Church of St John dal Bastone

Church of St John dal Bastone, Pelawatte

The Church of St John dal Bastone (John of the Staff), in Pelawatte, Talangama South, is the only church in the world dedicated to the Sylvestrine hermit. His other cult centre is at St Benedict’s Cloister Church, Fabriano, in Italy.

John of the Staff

Giovanni Bonelli Bottegoni was born on 24 March 1200 in the village of Paterno, Fabriano, in the area of Italy known as the March of Ancona. He was the youngest of the five children of his wealthy farming parents, Bonello and Supela Bottegoni. A studious boy, his parents sent him to study the humanities at the University of  Bologna, where he was attracted to religious matters.  

He was suddenly afflicted with a purulent abscess on one side of his thigh, which put a stop to his studies in Bologna. He journeyed home on the back of a donkey, which weakened his thigh further. Consequently, he remained lame for the rest of his life, needing a staff to help him walk, for which he was nicknamed Giovanni dal Bastone (‘John of the Staff’).

St John of the Staff, figurine from the crypt, Fabriano

Although unable to continue studying, John had acquired a certain degree of culture. In order to support himself financially, he opened a school in Fabriano. About 1230 he was attracted by the reputation for holiness of the venerable Silvestro Guzzolini of Osimo, later canonised as St Sylvester Gozzolini, the founder of the Sylvestrine eremitic holy order.

St Sylvester Gozzolini

St Sylvester had established a hermitage at Montefano, not far from Fabriano, which followed a modified Benedictine rule. It was here that John went, to be tested by St Sylvester and be received into the holy order. The lifestyle at Montefano was austere, the aim being to minimise material things so that one’s attention was solely on God. John lived the next 60 years reclusively in a cell, observing the greatest poverty and dedicating himself to prayer. 

Sylvestrine hermitage, Montefano

Seeing his progress, St Sylvester caused John’s promotion to the priesthood. His advice was sought by his fellow monks, when afflicted by worries or doubts.  In 1264 Marsilia, a widow of Attiggio, a village at the foot of Montefano, together with her daughter Sorabona, named John a co-executor of their will, which left modest sums to each of the monks of the order (as well as other religious men and women and the poor of Fabriano). John was named first after St  Sylvester in precedence, indicating his importance.

'St John dal Bastone celebrates mass', altar of St Benedict's, Fabriano

At the conclave held after the death of St Sylvester in 1267, John was the person to whom all turned to ensure harmonious relations. He continued to preach and acquired a reputation for great sanctity, becoming the most illustrious of the first generation of followers of St Sylvester.When he was 90 years old, John’s affliction worsened. The Sylvestrine Prior-General, Blessed Bartolo Tebaldi da Cingoli had a vision of a beam of light streaming down the mountain from John’s cell to the monastery at Fabriano.  John was taken to Fabriano for treatment and died there on 24 March 1290, saying

 'Courage brothers, when I get to heaven I will pray for you. I expect you all there!'

He was laid to rest in the cloister church of St Benedict in Fabriano.

Cloister Church of St Benedict, Fabrian

John was immediately acclaimed a saint by the voice of the people, without any canonical procedure. Venerable Rambotto Vicomanni, the Franciscan Bishop of Camerino, appointed a commission of two canons, aided by two laymen with a notary as their secretary, to collect and verify evidence of the authenticity of his miracles. However, it was not until 29 August 1772, under Pope Clement XIV, that he was beatified.

Cult centres and the Sylvestrines in Sri Lanka

In 1586 a crypt was built  at the Cloister church of St Benedict,with its ceiling adorned with scenes from John's life. At the centre of the crypt is John's tomb, holding his relic and the staff that gave him his nickname. It is said that this crypt is in the house that John lived in when he moved to Fabriano; he is said, while living here prior to taking vows, to have prophesied that a church would be built on this spot.

Crypt of St John dal Bastone at the Cloister Church of St Benedict, Fabriano

In 1845, the Sylvestrine monk Fr. Giuseppe Maria Bravi (later the Vicar Apostolic of the southern vicariate of Colombo) had arrived in Sri Lanka under the auspices of Propaganda Fidei, soon to be joined by other missionary confrères. They were the first Benedictines in the island and their foundation in Sri Lanka was the first the Sylvestrines had outside Europe. They were responsible for the establishment of St Anthony's College, Katugastota, in 1854 and St Benedicts College, Colombo in 1863.

