By Randev Jayasinha and Sarah Hannan
Photos Krishan Kariyawasam
Kompannavidiya aka Slave Island is a melting pot that offers a glimpse into the cultural heritage of Sri Lanka. The densely populated township is home to Buddhists, Hindus, Catholics, and Muslims and down each of the main five lanes that converge at the roundabout, has a church, temple, kovil, or a mosque.
A predominantly Muslim neighbourhood, the area still respects its multi-ethnic, multi-religious community and is on board to celebrate all religious festivals. With Vesak Poya marked just a few days ago, the streets were adorned with Buddhist flags.
“Generally these streets have much more decorations during Vesak, but this time, the neighbourhood did not want to go overboard with the decorations. What transpired over the last few weeks has instilled an unnecessary stigma in our community,” A.H.F. Rahman, a resident from the area stated.
However, the neighbourhood had organised a gathering of all faiths at the Gunawardanaramaya Temple on Vesak Poya. The gathering concluded with an Ifthar ceremony which was held in the temple premises.
“We always get together to mark religious ceremonies, be it at the temple, kovil, church, or even the mosque. This is a normal practice for us, but with the present situation in the country, there is a lot of backlash towards Muslims who are pitching in to assist with other religious activities,” he added.
Blessing and a gift
We paid a visit to the Gunawardanaramaya Temple, where the event took place. When inquired about the history of Slave Island, Ven. Badulle Jinrathana Thera stated: “I believe Slave Island is a well-rounded neighbourhood, comprising a mix of people from all faiths and ethnicities. All residents, no matter the ethnicity or religion are greatly resourceful, helpful, and important in the activities of this area.”
The head monk stated that before 21 April, never had there been any form of racial or ethnic or even religious discrimination in this region “and that is a blessing and a gift to us”.
However, he added that there had been some backlash that arose due to the authorities finding several swords in a mosque in the area.
“Even that, however, the Moulavis of the mosque have explained to the people the misunderstanding and I would say that there was no major disagreement or conflict amongst the people in this area,” the Thera said.
Jinrathana Thera added that there has always been peace in Slave Island.
“Of course, there will be one or two individuals who have been corrupted by radical ideas and extremist thoughts, but due to a collective effort and an overall understanding, that type of activity or behaviour is shut down at the root in this area.”
He iterated that when a large group of people from varying beliefs are all living in close proximity to each other in these wattes (alleys), they grow to understand, respect, and share each other’s culture.
“For example, if we were to consider this past Vesak day celebrations, the temple held a ceremony to commemorate the life, enlightenment, and the passing away of Lord Buddha and we invited the equal representatives from all religions and ethnicities to celebrate this event.
“Coincidentally, as during this time, the Islamic religion was breaking fast, afterwards, we hosted the Ifthar celebrations with several people from various religions dining together.”
The monk added that, in similar fashion, during the Sinhala and Tamil Avurudu season, the entire neighbourhood had come together to host a massive Avurudu day celebration in and around this area.
In this way, every holiday, festival, or occasion of any religion or culture is celebrated and shared amongst all the people – everyone gets involved.
“Due to these reasons, many people from across the country have mentioned that if we are to start rebuilding the nation, we must start by taking an example out of community life in Slave Island, as I believe this is the epitome of a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious community.”
Practicing loving kindness
The Wekanda Jumma Mosque has been functioning for over two centuries. Built in 1786, the mosque has stood the test of time and is viewed not only as place of worship, but also as the nucleus around which the Muslims of Slave Island built their culture. In hopes of understanding how the Muslims viewed Slave Island, we spoke to the Wekanda Jumma Mosque Administrative Assistant M.R. Careem.
“The Muslims around this mosque are very moderate, and they are always eager to assist people of other religious faiths. Over the centuries, the families around this area have peacefully co-existed and no matter what racial unrest occurred in the country, we all continue to live in harmony.”
Explaining the significance behind the community’s togetherness, Careem stated that many have married persons from other religious faiths and ethnicities.
“My brother-in-law is a Hindu and my cousin is married to a Buddhist, we always function as one family. Without building a good rapport with people, how can a person learn to co-exist? People have to get to know their neighbours better, and for that, we should all interact.”
We inquired into how the community reacted following the recent unrest, to which Careem responded that during all these years, the Muslims in the area had never followed extremist ideologies, and it was just recently that some fanatics were propagating a different way of following the religion.
