The statue of Ravana taken around in the Medin maha Perahera organized by the Sri Devram Maha Viharaya in Pannpipitiya on 24 March 2018

Madin Maha Perahera successfully traveled the street..
′′ Pannipitiya Madin Maha Perahera ′′ road tour from Pannipitiya Sri Dewram Vehera.
The ′′ Pannipitiya Madin Maha Parahara ′′ was held for the eleventh time yesterday as a tribute to the great kings who ruled the Lord Buddha Janan's parents, Mahama Devi and King Suddodhana, and as a tribute to the great kings who ruled nakedly, the ′′ Pannipitiya Madin Maha Parahara ′′ for the eleventh time yesterday. Nearly 50 elephants participated in this year's procession, and all of the dance traditions of Kandy, Low and Sabaragamu were included in the procession. Accordingly, the Madin Maha Perahera was diverted by a large number of dance groups from the island representing those traditions.

2018 මැදින් මහා පෙරහැර අති සාර්ථකව වීදි සංචාරය කරයි..
"පන්නිපිටිය මැදින් මහා පෙරහැර" පන්නිපිටිය ශ්‍රී දෙව්රම් වෙහෙරේ සිට වීදි සංචාරය කෙරුණි.
බුදුරජානන් වහන්සේගේ දෙමාපියන් වන මහාමායේ දේවිය හා සුද්ධෝදන රජතුමා හට උපහාර පිදීම ප්‍රධාන කරගනිමින්, හෙළදිව පාලනය කළ ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨ රජවරුන් හට උපාහාරයක් ලෙස "පන්නිපිටිය මැදින් මහා පෙරහැර" උතුම් තුණුරුවන් ගුණ උදෙසා පූජෝපහාර පවත්වමින් එකොළොස්වන වරටත් ඊයේ දින වීදි සංචාරය කෙරුණි.
මෙවර පෙරහැරට අලි ඇතුන් 50කට ආසන්න පිරිසක් සහභාගී වූ අතර, උඩරට, පහතරට හා සබරගමු යන නර්තන සම්ප්‍රධානයන් සියල්ලම මෙම පෙරහැරෙහි අන්තර්ගත විය. ඒ අනුව එම සම්ප්‍රදායන් නියෝජනය කරමින් දිවයිනේ නන් දෙසින් පැමිණි නර්තන කණ්ඩායම් විශාල සංඛ්‍යාවකින් මැදින් මහා පෙරහැර විචිත්‍රවත් විය.

#DewramWehera #LiveTempleTour #ශ්‍රීදෙව්රම්විහාරය #Maha Rawana Perahera #Sri Devram Vehera - 2019 #Temples Of Sri Lanka Pannipitiya Dewramwehera #කොළොන්නාවේ සිරි සුමංගල හිමි #සිරි සුමංගල දහම් පාසල #Siri Sumangala Dahampasala #Pannipitiya #Lankeshwara maha Ravana perahera #Madin Maha Perahera #Maha Ravana #Rawana Perahera Procession #DevramMahaViharaya #felicitate Father of the nation #King shree Lankeshwara Rawana #constructed Buddhist #Ravana perahera procession #Budhist Art The statue of Ravana #Ravanisation #Sri Devram Vehera #Mahamaya Maha Perahara #Madin Maha Perahera

The Ritualizing of the Martial and Benevolent Side of Ravana in Two Annual Rituals at the Sri Devram Maha Viharaya in Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka

Within the context of Ravanisation—by which I mean the current revitalisation of Ravana among Sinhalese Buddhists in Sri Lanka—multiple conceptualizations of Ravana are constructed. This article concentrates on two different Ravana conceptualizations: Ravana as a warrior king and Ravana as a healer. At the Sri Devram Maha Viharaya, a recently constructed Buddhist complex in Colombo, Ravana has become the object of devotion. In addition to erecting a Ravana statue in a shrine of his own, two annual rituals for Ravana are organized by this temple. In these rituals we can clearly discern the two previously mentioned conceptualizations: the Ravana perahera (procession) mainly concentrates on Ravana’s martial side by exalting Ravana as warrior king, and in the maha Ravana nanumura mangalyaya, a ritual which focusses on healing, his benevolent side as a healer is stressed. These conceptualizations from the broader Ravana discourse are ritualized in iconography, attributes, and sacred substances. The focus on ritual invention in this article not only directs our attention to the creativity within the rituals but also to the wider context of these developments: the glorification of an ancient civilization as part of increased nationalistic sentiments and an increased assertiveness among the Sinhalese Buddhist majority in post-war Sri Lanka.

Rawana in Budhist Art

The statue of Ravana that has the most prominent position in the Ravana mandiraya at the Sri Devram Maha Viharaya also holds these two attributes: the sword and the ola leaf book. According to Sumangala Thero, the design of the black stone statue of Ravana was based on a statue of a bodhisatta he has noticed at a place in Sri Lanka called Maligavila. This statue is by some people considered to be the bodhisatta Avalokitesvara (Sumangala Thero 2018). Although the Ravana statue shows similarities with this particular statue at Maligavila — especially the standing position and the adornments around waist, hips, and neck — the two attributes of the sword and book are not part of the statue at Maligavila. How the conceptualizations of Ravana as warrior king and as healer are displayed in the two annual rituals: the maha Ravana perahera (perahera means procession) and the maha Ravana nanumura mangalyaya (mangalyaya means festival — together with nanumura it can be translated as ‘festival of anointing’). By the use of certain attributes, objects, and herbal substances conceptualizations of Ravana are constructed in these rituals. In the final section I will evaluate how these rituals have to be understood in the current process of Ravanisation in Sri Lanka’s post-war context.