Listen to the unheard voices of Arugam Bay

Party locations in Arugam Bay 1 

Party locations in Arugam Bay 2

A hotel in Arugam Bay 

Muhudu Maha Vihare ancient heritage

By Surya Vishwa

This edition is an outcome of a series of interviews carried out over a week as part of a media research that experiments with investigative journalism moving away from generic brash, one sided and accusing tones, to looking at facts and the many different sides that could exist to one story. The Harmony Page is an initiative that looks at encouraging peace within the heart and between humans and explores the vast domain of what it takes to be an authentic being that is humane. In a time of global unrest, unfairness, brutal killings and varying forms of terrorism worldwide, we wish to be a small grain of change. 

Contrary to the usual prototype of mass media the world over that tends to revel in bad news, we go in the reverse direction. We function with the unflinching belief that mass communication could be used to give energy to that which calms and that the good can be resurrected from any situation and thus augmented to create a possible recurring reality. We therefore aim to prioritise peace, pragmatism and healing.

Let us now listen to the voices of Arugam Bay.

“Arugam Bay is a zone of peace”: Ven. Warakapola Indrasiri Himi

We begin with Venerable Warakapola Indrasiri Himi, the Chief Priest for nearly two decades of the historical Muhudu Maha Vihara (Lanka Vihara of Ruhuna) in Pottuvil Sri Lanka, about 3 kilometres from Arugam Bay. This Buddhist temple built around 1,000 years ago by King Kavan Tissa is today a Buddhist archaeological site and a significant tourism attraction in the Eastern Province. It is to this location that the princess Vihara Maha Devi had landed, cast by her father to sea in a golden vessel to appease the gods after a tsunami. 

It is recorded in history that King Kavan Tissa built a memorial in this place to honour the memory of him meeting princes Devi here. According to historic writings King Maha Datika Mahanaga built an edifice in this location later on in memory of Vihara Maha Devi and King Kavan Tissa. Below is the narration of Venerable Warakapola Indrasiri Himi, the Chief Priest of the Muhudu Maha Vihara of Pottuvil.

“I have been within this temple premises for about 20 years. Time goes on. There are changes in the world and of course in Sri Lanka. There are episodes that occur between people all across the world. There can be situations of tension. This can be aggravated or reduced. The media is there as a vehicle to give us the truth. But when we can examine deeply there are many sides to one version of truth. After living here for two decades all I can say is that Sri Lanka could without a doubt project Arugam Bay as a zone of peace. There are no major issues here. The Sri Lankan Muslims are the majority community in this area and they live alongside others peacefully. 

It is my personal wish that Sri Lanka adopts a far reaching plan where all communities study, appreciate and learn what they can towards evolving into a better person using teachings from all religions. In the time of the Buddha this was called Samayanthra Gnana, where the Buddha became well versed with many of the philosophical and religious beliefs as well as practices that existed during his time. There were 62 forms of faiths or belief systems during the time of the Buddha. Being aware of belief traditions and histories other than your own could greatly help a human mind to be balanced and help in analytical thinking. 

Tourism is the main form of earning in Arugam Bay and there needs to be focus on this being done keeping in mind national integrity and values of the hosting country rather than completely adopting other cultural ideologies or practices without checking if they are beneficial or not. There is much that needs to be done to develop tourism in Sri Lanka within a strong policy that controls and prevents phenomena such as illegal businesses being operated by locals or foreigners. Tourism and foreign investment is important but there is also something called illegal practices we must become aware of. We need tourism and foreign investment but these should be done legally and should be ethical. 

What I see as a clergy member living here in a tourism hot spot, is that Sri Lanka has not maximised the potential of spiritual tourism. This temple is visited by local visitors and by fewer foreigners but we need assistance to get places like this better noticed and the historical legacies of those such as Vihara Maha Devi to be used as part of the intangible cultural heritage promotion through tourism. Arugam Bay and Pottuvil’s spiritual heritage linked to the sea and tides should be better known.”

