Global Courant
When social media was flooded with rumors that Sri Lanka’s holiest tree was being harmed by 5G mobile signals, Colombo’s cramped government pulled out all the stops.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe sent a powerful team of experts to the 2,300-year-old Sri Maha Bodhi tree in the sacred city of Anuradhapura, an ancient capital of the South Asian island nation.
The team included the head of the telecom regulator, his chief of engineering and the director of the National Botanical Gardens, along with university professors and district administrators.
Several visits were made, surveys were conducted, and the ancient tree was surveyed and monitored before reaching a conclusion: there were no 5G signals in the area at all.
Monk Pallegama Hemarathana, the chief custodian of the ancient bodhi tree (Ishara S Kodikara/AFP)
The episode highlighted the speed at which fake news is spreading in Sri Lanka – but more so it illustrated the reverence with which the country holds the Sri Maha Bodhi.
The tree is believed to have grown from a cutting of the bodhi tree in India that sheltered the Buddha when he attained enlightenment more than 2,500 years ago.
It is both an object of worship and a symbol of national sovereignty on the predominantly Buddhist island of 22 million.
‘Big risk’
The first claims he was under threat appeared on a local website: 5G radiation from towers near the tree would blacken its leaves and he was at “high risk” of eventually throwing them all off and dying.
Memes were shared en masse on Facebook and WhatsApp groups, and a TV presenter echoed the theories on his YouTube channel.
The head monk of the Bomaluwa temple that houses the tree in Anuradhapura, 200 km (125 mi) north of Colombo, was accused of taking bribes from telephone operators to get them to set up 5G base stations nearby.
“I am neither a scientist nor a botanist, so I raised the issue with the president in February,” 68-year-old monk Pallegama Hemarathana told AFP news agency. “He immediately appointed a panel of experts.”
“The government and the Buddhists will do everything they can to protect the Sri Maha Bodhi.”
Hemarathana offering prayers at Sri Maha Bodhi Temple in Anuradhapura (Ishara S Kodikara/AFP)
There are four older base stations within 500 meters (1,640 feet) of the tree, but Telecommunications Regulatory Commission director-general Helasiri Ranatunga told AFP there was “no 5G coverage in the sacred area as rumored”.
Radiation in the area was well below World Health Organization thresholds, he said, and botanical experts had ruled there was no threat from existing 2G, 3G or 4G coverage.
However, the panel recommended banning the use of mobile phones to maintain peace at the temple, he added.
While there are already signs indicating so, they are widely ignored by the hordes of the site’s visitors.
At this time, fresh heart-shaped, purple-green leaves are growing on the tree.
Botanically a “ficus religiosa” – also known as a “bo” – the tree is worshiped daily by thousands of Buddhists as a symbol of the “living Buddha”.
Relatively small despite its long history, it is propped up by 10 gilded iron supports and overshadowed by another bodhi a short distance away.
Monk Hemarathana shows newly sprouting leaves of the sacred tree (Ishara S Kodikara/AFP)
The first visitor G Kusumalatha traveled 400 km (250 mi) from Walasmulla with more than 60 other pilgrims to pay homage to the sacred tree.
“I feel ecstatic to be so close to the Sri Maha Bodhi,” she said, thanking the “good karma” that had given her the opportunity.
But no one is allowed within arm’s length.
The original tree in India is said to have died centuries ago.
His Sri Lankan descendant was the scene of an attack by separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in March 1985, which killed more than 120 people.
Since then, the tree has been fitted with airport-style security, with visitors going through metal detectors and pat-downs. It is surrounded by two gilded fences and protected 24 hours a day by monks, police and armed troops.
Several men are also deployed to clap their hands and scare away squirrels, birds and monkeys that could threaten the tree.
Sashika Neranjan, 39, recently visited the site with his extended family.
“Our sister and brother managed to get permanent residency in Australia after taking a vow here,” he said. “We are here to thank the sacred bo tree.”