“To-date we practice Islam the same way our ancestors did. We have been taught to practice loving kindness towards every person and that we should always do good deeds towards humanity. The separation begins as soon as you start to put rules and regulations to everyday life. When a person starts to dress differently and they only interact with the people from their religion.”
While the people of Slave Island do go to their respective religious institutes to pray, they always make it a point to come together as a community in times of need.
Close knitted community
We then spoke to Shaumiya Balasubramaniam to understand how she as a Hindu who was born to a Hindu Father and Muslim mother views the harmonious lifestyle of Slave Island.
“I grew up in Slave Island and the people here are always keeping an eye out on the neighbourhood. There was a sense of security and if some outsider would come to harass a person, the entire neighbourhood gets together and ensures that person is safe.”
Balasubramaniam, after securing a job, had moved to Wattala in hopes of having her own space. But following the Easter Sunday Attacks, she faced an unfortunate incident. Just two days after the attacks, a band of thieves had broken into her house and ransacked the place; she had gotten to know about it when she returned home after work. She asked from her neighbours whether they heard anything, but since the houses were set far apart, no one seemed to have noticed the thieves.
“If this happened here in Slave Island, the neighbours would have immediately caught the thieves and given them to the cops. But there, no one was bothered. I even told my brother that if it was in Slave Island, no thief would have broken into the house.”
She stated that families that live in Slave Island are so closely knitted, and whenever a neighbour is in a difficult state, they all get together and help them.
She recalled that when her father passed away, the neighbours had arranged the house, put up white flags on the road leading to their house and had even cooked food and brought from their homes.
“By the time we got home from the hospital, they had already prepared everything. That togetherness is only alive in a place like this. Though the living conditions are not the greatest, the people here always make us feel at home. Be it a funeral, a wedding, or any event for that matter, everyone is willing to pitch in and help in any way they can.”
Be it the religious leaders or the people from the area, everyone is looking forward to see the country return to normalcy. They all said that this was the dullest Vesak that the neighbourhood ever saw. Even during the war, even when bombs were going off in Colombo, people did not compromise in marking religious festivals. But they are all quite disappointed to see the country taking a hit after the recent incidents.
They all echoed a common hope to be able to go about their daily routines without being judged for something they never took part in. All they want is to have a peaceful Sri Lanka for their future generations and cultivate love and compassion.
Kompannavidiya aka Slave Island is a melting pot that offers a glimpse into the cultural heritage of Sri Lanka. The densely populated township is home to Buddhists, Hindus, Catholics, and Muslims and down each of the main five lanes that converge at the roundabout, has a church, temple, kovil, or a mosque.
A predominantly Muslim neighbourhood, the area still respects its multi-ethnic, multi-religious community and is on board to celebrate all religious festivals. With Vesak Poya marked just a few days ago, the streets were adorned with Buddhist flags.
“Generally these streets have much more decorations during Vesak, but this time, the neighbourhood did not want to go overboard with the decorations. What transpired over the last few weeks has instilled an unnecessary stigma in our community,” A.H.F. Rahman, a resident from the area stated.
However, the neighbourhood had organised a gathering of all faiths at the Gunawardanaramaya Temple on Vesak Poya. The gathering concluded with an Ifthar ceremony which was held in the temple premises.
“We always get together to mark religious ceremonies, be it at the temple, kovil, church, or even the mosque. This is a normal practice for us, but with the present situation in the country, there is a lot of backlash towards Muslims who are pitching in to assist with other religious activities,” he added.
Blessing and a gift
We paid a visit to the Gunawardanaramaya Temple, where the event took place. When inquired about the history of Slave Island, Ven. Badulle Jinrathana Thera stated: “I believe Slave Island is a well-rounded neighbourhood, comprising a mix of people from all faiths and ethnicities. All residents, no matter the ethnicity or religion are greatly resourceful, helpful, and important in the activities of this area.”
The head monk stated that before 21 April, never had there been any form of racial or ethnic or even religious discrimination in this region “and that is a blessing and a gift to us”.
However, he added that there had been some backlash that arose due to the authorities finding several swords in a mosque in the area.
“Even that, however, the Moulavis of the mosque have explained to the people the misunderstanding and I would say that there was no major disagreement or conflict amongst the people in this area,” the Thera said.
Jinrathana Thera added that there has always been peace in Slave Island.
“Of course, there will be one or two individuals who have been corrupted by radical ideas and extremist thoughts, but due to a collective effort and an overall understanding, that type of activity or behaviour is shut down at the root in this area.”