“Sri Lankans – Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese live in unity here”: Meenamma

We now move to the narration of one of the most famous businesswomen of Pottuvil who owns a considerable number of land and tourism related outlets including wine stores. When I raised my eyebrows at the mention of wine stores she rewarded me with a sharply quizzical look and asked “Why? Wine stores also have to exist, isn’t it? You and I may not like liquor but others do and selling liquor the legal way is also a business isn’t it.” Within minutes of being in her presence one comes to realise that she is no ordinary human. Her sharpness and business savvy manner seem at times somewhat overbearing for the men and women equally! When I mention this to her she shrugs.

Meenamma is the name she is known by in Pottuvil, Trincomalee and Jaffna – locations where she has property and businesses. This is her voice.

“I am 75 years old. I have nine children and most of them are overseas. My family is connected to both Pottuvil and Jaffna and we own property in these locations. My husband who was an engineer for the Government got the bar license in Arugam Bay in 1978. We started the first tourism hotel in Arugam Bay in 1980. My connection has strongly been mainly with Arugam Bay and Pottuvil which were locations my mother was raised in. Although my father was from Jaffna I do not travel there often. I own and manage most of my tourism establishments which are here in Arugam Bay. Now I am here to rent out ATM premises to a private bank to be located in one of my buildings in Arugam Bay. 

My husband when he was alive managed the tourism businesses and the wine stores but for years now I have been handling these matters alone. I have my nephews to help me but most of the time I am fine attending to all that needs to be done without bothering them. As someone who benefits from tourism economically and provides employment to many, I am really sad with the exaggerated accounts of assumed threats in Arugam Bay. We live and work here. We know the reality here. Within hours foreigners who had booked in for days and weeks fled Arugam Bay when they saw the military trucks moving in to provide security for a segment of tourists who foreign countries and world news told us were under threat. The military presence is alert throughout Sri Lanka. We as a country know how to protect ourselves. It can be strengthened further as even the best can be better. 

But Arugam Bay is a perfect hub of tranquillity. Every kind of nationality can be found here. Sri Lankans – Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese live in unity here. I am a Tamil. I employ and interact with Muslims and Sinhalese. Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamils from other areas open tourism outlets here. It is mainly the Sri Lankan Muslims of Pottuvil who rent out places to tourists including nationals from Israel. The local people benefit from tourism and they are the best sleuths for the area. They know if there is some agenda driven nonsense going on and they will be the first to inform the local intelligence officials. Anyway, we are hoping that the next tourism season which is generally from April to October we will not have any unnecessary intriguing upheaval.”

Hasthika Ratnayake’s beachside parties 

Let us now meet 30-year-old Hasthika Ratnayake.

“I am from Ampara and involved in the beachside tourism business for around five years. I have taken a property on lease in Arugam Bay now for over two years. It is a party venue most of the time if foreigners who come there book it for this purpose. Yes, most of the foreigners who have occupied it for over a year have been Israeli nationals. What I have observed is that each set of persons representing a particular country have their own ‘typo.’ The Israeli people are the same. They like a particular kind of music which some others may not like. Yes, there is a tendency for loud parties to continue till late. But for me as a tourism operator, I try to go by the rules such as for the parties not to carry on till very late on weekdays but I cannot say no when there are foreigners asking for the renting of a location operated by me. 

Beach area parties are generally popular in territories where there is surf related tourism. This is irrespective of nationality so I would not be too rigid about labelling one community too much and putting every single late night party onto one set of people. Sri Lanka has to do its homework on pitching the whole of the nation as a tourism hotspot. Ampara is not a tourism hub but I started tourism in Ampara and created a small hub for tourists to visit Ampara with interesting places to see and trekking paths. My love for different places of Sri Lanka is connected with my father’s duties as a police person. I travelled with him to districts he was posted in and I developed a love for all of these locations.”

Thushara Madushanka on Arugam Bay’s party scene

Let us now prepare to listen to Thushara Madushanka. He works in a typical party dedicated premises with a pool and open air ambience which is apparently much in demand for parties. The overall building is next to a wine store. However, all this is away from the tourist inns and hotels that are directly within the surf areas. Here greenery takes over and the distance is about 2 kilometres or less from the crowded tourism centre of Arugam Bay. There are few private residences scattered between the wine stores and the restaurants hosting parties. Below is how Thushara explains the Arugam Bay party scene.

