadhipathi
or head monk of the Gangaramaya, after the passing away of the
teacher monk in 1984, Podi Hamuduruwo had gained sufficient
experience to manage the affairs of the temple. He had completed
his studies first at the Vidyodaya Pirivena, the leading
institution of oriental learning set up for Buddhist Clergy, and
later at the Sri Jayawardenapura University.
Over the years, the vocational training
programme has expanded. Today, over 50 technical courses including
electronics, motor mechanism, tinkering, painting, blacksmith work,
welding and electric wiring are conducted at the Sri Jinaratana
Training Institute. Over 7,000 young men and women attend classes
daily. No fees are charged. “But we have made it compulsory for
them to follow the courses. Those who absent themselves for a few
days without a valid reason have to pay a fine of ten rupees which
go into a fund to help the needy,” Podi Hamuduruwo told me.
In addition to the technical courses, over
3,000 young people attend the weekly secretarial courses. English
classes are extremely popular with over 25,000 attending them over
the weekend. Most of them being already employed, they attend the
classes to improve their English and obtain a diploma. Gradually
the training of the youth has been expanded to cover areas outside
Colombo. Over 50,000 youth are currently being trained at 40
centres in many parts of the island.
Seeing the need for a cultural event of
note for the residents of Colombo and its suburbs, as well as for
visiting tourists, Podi Hamuduruwo planned the Navam Perahera
– a colourful procession held every February. It takes the form of
an elaborate cultural pageant with numerous artistic creations
picked from various parts of the country. The participation of
hundreds of monks, clad in their saffron robes, marching the
procession route is something not seen in other traditional
processions. The flagbearers clad in white national dress, torch bearers,
dancers and drummers in traditional garb and caparisoned elephants
form part of the procession which comprises nearly 150 items of
cultural significance. The Perahera has been held annually since
1979.
An environmental enthusiast, Podi Hamuduruwo
also does a lot of work in conservation efforts. He promotes the
planting of valuable timber species like teak and mahogany. He once
raised a plant nursery close to Gangaramaya and distributed the
young plants to temples along many major routes covering hundreds
of miles
He has set up a ‘tree bank’ in a 740 acre
property in Akuressa in southern Sri Lanka. Teak, mahogany and jak
plants as well as herbal plants grown there are regularly
distributed. “I have always enjoyed growing trees. It gives me
great pleasure watching a plant come up. What a satisfaction it
is,” he says
When Podi Hamuduruwo found that
accommodation for the large number of pilgrims visiting the sacred
town of Kataragama in the South was a problem, he built a row of
cottages providing all conveniences like attached washrooms, bedding
and ceiling fans. The cottages can be reserved from Colombo and no
charge is levie
Always concerned about the poor, Podi
Hamuduruwo set up a village in Kataragama and settled over a
hundred families there, providing them with all facilities. A Home
for disabled children established at Kotte just outside Colombo,
houses 250 children. Nearby is a Home for elders. Podi Hamuduruwo is
used to acting fast. When the tsunami hit the shores of Sri Lanka,
he was in the thick of the reconstruction and rehabilitation work.
One thousand temporary houses were built and given over to the
needy in the southern coastal areas and in Arugam Bay in the east
coast. When the inmates got permanent houses, they could use the
material used for the temporary shelters for extensions.
As a long-term project to help those
affected by the tsunami, a row of ‘shop houses’ is being built in a
five-acre block at Seenigama, one of the worst tsunami affected
areas in the South. Following a concept he saw in Singapore, he is
providing a family unit of 750 sq metres. In each two storey unit,
the upper floor is meant to be a residence, while the ground floor
can be used as business premises. It can either be a grocery store,
a barber salon, a cycle repair shop or a small garage.
A convention hall is also under
construction. A modern kitchen is being set up to train women
seeking foreign employment as housemaids, so that they would be
well equipped to work abroad. A pre-school will also be opened and
vocational training courses will be arranged for the youth in this
area. The plight of the families of disabled soldiers has moved Podi
Hamuduruwo who is busy finalising plans for a welfare package for
them.
Currently, he is working on another
programme which will particularly benefit school children in remote
areas. As many of these children have to walk a long distance to
their school or to catch a bus to get to school, bicycles are to be
distributed to these children to save them time and energy. Since
bicycles are a mode of transport where there is no expense
involved, Podi Hamuduruwo is confident that the scheme will not
only be successful but would also help in building up a healthy
youthful generation.
He has been encouraged by the success of a
pilot project carried out at Kataragama when 5,000 bicycles were
gifted to families for use to transport their produce to the market
and for daily errands. Purchasing medicines has become virtually a near
impossible task for poor patients. With lack of drugs in government
hospitals, often patients have to buy them from pharmacies. Podi
Hamuduruwo has just set up a ‘Drug Bank’ at the Colombo National
Hospital to provide poor patients with necessary drugs. These are
being given and recorded on the presentation of prescriptions by a
hospital doctor.
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