CYIL vol. 15 (2024)

PUNSARA AMARASINGHE CYIL 15 ȍ2024Ȏ narratives in international law. Secondly, this article questions whether Sri Lanka has rights in international law for the restitution of Tara Devi’s statute, which was confiscated after the British expedition to the Kingdom of Kandy. The 19 th century was undoubtedly the apogee of the colonial expansions of the West, which began from the 16 th century and looting was much more frequent in the conquered territories. Tara Devi’s was not the only artifact confiscated by the British colonial rulers in Sri Lanka and the catalogue prepared by Hemasiri de Silva, the then director of the National Museum in 1975 gives some vivid details on the cultural objects taken away from the island during the British colonial period. 3 The question arises of what makes Tara Devi unique in seeking her return to Sri Lanka in a context where other immeasurable numbers of looted objects are being kept in European museums from London to Vienna. In addressing such a possible query, this article intends to prove the imperative of Tara Devi’s statute as a national icon in the history of Sri Lanka, which is emblematic of the quest for her restitution. The Story of Tara The influx of Mahayana Buddhist ideas to the island dates back to the 3 rd century BC, which initially penetrated the Kingdom of Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka during the reign of Jetthatissa II and continued to foster in the following centuries. Unlike its counterpart, the Theravada branch, Mahayana practice idealized the ritual of worshipping Bodhisattvas, akin to a ritual that intended to gain the blessings of future Buddha’s for the success of mundane affairs. 4 As Buddhist art historian Osmund Bopearachchi points out mariners from the Mahayana world widely practiced the Bodhisattva ritual for attaining the blessings for safe naval voyages. In the cult of Bodhisatvas, Avalokiteshvara and Tara appear to be the two main figures embodying the inexplicable powers of the cosmos. 5 The etymology of Tara, which derives from Devanagari denotes the meaning of “Cross”, which is interpreted as the “Rescuer”. 6 The development of Tara’s cult was attributed to the robust spread of the Mahayana school under the patronage of the Pala dynasty in India, which later paved the path for the expansion in Sri Lanka. While the genesis of her cult in the subcontinent remains a riddle, there are different arguments among Buddhist scholars on Tara’s personification. In his much-celebrated work “The Cult of Tara” Stephan Beyer describes Tara as the ultimate perfection of wisdom by tracing her roots to the birth of Buddhas, which elevates the status of Tara beyond human ken. 7 Despite having such complex theories on the origin, the worship of Tara became a great inspiration for iconographers in the Indian subcontinent. From the number of statutes found across the different parts of South Asia, the earliest statue of Tara dates back to the 6 th century A.D. and the statue of Tara Devi, which has been the subject of this article possesses unique iconographic features depicting the qualities of the deity. Tara Devi’s worship arose eminence in the aftermath of Mahayana influence 3 KAMARDEEN, N., The Protection of Cultural Property: Post-Colonial and Post Conflict Perspectives from Sri Lanka, International Journal of Cultural Property , 2017, Vol. 24, No 4. 4 MUDIYANSE, N., Mahayana Monuments in Sri Lanka , Colombo: 1968, p. 78. 5 BOPEARACHCHI, O., Indian Ocean Trade through Buddhist Iconographies, in Franck Bille, James W Lankton (eds) The Maritime Silk Road, Amsterdam: Netherland University Press, 2022. 6 Ibid 7 BEYER, S., Magic and Ritual in Tibet: Cult of Tara , Delhi: Delhi University Press, 1988, p. 145.

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