The largest Ganadevi statue in Sri Lanka with a height of 35ft is situated in Udadumbara town in the Kandy district. ‘Gana’ means ‘god’ and ‘pathi’ means ‘leader’. Therefore, Ganadevi is considered to be the leader of the gods. It is also believed that no any other god can wash away sins except God Gana. Therefore, devotees from all faiths worship God Ganadevi first.
However, since the Buddha is above the gods, a statue of the Buddha is also constructed in this devala which has gained much reputation due to miracles that reflect the faith of devotees who flock to this shrine. Surprisingly, the Ganadevi statue was constructed by a youth who did not show any creative skills during his childhood.
Suresh Pushpika Jayasinghe completed his secondary education at Udadumbara Secondary School and his higher education at Dharmaraja College, Kandy. He is an English teacher who refused to enter the university though he qualified to do so after studying bioscience for the Advanced Level Examination. His father Karunakeerthi Jayasinghe, a retired gramasevaka and mother Bandaramenike once noticed his behavioural changes – he started meditating in his room where the Ganadevi statue was kept. His father said that Suresh’s whole life had changed within about a month or two.
One night Suresh had a dream inspired him to design Lord Buddha’s statue first.
Describing his dream, Suresh said, “I saw a man in a red sarong and wearing no shirt standing front of me. He showed me how to mould a statue. So, the following morning, with the dream clearly in my mind, I started work on the statue.”
Later, he constructed statues of gods such as Ganadevi, Vishnu, Saman, Kataragama, Badra Kali Maniyan, Thevanee Amma Maniyan, God Shiva, Heramba, Sohon Kali Maniyan, Hanuwanna, Durga Maniyan, Kadawara and Gambara as instructed by the messenger who he saw in his dream. He said that the work was started without waiting for an auspicious time. According to him, everything succeeded within a short period of time. At the same time, Suresh, the sculptor of all these statues does not forget to perform rituals to the gods daily.
Many religious functions such as Agni Pooja (offering alms with fire), Abisek Pooja (bathing the god with different herbs, milk and honey) and Palathuru Pooja (offering alms with fruits) are usually held at the kovil on the last Sunday of every month. Suresh’s father said the moulding, engraving and painting of all statues were done by his son who did not show any aesthetic skill during his childhood. He also said God Ganadevi offered this warama (the power received from God) to his son.
This tallest Ganadevi statue is located on the right hand side when entering the kovil. The speciality of this kovil is that the images of other gods are also here. At the entrance, on either side of the pandol, two large images of Gods Kadawara and Kambili who are considered as the guards of God Ganadevi have been built. The 35-feet gold colour Ganadevi statue is located just right of the entrance. On the opposite side, there are images of other gods too. The inner chamber is the shrine room where the Buddha’s statue is located.
The belief in god and the talent of the creator attract not only devotees in Udadumbara, but also devotees across the country. Suresh, who is the kapumahattaya of the kovil (one who performs rituals to the god) said that he succeeded in developing this kovil with the support and donations provided by devotees in the area. He also mentioned that during the construction of the Kandy – Mahiyangana road, many engineers who worked for that project contributed a large sums of money to construct the statues at this kovil after their petitions to the god were fulfilled.
He said different characters of Ganadevi: the god responsible for knowledge - Sri Ganapathi, the god responsible for art - Sri Narthana Ganapathi, the leader of all universal powers - Sri Weeraganapathi, the god of finance, women and children - Sri Siddhi Ganapathi, the god responsible for the Earth - Sri Bhumi Ganapathi and the God responsible for everything - Sri Heramba Ganapathi.
Suresh said he recently moulded a statue of Kali Amman, a square-shaped Navagraha platform, and a statue of God Gambara.
“Though Kali Amman gives a fearful look, she is the protector all living beings. She appears in the different souls of gods. Paththini and Lakshmi are also the other forms of Kali Amman who protects the innocent. The statues on the Navagraha platform are displayed in a particular order. They should be worshipped in that order,” he said.
Suresh said that this type of Nawa graha kotuwa can be seen nowhere in Sri Lanka. The very high statue of God Gambara (approximately 22 feet) is visible to the whole Udadumbara town. Suresh is considered to be the guardian of all gods.
He is currently moulding a statue of the God Natha (who is believed to be the next Buddha).
The kapumahattaya invites people to visit his devala at least once to receive blessings from God and experience God’s miracles in solving his devotees’ matters. He proudly said that he built this shrine without anyone’s support, apart from the messenger of God. Residents of the area receive blessings from this kovil through the chanting of pirith and Ganadevi songs.
The kovil unveiled the pinnacle of its pagoda recently. It conducts different kinds of poojas such as Agni Pooja, Abiseka Pooja Homa pooja and Arthi Pooja. Devotees also sing nearly 10 bhajans composed by well-known local lyricists.
Devotees participate in the kovil’s special religious ceremonies every year. One such event is the colourful perahara in which the statue of Ganadevi is carried from Hunasgiriya to Udadumbara to show sincerity and devotion to the god. On that day, a free midday meal is provided to the residents of the area and in the night, devotees engage in different kinds of poojas while singing devotional songs and trampling fire. The kovil recently started a bhajan programme which is performed by many Hindu priests throughout the night. The kapumahattaya invites devotees across the country to visit the kovil to receive blessings from the god.
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