He was scourged and scorned, stripped and mocked. He was declared king with a crown of thorns and burdened with a cross He could barely carry. He was paraded along the streets, falling thrice, and finally made to drag His battered and bruised body up Calvary where He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
2009 years later, half a world away from Calvary, in the bustling town of Ja-ela, a group of people are preparing to enact the passion of Jesus Christ at their very own Kapala Kanda.
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| Kapala Kanda |
They are following in the footsteps of their ancestors who have trod the painful path of Christ to His crucifixon, with father handing down tradition to son and families putting heart and soul into the Passion Play.
And this year is special because it is the 150th year that the people of Ja-ela bring to life not only the agony and passion of Christ but also His resurrection which are the most significant events in the Christian calendar.
For it proves beyond reasonable doubt as the Gospels state that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to save the world.
It is in a similar spirit of sacrifice and dedication that the people of Ja-ela are making ready for the big day – but there are no practices, except for the lathoniya (verses) they keep singing. For the Roman centurions, Jewish priests, apostles and even the two thieves who don the clothes of that era, it is straight onto the streets of Ja-ela from the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, to wend their way to Kapala Kanda, enacting each scene at the Stations of the Cross.
“The Passion Play at Ja-ela is a mix of statues (rookada) and people,” explains Parish Priest Fr. Shantha Sagara Hettiarachchi.
However, no one has aspired to play the roles of Jesus Christ and Mother Mary in this historic play, begun way back in 1859 by L. Lewis Fernando, says Fr. Hettiarachchi, going down the corridors of time.
“The foundation stone for the old church building had been laid in 1801 and the hillock close to the church consecrated as Kapala Kanda in 1848,” he says. Most probably it is the first in Sri Lanka to be declared as Mount Calvary, it is believed.
Having collected bits and pieces of information from various homes scattered across Ja-ela about the beginnings of the Passion Play, L.S. Nelson Fernando says that in the olden days Pasku Madu (Easter huts) had been built and in each, scenes from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday depicted.
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| Fr. Hettiarachchi |
Hingsley Nicklas |
Mr. Fernando, the current Annavi (a church official) points out the lineage of those who so long ago made this happen. After Lewis, the play had been organized and directed by his son, L.Thomas Fernando, affectionately called “Thomma Seeya”, followed by Gregoris.
From Gregoris, the direction of the play had been taken over by his son, E. Philip Fernando, who even when confined to a wheelchair continued to give of his services, followed by E. Francis Fernando then by his brother E. Leonard Fernando and now by his two sons, Laksiri and Lalindra.
The much-venerated statue of Christ with veins and all had been sculpted by Lawrence Marcus from a kohomba (margosa) block owned by Philip Fernando in 1938.
The programme on Good Friday starts at the church at 9 a.m. with the statue of Christ carried by several people, taking to the streets after the judgment of Pontius Pilate, under the able guidance of Indralal Fernando and others. With crowds jostling to get a glimpse, the Way of the Cross is conducted through the town with the ninth station just before Kapala Kanda at around 12.30 p.m. Each one is portrayed, with the most poignant scenes being……..the three falls of Christ along the way, raising a loud shout of distress among the crowds; Christ meeting his mother and being torn apart by the head centurion; the reluctant Simon of Cyrene, chopping wood in a corner being forcibly commandeered by the centurion to help Christ carry the cross, as they feared He would die before being crucified; Christ’s meeting with the women of Jerusalem; and Veronica wiping the blood, sweat and tear-stained face of Christ.
“Christ actually turns round gently and His face is so serene when he meets the women of Jerusalem,” says Charles Perera, an active member of the church who has watched the pageant for 35 years.
One of the most difficult roles has been played by Hingsley Nicklas, who has this year too gone to many homes and collected his “troop” of centurions, high priests, apostles and thieves and also checked out the costumes and repaired them.
For 26 years, he has played soldier and for many years the leader, whipping Christ, stripping Him of His clothes, harassing Him throughout His journey to Kapala Kanda.
“The scenes are so real, people curse me,” says Hingsley, recalling with a sigh how a few years ago his wife who had been in the crowd had heard comments such as, “Eyata hena gahanna one,” (he should be struck by a bolt of lightning), when he roughly pulled Christ away from His weeping mother. “From that day, my wife is urging me to give up that role,” he says, however, adding with some pride that his daughter will be Veronica this year.
From the 10th station which resumes at 1.30 p.m., the final hours of Christ are enacted on Kapala Kanda under the eye of the two brothers Laksiri and Lalindra.
As the scorching rays of the Good Friday sun beat down, chanting lathoni, while the milling crowd, some with children on their shoulders watch with bated breath and emotion running high, the statue of Christ is nailed, but now to a different and heavier, 2 ½-ton ehela cross.
It is even turned over and the nails bent, says Hingsley who has to carry out that duty, despicable in the eyes of the watching men, women and children, before the cross is hoisted up and dropped into a hole in the ground. As the seven words of Christ are delivered, Laksiri and Lalindra, with the aid of a lever fixed to the statue, make Christ take three deep and agonized gasps, before His head tilts to His shoulder in death, amidst the lighting of numerous candles and the wails of the crowd, which relives that scene on Calvary 2009 years ago.
“It must work like clockwork,” explains Lalindra, who along with his brother, from Ash Wednesday prepare by giving up meat and liquor to get purified before undertaking this task.
He recalls an instance many years ago when their duty did not synchronise with the words of the then priest who thundered several times that Christ was about to die on the cross.
“Another time, one of the hands fell off and amidst the smoke that is let off , we quickly climbed up and adjusted it. No one saw,” says Lalindra.
When asked how year in, year out, the people of Ja-ela come together to perform this onerous task at much physical cost, the consensus is voiced by Charles when he says: “No one knows. It is directed by someone above -- the Holy Spirit, we believe.” |
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