Studying the Wāhāla Nāgā ritual, Practised in the Siam Upasampadā in Sri Lanka

Abstract

During the Kandyan Kingdom, the Upasampadā and the Buddha Sasana in Sri Lanka was undergoing a crisis situation. Ven. Welivita Saranankara Thero identified this issue and invited the monks from Siam (Thailand) in 1753 to restore the Upasampadā in Sri Lanka. Upali Thero who arrived from Siam initiated the Upasampadā process. The influence of the Thai Buddhism could be observed in monks who have been ordained under the Siayamolpali Maha Nikaya. A great example for this would be the Wāhāla Nāgā ritual which is practised in the Upasampadā ceremony. The difference of those who were ordained by the Wāhāla Nāgā ritual is that it was done under the patronage of the king. Therefore in the Upasampadā ceremony only the Wāhāla Nāgā novices permitted to wear a crown. This study focuses on the Wāhāla Nāgā ritual practised in the Upasampadā under the Siayame maha nikaya. In order to understand the history of the ritual, available literature and case studies were used as sources of information. The word ‘Wāhāla’ indicated that the ritual is associated with the king. King Keerthi Sri Rajasimha has initiated this ritual and Wāhāla Nāgās who have been ordained were given Ata pirikara by the king himself. Wāhāla Nāgā ritual starts on the Vesak full moon poya day and goes until the Poson full moon poya day. A group of 10 novices was be ordained from both Malwatta and Asgiri Chapters as Wāhāla Nāgās, while the High priests of the both chapters sponsor those who were ordained. This ritual is practised even today but instead of the king who donated Ata pirikara to the Wāhāla Nāgās, now they are given to the Wāhāla Nāgās by the Diyawadana Nilame. Interestingly, this ritual still has the impact of the Siam tradition since the crown that the Wāhāla Nāgās wear before the Upasampadā was donated by Thailand.