Elephant Healing in Miyanapalawa.............
Individuals who possess knowledge in all aspects related to elephants—such as observing elephants, the official science of elephants, elephant charms, and elephant healing—are truly skilled. Such persons with this knowledge related to elephants are rare nowadays. However, we encountered a person with specialized knowledge about elephants. He is Mr. Pradeep Miyanapalawa, the Keeper of the Elephant Stables at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.
Descended from a lineage of elephant healers, 'Pradeep Miyanapalawa' is a physician who treats elephants. He is an elephant owner. He is a Keeper of Elephant Stables. He is a mahout. Having lived with elephants since childhood, he is now 46 years old. Having served as the Keeper of the Elephant Stables at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic for some time, he is extremely busy. Yet, we engaged him in conversation. Allowing him, who deals amicably not only with elephants but also with people, the space to speak, we listened.
"Since the time of the kings in our country, there have been two lineages of elephant healing. One is the 'Hatpotha' lineage. The other is 'Miyanapalawa,' our lineage. The present members of the Hatpotha lineage do not practice healing. But they still possess the knowledge. A relative from Hatpotha recently called and told me that they still have medical texts and palm-leaf manuscripts. There is also the 'Kapugoda' lineage, who learned elephant healing from the Hatpotha lineage and continue it to this day. Currently, the healing is carried on by the son of the Kapugoda physician. He is renowned as a skilled Sinhalese doctor who treats not only elephants but also humans. Likewise, there are several physicians who learned elephant healing from the Hatpotha and Miyanapalawa lineages and still provide treatment today..."
The village where the Hatpotha lineage lives is Rambukkana. The Miyanapalawa lineage lives in Mawanella. There isn't a great distance between the two villages. The ancestral home of the Miyanapalawa lineage is situated near the Ma Oya. Crossing the Sangili bridge over the Ma Oya and proceeding about two hundred meters along the coconut embankment between the Ma Oya and the paddy fields, the Miyanapalawa ancestral home is located. People crossing the Sangili bridge and walking along the coconut embankment can see elephants from afar at the Miyanapalawa ancestral home. It is an extremely beautiful, open environment. The sense of well-being felt by body and mind in that environment is a medicine in itself. Bringing sick elephants to that environment is itself a form of treatment. The garden there is vast enough for even a hundred elephants to live freely.
"My grandfather's time was the golden age of elephant healing. Miraculous healings happened during that time. My grandfather would decide whether he could treat elephants by observing them walking along the coconut embankment..." Pradeep Miyanapalawa's grandfather was Miyanapalawa Ralelage Miyanapalawa. His grandfather (paternal) was Piyasena Miyanapalawa. His father was Sugatharathna Miyanapalawa. Starting from his grandfather's time, Pradeep Miyanapalawa is the fourth elephant healer in the lineage. It is also true that the Miyanapalawa lineage practiced elephant healing even before his grandfather's time. However, the golden age of the Miyanapalawa healing lineage is renowned as the time of Pradeep's grandfather. Pradeep told us that during that time, nearly thirty elephants, coming for treatment each day, would be tethered in the garden of the Miyanapalawa ancestral home.
"The elephant 'Kanda,' who was with the 'Raja' elephant of the Temple of the Tooth, also died in the garden of our ancestral home. In those days, elephant owners corresponded with my grandfather through letters. As soon as an elephant fell ill, the owners would write a letter and send it with the mahout to the Miyanapalawa healer's house. When the animals recovered and were ready to leave, my grandfather would give the mahout a letter to give to the owners. Money was not charged for treatments. My grandfather only accepted a sheaf of betel leaves. However, when bringing sick elephants, the mahouts would arrive with laden carry-nets. In those days, mahouts walked hundreds of kilometers with the elephants. The mahout would stay at the healer's house until the elephant's treatment was complete. The healer's house also provided food and drink for the mahouts. Vegetables needed to feed thirty or forty people a day were cultivated in the ancestral home's garden. The paddy field below the garden yielded a substantial harvest of paddy per season. It was my grandfather's custom to involve all the mahouts staying at the healer's house in the farming work. Mahouts who did not participate in the farming work were expelled from the healer's house, along with their elephants. There was strict discipline under my grandfather..." As Pradeep Miyanapalawa reminisced about the past, I posed a question.
What are the most common diseases elephants get?
"Elephants get every disease that humans get. Additionally, foot disease affecting the nails is a special disease for elephants. Due to excessive heat, the soles of some elephants' feet crack. When dirt accumulates in these cracks, foot disease develops. Even if the soles don't crack, foot disease can develop from living in unhygienic conditions. Cataracts are also common in elephants. Also, when elephants lie down, their great weight can cause bruising, leading to abscesses forming in those areas which then become wounds. Only the Miyanapalawa healing lineage treats this condition. We identify the disease, treat it for a few days, then cauterize and open the abscess, burn away and remove the unnecessary parts to create a clean wound, and then continue treatment. We still possess the traditional instruments needed for that surgery. We soak the instruments in herbal water to energize them before use. There is also a special herbal formula for treating these abscesses. Even an abscess the size of a coconut can be cauterized, treated, and healed without leaving a scar..." Pradeep was again engaged in a phone call.
