The Rainco Vesak experience

As a Buddhist, Vesak is a very significant time in my life. Although not a so-called “practising Buddhist,” it is my honest belief that Buddhism is a way of life as opposed to being a mere religion. It is only through a deep understanding of the Buddhist philosophy that one can truly find eternal peace. This being a personal view, it has held me in good stead through the years.

This year as Vesak dawned, once again I was excited with the activity and the bustle on the streets and the city of Colombo was lighting up in reverence to Lord Buddha and His teachings.

As is the usual practice of most Sri Lankans, we gather in droves and drive around the city during Vesak experiencing and enjoying the colours of Vesak and the sheer magnificence of the moment. It is on one of these sojourns that I saw first and then experienced one of the most creative concepts in the fabrication of Vesak pandols.

At Isipathana ‘Migadaye’ Vesak zone, a certain pandol grabbed my attention. May be it was because of the long queues or the curiosity as to why umbrellas were being handed out, that I eagerly moved in that direction with thronging with the crowds.

I was also given an umbrella the colour of the morning sun. I was taken by surprise when following the others, we had to open up our umbrellas in order to walk under artificial rain, leading to the pandol arena. It was definitely a different experience and to be honest I was curious as to what lay ahead. There seemed to be a sense of curiosity all around as no one there seemed to have experienced such a phenomenon before.

It was when we entered the pandol arena that I grasped what the idea was. Beautifully constructed as though life like, was a giant Buddha statue embraced by a cobra king. The visual depiction immediately conveyed to me that the structure was of ‘Muchalindha Nagha Dharanaya,’ where Lord Buddha was protected by a cobra as he meditated during his quest to attain enlightenment. This was in fact in the seventh week of the ‘Sath Sathiya’ if my memory serves me well.

Being there amongst the crowds, taking in the sheer enormity of that moment, it dawned on me what parallel the brand Rainco was trying draw. Through an experience of being protected from the rain by an umbrella and later showing how a cobra protected the Lord Buddha, the benefit of the umbrella brand was vividly provided. Most importantly, the experience would create an impression and a positive memory in my mind for its innovation and novelty.

My wish is that next year too, the city will welcome us with exciting and thought provoking Vesak experiences such as this year.

Malini Abeypala

Pahalawala Road,

Pelawatte