One hundred years after John dal Bastone's beatification, on 29 August 1872, the foundation stone was laid for a Church in his name, in the suburb of Pelawatte, in the town of Talangama, just outside Colombo. The Church, completed in 1881, was administered by the Sylvestrines.

Following the consecration of the Church of St John dal Bastone, the Sylvestrines moved from Colombo to the new Diocese of Kandy in 1883. They established St Sylvester's Monte Fano Monastery at Ampitiya, St Benedict's Monastery on the former Villiers' property of Adisham in Haputale and St Sylvester's College, Kandy.

By the turn of the century, Sri Lanka accounted for about 40% of the Sylvestrine congregation. It was from Sri Lanka that Fr Peter Farina, an Italian, went to Sydney in 1949, to begin the Sylvestrine congregation Down Under. 

In 1972, Friar Michael Lanza, OFM obtained in 1972 from Archbishop Thomas Cardinal Cooray, the quasi-parish of Talangama and the church was entrusted to his order, of Franciscans and in 1974, a foundation of the Order of Friars Minor was established here. Almost nine years later, the foundation stone for a friary was laid here.

Foundation stone for the re-established OFM order, built into church wall

The church celebrated its 125^th anniversary in 2006, and a commemorative five-rupee stamp was issued by the Sri Lanka Post, which depicted the façade of the church together with an image of St John Bastone from one of the stained glass windows in the church.

125th anniversary stamp

 Description

The church has a unique Italianate faux-Baroque façade (see larger photo HERE), with tropical Iberian influences. The façade is flanked by two bell towers (also used to mount loudspeakers). It is distinguished by a wide portico leading to the traditional three great doors. There are also two smaller doors leading to the outer aisles (which are not separated in this church by pillars, but form part of the nave).

Northern bell tower

The place of the traditional aisles is taken by two verandahs on the outside on either side of the nave (to which it is connected by steel-grilled doorways), to which access is via the lower arches of the bell towers. These lead (on the left) to the southern transept and the chapel and (on the right) to the northern transept and the padre's office at the rear. Two confessionals are located on these verandahs.

View from the crossing: the nave and narthex.

Above the central doorway is a cartoon of St John dal Bastone. The place of the narthex is taken by the eastern end of the nave (the traditional westward alignment is reversed), and the baptismal fount is located here. It is separated from the seating area by the shrines of two Saints - St Benedict and St Francis - which flank the entry to the central aisle.

Shrine of St Benedict

Shrine of St Francis of Assisi

 Above the doorways leading to the verandahs on either side of the nave are a number of stained-glass clerestories, depicting scenes from the Passion of Christ.

Northern aisle

In place of the apse, the transept itself houses the chancel and the sanctuary, so the main area of the church is in the shape of a 'T' rather than a '+'. However, the semblance of a cross is restored by the Sacristy, accessed via two doors on either side of the altar.

Chancel and sanctuary

Unlike the rest of the church, the crossing, the chancel and sanctuary have a ceiling, of wood. On either side of the chancel, the two arms of the transept house various shrines.

Northern transept

In the northern transept, which houses the choir, is a triple altar, the central place occupied by the shrine of St John the Apostle, flanked by those of St Anne the mother of Mary and the Madonna and child.

Shrine of St John flanked by St Anne (left) and the Madonna and child (right)

There is also a wooden triptych altar piece with a Madonna and Child  (a reproduction of the original icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help enshrined in the Redemptorist Church of St. Alphonsus in Rome), flanked by the two sides of the Miraculous Medal of St. Catherine Labouré.

Triptych with Our Mother of Perpetual Help

The stained-glass image of St John dal Bastone used in the commemorative postage stamp was taken from that in the circular clerestory on the wall of the northern transept.

St John dal Bastone in stained glass clerestory in Northern transept

The southern transept, which leads (via a glass door) to the chapel, has a similar clerestory, this time depicting St Francis of Assisi with Christ on the Cross.

Southern transept

The southern transept contains shrines of Jesus Christ,the Virgin Mary and various saints. A triple shrine, mirroring that in the northern transept, depicts St John dal Bastone, flanked by St Sebastian, St Francis of Assisi and St Anthony of Padua, as well as the Infant Jesus.