“I have been working here for about six years. The parties are organised in two ways. One is that it is organised by us, the owners and managers of tourism establishments and we sell a certain number of tickets, priced between around Rs. 3,000 or 5,000. In this model of party arrangement we organise the music which may change according to demand. We circulate leaflets about the party in the surfing areas over some days. Then mostly on Fridays or Saturdays we organise the party which is open house for any nationality. There is also the differing situation where we get a request from a group of tourists – sometimes they are a group of surfers who may have met here and want to have a party and they rent the place and organise their own food or ask us to prepare it.

Then there is also a particular nationality who may travel in large numbers who book our establishment as a whole and no others are then permitted. Yes, this has been happening more often with Israeli persons but everything is legal overall as far as I know – except the timing of the parties which go on through the night and we find it very hard to stop a party! On weekdays the time limit for a party is 10 p.m. but when the party starts it is often much later!”

“Foreigners who come here enjoy the waves and Sri Lankan hospitality”: Ajantha Shelton

Let us now listen to the views of Ajantha Shelton. Ajantha was born and raised in Arugam Bay but a few weeks back had to face the unusual situation of being blocked in his route to his own home.

“I was asked by various security persons as to where I was going and where I was from. I told them I was going home and that this is my hometown! I understand that our security forces have to give protection to any foreign national or group of nationals if their security seems compromised in any way. But living here my whole life and interacting with all communities of Pottuvil and with foreigners on a daily basis I really tried but failed to see what the threat was. Everyone knows everyone in Pottuvil and Arugam Bay. Sri Lankans from other areas come and they start tourism businesses. We get to know them. We know exactly what they are doing. 

Arugam Bay is our home and we welcome other Sri Lankans and foreigners too who want to start businesses legally here. There are rules and regulations. These have to be followed. I did read some local and international accounts on the fear psychosis around Arugam Bay which surfaced overnight and cost us immensely in tourism. There were also terms such as illegal businesses used. What none of these reports focused on is that Israelis rent out the homes or restaurants for their parties or businesses, etc., from mainly Muslims.

Pottuvil and Arugam Bay is a Muslim majority location where most of the ownership of tourism establishments is with Sri Lankan Muslims. We live with them and work with them daily. So I would like to tell the world – if you want to know if Arugam Bay is safe or not – come here. You will see it devoid of many of the threats that are there in the world for travelers. We Sri Lankans live in peace in Arugam Bay and foreigners who come here enjoy the waves and Sri Lankan hospitality.”

Marlene and Claudio from Switzerland

We will now listen to Marlene and Claudio from Switzerland who have been to Sri Lanka thrice. It is their prior experiences in Sri Lanka that made them take foreign travel warnings and whatever they heard about purported threats in Arugam Bay in their stride and decide to visit the location again, come what may.

“Yeah, Sri Lanka is a lovely place. You can say we are addicted. We have visited Galle, Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and of course Arugam Bay is like home to us now. We love the sea surrounding Sri Lanka and we also love the mountains. Tourism is important for every nation. We came to escape the cold of Switzerland! Switzerland is a beautiful country but we sometimes find it so cold and we plan our travel to warmer countries annually. Sri Lanka is a rare place where one can find so much diversity – there are the colder areas, the mildly warm areas and the locations which are very warm. It is really paradise here.”

We ask Marlene and Claudio what they can recommend to improve tourism in Sri Lanka and this is their response: “The number of buses to the different areas could be increased and a well functioning schedule adopted. There can be more mechanisms for foreign visitors to find out about bus and train timings. Sometimes it can be confusing to find accurate information about bus timings. Well, maybe infrastructure like cleanly maintained public washrooms could be focused on as well. There can also be steps taken to prevent thrash being strewn everywhere. Sri Lanka is a beautiful place and it should be kept this way.”