He iterated that when a large group of people from varying beliefs are all living in close proximity to each other in these wattes (alleys), they grow to understand, respect, and share each other’s culture.
“For example, if we were to consider this past Vesak day celebrations, the temple held a ceremony to commemorate the life, enlightenment, and the passing away of Lord Buddha and we invited the equal representatives from all religions and ethnicities to celebrate this event.
“Coincidentally, as during this time, the Islamic religion was breaking fast, afterwards, we hosted the Ifthar celebrations with several people from various religions dining together.”
The monk added that, in similar fashion, during the Sinhala and Tamil Avurudu season, the entire neighbourhood had come together to host a massive Avurudu day celebration in and around this area.
In this way, every holiday, festival, or occasion of any religion or culture is celebrated and shared amongst all the people – everyone gets involved.
“Due to these reasons, many people from across the country have mentioned that if we are to start rebuilding the nation, we must start by taking an example out of community life in Slave Island, as I believe this is the epitome of a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious community.”
Practicing loving kindness
The Wekanda Jumma Mosque has been functioning for over two centuries. Built in 1786, the mosque has stood the test of time and is viewed not only as place of worship, but also as the nucleus around which the Muslims of Slave Island built their culture. In hopes of understanding how the Muslims viewed Slave Island, we spoke to the Wekanda Jumma Mosque Administrative Assistant M.R. Careem.
“The Muslims around this mosque are very moderate, and they are always eager to assist people of other religious faiths. Over the centuries, the families around this area have peacefully co-existed and no matter what racial unrest occurred in the country, we all continue to live in harmony.”
Explaining the significance behind the community’s togetherness, Careem stated that many have married persons from other religious faiths and ethnicities.
“My brother-in-law is a Hindu and my cousin is married to a Buddhist, we always function as one family. Without building a good rapport with people, how can a person learn to co-exist? People have to get to know their neighbours better, and for that, we should all interact.”
We inquired into how the community reacted following the recent unrest, to which Careem responded that during all these years, the Muslims in the area had never followed extremist ideologies, and it was just recently that some fanatics were propagating a different way of following the religion.
“To-date we practice Islam the same way our ancestors did. We have been taught to practice loving kindness towards every person and that we should always do good deeds towards humanity. The separation begins as soon as you start to put rules and regulations to everyday life. When a person starts to dress differently and they only interact with the people from their religion.”
While the people of Slave Island do go to their respective religious institutes to pray, they always make it a point to come together as a community in times of need.
Close knitted community
We then spoke to Shaumiya Balasubramaniam to understand how she as a Hindu who was born to a Hindu Father and Muslim mother views the harmonious lifestyle of Slave Island.
“I grew up in Slave Island and the people here are always keeping an eye out on the neighbourhood. There was a sense of security and if some outsider would come to harass a person, the entire neighbourhood gets together and ensures that person is safe.”
Balasubramaniam, after securing a job, had moved to Wattala in hopes of having her own space. But following the Easter Sunday Attacks, she faced an unfortunate incident. Just two days after the attacks, a band of thieves had broken into her house and ransacked the place; she had gotten to know about it when she returned home after work. She asked from her neighbours whether they heard anything, but since the houses were set far apart, no one seemed to have noticed the thieves.
“If this happened here in Slave Island, the neighbours would have immediately caught the thieves and given them to the cops. But there, no one was bothered. I even told my brother that if it was in Slave Island, no thief would have broken into the house.”
She stated that families that live in Slave Island are so closely knitted, and whenever a neighbour is in a difficult state, they all get together and help them.
She recalled that when her father passed away, the neighbours had arranged the house, put up white flags on the road leading to their house and had even cooked food and brought from their homes.
“By the time we got home from the hospital, they had already prepared everything. That togetherness is only alive in a place like this. Though the living conditions are not the greatest, the people here always make us feel at home. Be it a funeral, a wedding, or any event for that matter, everyone is willing to pitch in and help in any way they can.”
Be it the religious leaders or the people from the area, everyone is looking forward to see the country return to normalcy. They all said that this was the dullest Vesak that the neighbourhood ever saw. Even during the war, even when bombs were going off in Colombo, people did not compromise in marking religious festivals. But they are all quite disappointed to see the country taking a hit after the recent incidents.
They all echoed a common hope to be able to go about their daily routines without being judged for something they never took part in. All they want is to have a peaceful Sri Lanka for their future generations and cultivate love and compassion.