Shrine of St John dal Bastone, flanked by St Sebastian & St Francis (on left) and St Anthony and the Infant Jesus (on right)

Feast

John dal Bastone is remembered by the monks of the order of Sylvestrines on 24 March, but the feast of the church in Pelawatte is in late July. On the day following the ninth day of prayer (Novena), the vespers mass is followed by a procession, during which the statue of the Saint is paraded through Pelawatte.

Image of St John dal Bastone taken in procession

The statue of the Saint is preceded by marching bands and by members of the congregation bearing candles. The statue's arrival at places along the route is marked by the faithful by the lighting of crackers and launching of rockets.

Women of the congregation bearing candles

The streets along which the procession travels are decorated with coconut leaves, banners, lights and crosses, punctuated by images and shrines of the Saint.

Getting there, staying there

St John dal Bastone's church is on Church Rd, Pelawatte, off the Battaramulla-Pannipitiya road, just past the Cargill's supermarket. It can be reached easily from Colombo, Ethulkotte and Rajagiriya (via Parliament Road), from Nugegoda and Pitakotte (via Talawatugoda Road) or from the E1 Southern Expressway (via Kottawa and Pannipitiya Road). Access is also possible, via the Pahalawela Road, from the Japan-Sri Lanka Friendship Road, which borders the Diyawanna Lake.

Map of Pelawatte, showing location of church

There are regular bus services along the Panniipitiya Road, and the church provides an interesting addition to a visit to the Parliament area or the Diyawanna Bird Sanctuary.

If one wishes to stay in the area, there are two very expensive villas available for rent. La Villa Sanctuary, Talawatugoda, borders the marsh, less than a kilometre from the Church. The Villa Talangama lies on the Talangama Tank, about two kilometres away. Both have excellent views of the wetlands and of the bird life protected by the sanctuary.

Click HERE for the website of the church.

Dedigama

The ancient Sinhalese chronicle, the Culavamasa tells us that the consort of Manabharana, the crown prince of Sri Lanka,

... bore a son at a moment marked by a lucky constellation. Clear at this moment were all the quarters of the heavens and cool, fragrant, gentle breezes blew. With the trumpeting of the elephants and the neighing of the horses the royal courtyard was filled with resounding din.

This heavenly event took place in a city known as Punkhagama, the capital of the principality of Dakkhinadesa, of which Manabharana was the sub-king (yuvaraja).

The child was named Parakramabahu (Parakkamabahu in Pali). Many years later, about 1153 AD he became king of the whole island as Parakramabahu I (the Great). He then constructed a shrine at the place of his birth, the Suthigara Cetiya (the Chaitya of the house of birth).

Interestingly, when Wilhelm Geiger (the father of Hans, the inventor of the Geiger Counter) was translating the Culawamsa, the location of Punkhagama had not yet been discovered. Geiger Snr tells us in a footnote that 'Parakkamabahu 1 erected a tope there 120 cubits high of which there ought still to be traces'.

Archaeological department board at the Kotavehera

This tope was identified later as the Kotavehera, in the modern village of Dedigama (pronounced tha-thee-gah-muh), and excavations were carried out there in the 1960s. So Punkhagama is most likely Dedigama. Apparently the place-name is derived from Jatigama, an alternative ancient name for the place.

The dagoba is the largest in the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka. Parakramabahu I was a great lover of monumental architecture and bigness generally. He made tanks in the Wet Zone (where they were not really necessary) in order to show off his prowess and in order to recreate the 'Milk Ocean' in a large-scale Mandala, a representation of the Indic Cosmos .

Obviously I am not a great fan of Parakramabahu's - his reputation was as much due to his panegyrist in the Culawamsa as anything he did; although it was possibly his unification of the Mahayana and Theravada Buddhist clergy in a single, state-controlled body which ensured for him a sympathetic press.

Sutighara cetiya from the north-east

Be that as it may, the dagoba is truly impressive. It is 78 metres (256 feet) in diameter and 14.3 metres (47 feet) high. I couldn't get the whole thing onto a single frame, so I had to do a stitch-up of two photos - a bit of a botch-up actually.