Currently, the number of tamed elephants living in this country is ninety-two. Pradeep Miyanapalawa has treated seventy-five of them. He has also performed cauterization procedures on more than fifteen elephants. Pradeep succeeded in cauterizing and healing a large abscess that had developed on 'Kota Aliya' belonging to Mudhalali Ariyasena. He also cauterized and treated an abscess on the body of 'Thai Raja' from the Temple of the Tooth's elephant stable. The abscess on 'Kumara Aliya' from Meerigama was also healed through cauterization surgery. Pradeep mentioned that this surgery is not easy to perform.
"Treating elephants is not easy. Those animals do not easily allow themselves to be treated. When a doctor approaches, elephants sense that a treatment is about to be performed. Some elephants don't even like us getting close. They won't even allow themselves to be touched. There are elephants that won't sleep when the veterinary team is around, for fear of being injected. Some elephants don't care even if you treat a wound. When we were cauterizing the abscess on Meerigama Kumara Elephants's leg, he just kept eating. He didn't look at us. He didn't mind at all. We had to go several times to cauterize and treat the abscess on 'Dannoruwa Aliya' from the Walauwwa in Morawatta. The mahout said we could come only after they had tied the elephant up as needed. But when we got close, he screamed and struggled so much it seemed like the whole area would shake. It's impossible to perform cauterization treatment when they struggle like that. After several days, we finally performed the cauterization and healed the elephant. We have saved the lives of elephants that were on the verge of death through such treatments. But we couldn't save my father's life..." Pradeep became emotional.
Piyasena Miyanapalawa passed away prematurely due to an attack by an elephant he was treating. The attack occurred in the year 2002. He was 56 years old at the time. The attack was by the elephant 'Udaya' belonging to the Kataragama Devalaya in Kandy. The elephant Udaya, suffering from severe pain due to abscesses caused by swollen temporal glands, had been tethered and treated at the Miyanapalawa healer's house for some time. Piyasena Miyanapalawa was attacked while the elephant was being bathed in the water. Pradeep resumed the conversation.
"My grandmother taught my father the healing practices. She took my father with her every time she went to examine elephants. She kept him close during treatments and trained him. She taught the grandson more than the son. But my father didn't teach us the healing practices. He kept my brother and me close and made us work hard, almost forcefully. He didn't let assistants prepare the secret medicines. After the mahouts found the medicinal plants my father specified, he had us two prepare the medicines. He kept us close as assistants every time elephants were treated. That was my training. My brother and I prepared every medicine. But more than learning elephant healing, my interest was in looking after elephants. To become a mahout. My brother prioritized preparing medicines and continued that work. He didn't get much involved with the elephants. I followed my father around the elephants. Sometimes, even when my father said not to, I followed the elephants. That's how I learned to look after elephants..." Pradeep Miyanapalawa, who began his education in grade 1 at Dipitiya Royal Maha Vidyalaya, entered Aranayaka Riivisanda Madhya Maha Vidyalaya in grade 6. Pradeep, who passed the Ordinary Level examination with distinction, also passed the Advanced Level examination in the arts stream at the same school.
"From the time I was in grade 6, my father involved me in the healing and nursing tasks. Some days, after school, when I came home, ate, and was washing my hands, my father would call me and assign me to prepare medicines. I used to get angry at those times, though. If there was an elephant with a serious illness at home, we would be late returning home after school. When we cut class like that, my father would understand. Then he would have us prepare medicines until night, even on full-moon days. Although he involved my brother and me in elephant healing and nursing, he involved my sister less. But our mother learned elephant healing well.
Even though everyone at home knew the healing practices, preparing medicine for three or four elephants is not easy. There is no task as difficult as preparing medicine for elephants. You need to prepare enough medicine to fill basins and copper vessels. When preparing a poultice for an elephant, you need to prepare enough to fill a copper vessel. Even after preparing that much, when the poultice is applied for three days, it's finished. For finding medicinal ingredients, mahouts as well as village elders helped us. Even today, the person who finds medicines for me is the same old man who found medicines for my father. Those people are very knowledgeable about the medicinal plants that grow in the forest. When I tell them the name of a medicine, they know where in the forest it's located. The types of herbs used to treat elephants are the same as those used for human treatment. The quantity of medicine used for treatment and the method of preparation are different. Also, in elephant treatments, the potency of the medicines needs to be stronger..."
There was a time when Pradeep Miyanapalawa, engaged in the highly risky mission of saving the lives of sick elephants, also grew weary of 'elephant healing'. That was at the time of his father's death from an elephant attack. Following his father's demise, Pradeep's brother, who was working in the Department of Wildlife, also decided to resign from his job. However, Pradeep was not allowed to stay away from the healing profession for more than four months after his father's death. The she-elephant from Ganegoda in Hemmathagama fell ill, and the elephant owner himself came to the Miyanapalawa ancestral home, offered Pradeep a ceremonial betel tray, addressed him as 'Physician,' and requested him to treat the she-elephant. Unable to refuse the request, a helpless Pradeep looked towards his mother, who was sitting on a nearby chair.
"You cannot refuse these gentlemen's request either. Go, examine the she-elephant, do just that one, and then let's stop," Pradeep's mother advised him thus. She is Chandralatha. Pradeep told us that even today, during certain treatments for sick elephants, he still seeks advice from his mother.
The elephant healing tradition does not end...
