Appropos letter by Ajith Fernando in the Sunday Island, it is a subject that I was reluctant to touch due to its controversial, sensitive, and emotional nature. Keeping a monk’s body, or anybody else’s for that matter for days is meaningless and must be disposed of as early as possible. Hygienically too this is bad because a dead body from the time of death, is said to emit germs. It also suggests a craving for publicity and a total absence of simplicity. Added to all this comes the inconvenience caused to thousands and the unnecessary expenses which could be used for some charitable purpose, and the environmental pollution.
Funeral organisers and mourners will put up banners and pandals across roads digging the well constructed roads and defacing the walls by the roadside and nobody will dare object to such action through fear of reprisal from emotionally charged mobs. But once the funeral is over, there will be nobody to clear the mess. This is evident from all the flags and banners that continue to remain "in place" weeks after funerals. I am strongly of opinion that the government and the local bodies should ban any kind of decoration of roads banners, pandals, posters etc. for any purpose but nobody will have the political will to enact such legislation due to emotions attached to religious and political matters.
I don’t think that the Mahanayakas have the authority to issue any decrees in this respect but must certainly have the courage to show the way, by example. But this is unlikely because most monks, especially Mahanayakas, like all politicians, expect a grand funeral with a very costly coffin, a beautiful pyre and a large gathering of mourners - whether they mourn or not.
<>State funerals can be given to really deserving monks, the yard stick being not necessarily the position held in the hierachy. If all monks follow the example set by Ven Rerukane Chandawimala Thera, whose body was cremated within twenty four hours using the bed he used to sleep on as the coffin all the inconvenience to the public and all the unnecessary expenses ily be avoided..