The size of the structure is illustrated by this photo of a senior citizen walking around it in the prescribed clock-wise manner. Note the multi-coloured branches of Na (Ironwood) trees in the foreground and the concentric perimeter rings (pesa walalu) at the base of the stupa.

Elderly man circling the dagoba

Not withstanding the size of the dagoba, it is referred to as the Kotavehera (short stupa) , not because of any deficiency in its height, but because it was built without the usual upper structure, the traditional cube-shaped enclosure (hatharæs kotuwa) and pinnacle (koth kærælla). Rather like calling a tall person short because they do not wear a hat.

On the eastern side of the dagoba, just above the second of the pesa walalu at the foot of the dagoba, is a smaller stupa, about 11 metres (36 feet) in diameter. It is said to mark the exact place of Parakramabahu's birth. It is that little pimple on the side of the dagoba, in my stitch-up shot above. The photo below shows it in close-up:

Smaller dagoba

The larger dagoba appears to have been anchored on the lesser. Here is an even closer shot:

Smaller dagoba

Excavations found a koraha (a pot for washing rice in) beneath the smaller dagoba. Not surprisingly, however, it was the larger which yielded the greater treasure. The main reliquary chamber, guarded by multi-headed cobras (like the one at Oorusitano tank), was complemented by 8 others arranged geometrically around it. The artefacts found there were housed in a museum built close by.

The way to the archaeological museum

A break-in occurred there not too many years ago, and the thieves got away with a large number of artefacts, especially some exquisite Buddha statues covered in gold foil. However, less monetarily valuable but priceless historically, the main prize of the collection was left behind. This was the elephant lamp.

Elephant lamp

This elegant oil lamp is one of a pair taken from the heart of the dagoba - the other being at the Colombo Museum. The identical lamps are of the hanging type and each consists an oil receptacle surmounted by an elephant and its mahout. The whole is suspended by the apex of a torana above the elephant, which is affixed to a chain.

Detailed drawing of elephant lamp

The elephant figure stands in the middle of the oil receptacle, which can be filled with oil. There is also a reservoir for the oil in the elephant's belly (marked in white on black in the central figure above). Oil is poured in using the hollow of one of the forelegs as a funnel.

After the lamp is lit, the level of oil in the receptacle goes down. When it goes below the level of the hole in the funnel-foreleg, an ingenious hydrostatic arrangement makes the pachyderm 'urinate' oil until the level of oil returns above the beast's feet. Obviously, the creator of this marvel of physics was something of a piss-artist.

Despite the burglary, many valuable artefacts remain in the museum, not just from Dedigama but from archaeological sites in the Kegalle area generally, including some interesting inscriptions. There is also a representation of the nine reliquary chambers of the Kotavehera, showing what was found where, and photographs of the dig.

You can get to Dedigama by turning to the right off the Colombo-Kandy road at Nelundeniya and driving about 3 kilometres (2 miles).

Dedigama is within easy driving distance of the rest houses at Ambepussa, Hanwella and Kitulgala, as well as the Ambalama hotel in Hanwella.

Menikkadawara

In 2004 I was scouting out the terrain around the lower watershed of the Kelani river, when I (serendipitously) stumbled upon the village of Menikkadawara. To get there one has to drive up the Kandy road and turn left at Nelundeniya and drive for about 10 kilometres (6 miles) - not something a normal person would do too often without purpose. But there is a point to it.

Now a sleepy backwater, too unimportant to be marked on the map, Menikkadawara (pronounced man-ik-udder-were-r-er) was once a very important and strategic place situated in the foothills of the Four Korales (counties). The (not exactly accurate) mediaeval Sinhalese chronicle, the Rajavaliya tells us that two of the sons of the King of Ambulugala (Dharma Parakramabahu IX),

Prince Vijaya Bahu and Prince Raja Sinha built the city of Menikkadawara, and whilst young men, lived in one place and cohabited with one woman...

The first of these princes went on to become King Vijayabahu VII, while the second apparently died in Menikkadawara.

Menikkadawara marked with blue pin

Click here for detailed google satellite map of Menikkadawara

During the latter part of the Portuguese era, the bulk of the colonial forces were encamped here. A rather long-winded Jesuit historian, Rev Fernaõ de Queyroz (Conquista temporal, e espiritual de Ceylao, translated by Father SG Perera, SJ) wrote in about 1688 that

... in the county Beligal, in the village of Manicrauare, 9 leagues from Columbo to the interior, we generally had our arrayal encampment, surrounded by very high mountains, in which one can hardly see an entrance or outlet, and because of its site and other conveniences it was the best that could be chosen, for it is 6 leagues from Candea and lies between the Four and Seven Corlas...

