Jathika Namal Uyana
Venerable Wanawasi Rahula Thero

To pursue life purely for its sake. To live, to breathe, to eat. These goals are what every being on this earth have in common. They might not all happen in the same way or manner, but at its roots this is the sole purpose of most every living being.

For a few though, a very rare few, the pursuit of life for the sake of life, is not enough. These individuals instead tend to look at the world from a different point of view. And it is these individualswho shape the world we live in, and who set the standards for the rest of us to live by.

It is these people who lift up the rest of humanity by our ears open our eyes to show us what could be. These people are hardy souls who make the rules and then break them to form a new set of rules. It is these individuals who protect us from our own folly and shortsightedness. And it’s one of these individuals who, even now, upholds these values.

It was in the not-so-distant past that the Venerable Wanawasi Rahula Thero, a simple Buddhist monk stepped in to change the course of history.

It was whilst the Ven. Wanawasi Rahula Thero was wandering around in the solitude of the thick jungle that he saw a small mountain range of rose quartz, and a forest full of Naa trees for what it truly was. Heritage.

The Ven. Rahula Thero saw not money signs when he looked at this small piece of forest, but instead he saw the value of a heritage lost in the annals of time. He saw the culture and history of Sri Lanka in this small acreage of forest, which with the passage of time had been lost to the Sinhala people.

The importance of this magnificent forest of Naa trees and the mountain of Rose quartz had gone unheeded for far too long. Progress, and the new ways of the world had drawn ever closer, wrapping its tendrils around the innocent village folk of the surrounding areas.

Now as never before, progress was ready to take its place in this charming rural area, and the Naa forest was about to pay the price. Deforestation of this valuable forest and the mining of the Rose Quartz Mountain, were the goals of progress and nothing was going to stand in the way. It was into this picture that the Ven. Wanawasi Rahula Thero stepped in.

This wandering Buddhist monk found himself drawn to the area as in no other way. Ven. Rahula Thero said he felt an immediate familiarity and affinity for the peaceful solitude of the forest.

What came next was almost preordained, and Ven. Rahula Thero made his home high within the canopy of this forest, living amongst the fierce beasts of the wild. Choosing a tree other than one of the precious Naa trees, Ven. Rahula Thero perched 40 ft above the ground on the branches of a mora gaha (a type of tree), to keep safe from the various wild animals that make the forest their home.

In his own words, Ven. Rahula Thero says, “I didn't touch a single tree of value from this forest to build this avasaya”. (“Avasaya” ආවාසය being the word used to describe the living quarters of Buddhist monks.). To build his small tree top dwelling Ven. Rahula Thero made use of cheap woods such as Mango which he purchased from the village folk.

Without the intervention of this hamuduruwo (Buddhist monk), it is a sad fact that this magnificent Naa forest would have gone the way of other such treasures and been looted beyond redemption.

Protecting each tree as sacred and not allowing an axe anywhere near these trees, Ven. Rahula Thero protected the forest and its heritage with all the fierceness of a lioness protecting its cubs.

Today the Ven. Rahula Thero has much the same attitude and not a single Naa tree is despoiled for the purposes of logging or civilization. Ven. Wanawasi Rahula Thero has also made the Jathika Namal Uyana an alcohol and polythene free environment.

Nature and the Sinhala people owe a debt of gratitude to the Ven. Wanawasi Rahula Thero for preserving this heritage, for braving the wrath of progression and also for braving the wilds to protect this heritage.

It was not a simple or even easy task to undertake, and now generations of Sinhala people will be able to enjoy a piece of their history which would otherwise have been lost to them.

And what does the Ven. Rahula Thero do, now that the future of the Namal Uyana is secured, at least for the time being? The primary goal of this extraordinary Buddhist monk is to promote the beauty and the heritage of the land so that more and more people know about it.

Most of all though, the Ven. Rahula Thero looks forward to educating the people about the significance of this forest reserve for the Sri Lankan heritage.