The Name of Milina -- A Sweet Fragrance
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My Mother Milina Sumathipala is here December 26 marks the fifth anniversary of his departure. It is not just because she was my mother that I make such a note about her for that five year celebration. If she was a mother who gave shelter only to her children, I would not be allowed to talk so much about her today.
Milina Sumathipala is a huge tree that gave shade to the whole country.
Her immense contribution to the country, the nation and the Buddha Sasana cannot be overstated in so many articles. But I think writing like this in the slightest is a tribute to a great woman she is.
I was about fourteen when my dear father died. My family of three sisters, one brother and two sisters, including me, were the only two older sisters married at the time. Accordingly, my mother had to carry the weight of five children on her head alone. I have never met a woman in my life as courageous and determined as she is. If there was a woman like my mother, I think it's just her.
The care and guidance that that strength and courage provided to our lives is fantastic. My mother raised the seven of us without giving us a single blow. Her one angry look was enough to discipline us. We felt more of the mental pain at one glance than the physical pain of a blow. That's how our mother guided us. Like any other little kid, we often got into fights when we were little. Then the punishment that mom gives us is different than most other mothers.
No matter who started the fight or who was beaten, the younger one should bow down and apologize to himself and the older brother or sister who fought. We often tried to avoid fighting because we could not bear the pain of the beating and the extra shame of having to bow to the brother or sister who had been beaten.
The union between us was so great that with the exception of the two sisters, who lived in Australia every Sunday until Mother's death, we all inevitably went to Mother's house for lunch on Sundays. It had become a family tradition for everyone to get together on a Sunday at home. It was Mom’s will. The mother is the whole world to the child.
When I consider my mother's service to the country, the nation, the religion, I think she's a world, not just the seven of us.
Officially founded in 1919, the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress, the pinnacle of Buddhism, was in a state of anarchy by 2001 due to short-sighted rule. It was not an easy task to recover from this anarchy and restore it to its former state.
For that, there must be a true Buddhist leader with unwavering perseverance and a strong mind to face any challenge.
Mahinda Sarachchandra, who was a member of the Buddhist Congress at the time and had a sincere feeling for the conference, had in mind a leader, not a leader, when he thought of a true Buddhist leader who could take on the heavy task of building the conference. Those are my mothers.
When Mr. Sarachchandra met my mother and told her about the situation at the Buddhist Congress at that time and requested her to come forward to save the conference from this dark mouth, my mother was deeply shocked.
Its electricity and water were cut off due to non-payment of electricity and water bills for months. Employees had not been paid for months. The Buddhist Congress did not have any revenue for this.
Although there were many other problems there, my mother, who was not shaken by any of them, took over the leadership of the Buddhist Congress.
In the early days of the conference, there was no female participation. Although a number of eminent women later became members, no woman has ever held the position of chairperson.
Accordingly, my mother Milina Sumathipala became the first woman chairperson of the Buddhist Congress, opening a new chapter in its history. My brother Jagath Sumathipala and I gave our full support to my mother.
In 2001, my mother took over the presidency without an election and was able to do a lot of work for the Buddhist Congress. She had spent a large sum of her personal wealth on it.
Then in 2002 an election was held to elect a new office bearer, including its chairman.
In this election, my mother defeated Olcott Gunasekera, who was contesting for the post of President with my mother, by a majority of votes and she became the President of the Buddhist Congress for the second time.
During my tenure as Chairman of SLT from 2002-2004, I donated my entire monthly salary to my mother to use for the betterment of the Buddhist Congress. Thus my mother was able to bring the Buddhist Congress back to the glorious era of the past. She made tremendous sacrifices for it.
During her entire tenure, she practiced religion as well as nationalism through the Buddhist Congress. A great deal of work was carried out throughout the country for the revival. My mother started doing religious services and other social work from the very beginning when my father passed away.
She had a great ability to continue the work that my father had been doing until then, even better and more powerfully. In 1990, she contributed to the creation of the Ransivi House of Gold and Silver to house the Tooth Relic at the Temple of the Tooth. For this, the whole family came together and donated gold and silver.
Princess Hemamala and the Tooth Prince made a statue of the Tooth Relic and offered it to her in 1991. On behalf of the poor people of Dambadiva, the then President Ranasinghe Premadasa. My mother donated a lot of money to the housing project launched by Mr. Premadasa.
My mother also donated money to stone the Damsak Sutta sermon in Dambadiva Varanasi in Sinhala.
Apart from this, construction of a dagoba at the Sri Sambodhi Temple in Fort, offering of a 100 feet flower seat at the Matara Veherahena Temple, erection of a pandal reflecting the Atalo Dhamma in front of the Hunupitiya Gangarama Temple in Colombo, construction of a Bhikku Rest Hall at the Gampola Temple Donating money to build a rest house near the Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura is one of the major Buddhist religious services rendered by my mother. Apart from this she has performed many other great religious services during her lifetime.
There are many other tasks she has done for the health service.
Completion of an Oxygen Room for the Colombo National Hospital, Pioneering and contributing financially to the National Hospital Neurology Unit as well as donating to the Neurosurgery Unit. R. I. Financial assistance for the purchase of a scanner, construction of a maternity ward at the De Zoysa Women's Hospital, Colombo are some of the major tasks.
My mother's contribution to the betterment of hospitals by donating labor as well as wealth is immense.
My father has a very good artistic taste. His first commercial film, Unnat Dahai Malath Dahai, was a record-breaking film. My father's film "From Heaven to Earth" won the Akton Award for Best Third World Film at the 1978 International Film Festival in Cairo, Egypt. With the untimely demise of my father, my mother made sure to continue her other social and artistic endeavors.
I think it's a great privilege for my mother to have won 50 awards at various film festivals, including the Presidential Awards, for producing award - winning films such as Riverside, Daughter Mother, Uppalavanna.
I think I could write a separate book about the religious and social services my mother performed. Here are just a few. That is, considering it my duty to commemorate her fifth birthday. While wishing my mother Nirvana, I will finally note one more thing.
That is to say, I am not so fortunate to have such a mother.
-- Thilanga Sumathipala