Just to prove that it was not just the English who mispronounced foreign names, the Portuguese called the place Manicravaré or Manicavarê. Queyroz informs us that

Mani-cauarê, and not Manicrauarê as they call it, means 'Come here my precious stone', words with which, they say, the Father or Rajú called to his son.

The Rajú referred to by Queyroz may be Raja Sinha, the second of the two princes with the racy lifestyle referred to in the Rajavaliya above, who died at Menikkadawara.

The embittered Captain Joaõ Ribeiro tells us in 1685 (Fatalidade historica da ilha de Ceilao, translated by PE Peiris) that:

In the Four Corlas, five leagues from Balane and eleven from Columbo, there was a position in the midst of the villages, known as Manicravare; here was stationed our chief army for opposing the King of Candia and for defending the Seven Corlas. It consisted of twelve companies of three hundred and fifty Portuguese Soldados under the command of the Captain Major of the field, and there were also a Sergeant-Major, two adjutants, a Captain of Munitions and a Franciscan monk as chaplain. It was further the residence of the Dissava, an officer corresponding to a military Governor of a province over the natives, who always had in hand three or four thousand Lascarins with their officers, which number could be greatly increased in the event of war.

In 1599 the Portuguese constructed a tranqueira, a wooden stockade. In 1626, this was upgraded. The rectangular fortification was known as the Forte Santa Fe and the Cidadela (Citadel) of Forte Cruz, with the four bastions on each corner being named Saõ Iago, Saõ Boa Ventura, Saõ Jorge and Saõ Pedro by the religion-obsessed Lusitanians.

On the right side of the road is a sign put up by the Department of Archaeology, indicating the fortifications of the Portuguese. HCP Bell, the first Archaeological Commissioner reported that a stone slab bearing the Royal Arms of Portugal was found here. However, all that is left of the fortifications are massive earthwork ramparts, grown over with grass and weeds.

Portuguese earthwork rampart

Ribeiro also mentions that Manicavare (sic) was not entitled to be called by the name fortress, since it was made of a little earth. However the ramparts look quite formidable enough.

Looking along the earthwork rampart (larger photo here)

After the defeat of the Portuguese in 1658, the area was re-occupied by the forces of the King of Kandy. The Lusitanian crusade had targeted Buddhist temples and the Monastery that now exists in the village was built after the re-occupation.

The sermon hall (Dharmasalawa) has had the interstices between the stone columns filled with cement breeze blocks - obviously recent. But how light and utilitarian the structure looks in comparison with the behemoths that are more modern Buddhist temples!

Sermon hall, Menikkadawara Purana Vihara (larger photo here)

The brown strip at the bottom of the outer wall is caused by back-splash from rain pouring off the roof (notice the absence of roof gutters). As you can imagine, rain is quite a factor in the valley of the river Kelani. Queyroz informs us that

... though it rains in the island of Ceylon almost the whole year and sometimes for eight and ten days running, when the rain ceases there is no mud seen in that place because of a kind of stony soil and because the barracks (estancas) are on a height whence the water drains easily making for the fields which surround it.

Evidently it was the consideration of floods which caused the image house of the monastery to be built on a wooden platform mounted on short stone stilts. A temple building built in this architectural form is referred to as a tampita vihara. This one appears originally to have been built with an open verandah all round, which has been filled in with brick.

Image house (buduge), Menikkadawara Purana Vihara (larger photo here)

The image house is illustrated with frescoes of the Buddha and of the Cula Dhammapala Jataka. These probably date from the 18th or 19th centuries.

Image house door and doorway fresco

The ceiling has a beautiful floral design, marred somewhat by the 1930s-style electrical light fittings:

Image house ceiling design

Menikkadawara can be taken in while en route to Kandy from Colombo. Alternatively, for those who want to explore the whole area, there is a rest house at Ambepussa which provides accomodation. Also within easy driving distance of the rest houses at Hanwella and Kitulgala, and the Ambalama hotel in Hanwella.

Yudanganawa

Near the town of Buttala in the Moneragala district, is Yudanganawa, an ancient monastery dating back to the 2nd century BC.

Map: Yudanganawa marked in yellow

I went there in early 2005, on the way back from Tsunami relief work in Pottuvil on the East Coast. At the entrance to the complex of Yudanganawa (which means 'woman of battle' or 'beauty of battle') stands the small dagoba of Chulangani or Chulanganawa ('small woman').

Chulangani stupa

Chulanganawa was the site of a battle between King Dutugemunu (Duttha Gamini Abhaya) and his younger brother Tissa (Tisa):

And between those two there came to pass a great battle in Culanganiyapitthi: fell many thousands of the king's men. (Mahawamsa, ch. xxiv)

Tissa not only defeated his older brother, he also captured the king's war-elephant, Kandula. Dutugemunu didn't re-capture his beloved pachyderm until much later. Kandula was the most celebrated elephant in Sri Lanka's history, later being used to batter down the wrought-iron gate of a fortress:

Roaring like thunder he came, daring danger, and with his tusks pierced the panels of the gate and trampled the threshold with his feet; and with uproar the gate crashed to the ground together with the arches of the gate. (Mahawamsa, ch xxv)

As an aside it might be mentioned that, in the 21st century, Kandula's monicker was bestowed on the first male elephant to be born to the Smithsonian zoo by articifial insemination - itself the child of a first-generation Sri Lankan immigrant to the USA.

Amazingly, after his eventual victory, the king commemorated his defeat in this battle by building the Yudanganawa monastery here. It is not often that one hears of a monarch celebrating his setbacks, especially a defeat as humiliating as this one!

Close by the dagoba is the image house or buduge (literally 'Buddha House'). Only the foundation, the pillars and part of the altar remain.

Image house ('buduge') at Chulanganawa

The approach to the main dagoba at Yudanaganawa reveals its impressive size. It is not as tall as the three large dagobas at Anuradhapura, but it is much broader at the base. Unfortunately the site is heavily forested, so I found it difficult to take a good photograph of the dagoba itself.

Yudanaganawa: main dagoba and image house

I first visited the image house. This is a mediaeval structure, possibly built on foundations similar to those of the Chulangani image house. Inside, it is illustrated in a typical mediaeval manner, with statues of deities and frescos and bas-reliefs on the walls.

The gateway to the inner sanctum is guarded by two painted bas-relief lions rampant. Sri Lanka has not had native lions for many centuries, and the artist was not familiar with what was almost a mythic beast. Hence, the lions looked more like large mastiffs. However they look frightening enough, so their purpose of inspiring awe in the beholder was probably served.

Doorway to inner sanctum of image house

The inner sanctum was very dark and I could just about get photographs of the frescos and statues on my cheapish camera. The art was very mediaeval - a regression from the artistic wonders of the 1st millenium - and, in comparison with the ancient structures visible outside, was not very impressive. That may have been why they installed the two fierce looking guardian lions - to strike terror in the souls of scoffing art critics.

Inner sanctum

The Archaeological Department has been carrying out excavation and conservation work at Yudanganawa for years, and it should continue for at least two decades more. When I went there the scaffolding, which had been erected to help with the archaeological work, was much apparent on the sides of the main dagoba.

Yudanganawa dagoba - note scaffolding for conservation work

The dagoba is quite different in style from conventional stupas - unlike them, it is built in two 'stages', with a smaller dagoba surmounting the massive main structure. It is rather as if the builder had sliced off the middle layer and laid the apex directly onto the base (as is apparent in the photographs below).

Noting that there was nobody around, your doughty correspondent decided to scale the scaffolding and (illicitly and with malice aforethought) climb up on top of the massive dagoba.

The view from the top

The view from the top was quite impressive. It was also good to be able to see, close-up, the consevation work going on right on top of the dagoba. It was quite obvious why this work was necessary - there were trees growing on top of the structure!

Conservation work on top

It was possible to see the hundreds of thousands of bricks of which the dagoba is composed. I wish one could say that the dagoba is made entirely of brick, but I am informed that this is not so: apparently the building contractors of yore were as shifty as their modern counterparts, and many dagobas have cores of clay.

The small stupa on top of the massive base