WWW Virtual Library - Sri Lanka

Abhayagiri Vihara - The Northem Monastery (Uttararamaya)

(By I G. Kulatunga and Athula Arnarasekera)

An exemplary foundation

Anuradhapura, one of the most extensive ruins in the world, and one of its most sacred pilgrimage cities, was a great monastic centre as well as a royal capital, with magnificent monasteries rising to many stories, all roofed with gilt bronze or tiles of burnt clay glazed in brilliant colors. To the north of the city, encircled by great walls and containing elaborate bathing ponds, carved balustrades and moonstones, stood Abhayagiri, one of seventeen such religious units in Anuradhapura and the largest of its five major viharas. Surrounding the humped dagaba, Abhayagiri Vihara was a seat of the Northern Monastery, or Uttara Vihara.

 The term Abhayagiri Vihara means not only a complex of monastic buildings, but also a fraternity of Buddhist monks, or Sangha, which maintained its own historical records, traditions and way of life. Founded in the second century B.C., it had grown into an international institution by the first century of this era, attracting scholars from all over the world and encompassing all shades of Buddhist philosophy. Its influence can be traced to other parts of the world, through branches established elsewhere. Thus, the Abhayagiri Vihara developed as a great institution vis‑a‑vis the Mahavihara and the jetavana Buddhist monastic sects in the ancient Sri Lankan capital of Anuradhapura.

Once flourishing, the great monasteries of Anuradhapura fell into melancholy ruin, only to be overgrown with vegetation, their walls and roofs pierced by the thrust of trees and tangled roots, and the great dagaba became a tree‑covered hillock the size of a town. After many centuries of oblivion, they are again being explored and cleared, and detailed excavation and conservation work is now leading to the rediscovery of an exquisite royal city of temples and monasteries.

It is recorded in the chronicles that Abhayagiri was established by King Vattagamini Abhaya (Valagamba), during the period of his second reign, from 89 to 77 B.C., a young Brahmin named Tiya (Tissa) declared war against him. Tiya was deluded by the prophecy of another Brahmin into thinking that was destined to be king. Before the arrival of Mahinda Thera who brought Buddhism to the island, Brahmins held the highest place in society. After the establishment of the Bhikkhu order in the island, however, they lost their supremacy, and were replaced by the Buddhist Sangha. Some Brahmins converted to Buddhism, while others raised the standard of revolt. Tiya, who enjoyed the support of his community, lived both in and outside of Sri Lanka, and was therefore very powerful.

At the same time, seven Tamil chiefs landed at Mahatittha with a mighty army. King Valagamba, a good diplomat, realizing that his forces were too weak to fight against both of these enemies, tried to rid himself of them by making them fight each other 'like a palm leaf cutting itself'. He sent a message to Tiya that he could have the kingdom, provided he managed to defeat the foreign invaders. Tiya agreed, advanced with his forces to meet the Tamils, and was vanquished by them. The Tamils, elated by their success, advanced towards Anuradhapura and defeated the king, who was forced to abandon the throne and go into hiding in the mountains. As the King, defeated in battle, was fleeing Anuradhapura, a Jain priest of the Giri Monastery, which had been built by King Pandukhabaya near the northern gate of the citv, cried out 'The great black Sinhala is fleeing.' The king thereupon resolved, if my wish (of regaining the kingdom) is fulfilled, I will build a Temple here.'

During the period of famine and foreign rule which followed, Vattagamani Abhaya took refuge in the mountain region collecting troops until, after more than fourteen years of exile, he marched on Anuradhapura in 89 B.C., and defeated the last Tamil king, Bhatiya. In fulfillment of the vow made on the day of his defeat, one of His first acts was to build the Abhayagiri Vihara on the site of the Giri monastery. Mahatissa Thera of Kupikkala was appointed as its Chief Incumbent, as a mark of gratitude for his support in the fight against the invaders. Abhayagiri thereafter became a symbol not only of religious, but also of national resurgence, as it signaled the end of Brahmin and Jain influence in the country.

According to the chronicles, the name Abhayagiri Vihara originated from the names of King Vattagamani Abhaya and of the Giri priests who lived in the Jain monastery. However, since most ancient monasteries were built around a hillock, or giri in Sinhala, examples being the Vessagiri, Meghagiri or Chetiyagiri monasteries, it is possible that the name Abhayagiri symbolizes the monastery created by Vattagamani Abhaya after his recapture of the kingdom surrounding the hillock known as Digapasana, now inside the Abhayagiri complex.

Although the monastery came into being as a breakaway faction of the Mahaviharal professing the Theravada doctrine, there are, initially, no discernible differences from the Mahavihara in its attitude towards doctrine or religious practices until, according to the Nikaya 5angraha (the Story of the Sects), a monk called Dhammaruci, of the Vajjiputtaka sect, arrived at Abhayagiri in 77 B.C. After that time, the monks came to be known as Dhammaruci as they accepted the theory of Puggala‑attavada of the Vajjiputtaka sect, a breakaway sect differing from the orthodox Mahavihara Buddhist sect of Anuradhapura, which had originated in India. A later attempt in the third century AD.,to introduce Vaitulyavada, another school of Buddhist thought, was subsequently frustrated.

The golden age of Abhayagiri

The accession of King Mahasena in the third century A.D.. saw the suppression of the Theravada doctrine practised by the Mahavihara monks. The king prohibited the giving of alms to them and went as far as to demolish the buildings of the Mahavihara and re‑use their materials for the construction of new buildings at the Abhayagiri. The accession of Mahasena ushered in the golden age of Abhayagiri. After the Buddha's Tooth Relic was brought to Sri Lanka in the fourth century, Abhayagiri was selected to house the relic for public veneration.

Fa‑hsien, a Chinese monk recounts that: 'Ten days from now, Buddha's tooth will be brought out and carried to the Abhayagiri Monastery... on both sides of the road; the king sets images of the Five Hundred Forms which the Buddha assumed in his previous existence.' By the time Fa‑hsien came to Sri Lanka in search of the Dhamma, visited Abhayagiri in 412 A.D., it had developed into a leading Buddhist centre of Sri Lanka. He spent two years studying the Dhamma doctrine, and carried away copies of texts of the Mahayana doctrine. 'Fa‑hsien stayed in this country for two years and obtained a copy of the "Rules of the Mahisasakas". He also procured copies of the 'Dirgagama", the "Samyuktagama" and the "Sannipata", all of which were unknown in China.'

By the seventh century A.D., Abhayagiri Vihara consisted of four mulas fraternities or grouped institutions for religious teaching: the Uttara‑mula, Kapara‑mula, Mahancthpa‑mula and Vahadu‑mula, all of which have now been located and identified through archaeological excavations, research and epigraphical evidence. In the course of time, Abhayagiri had developed into a wcll‑organized religious and educational institution having well- established relations with China, Java and Kashmir.

According to the Chinese text Pi‑Chitu‑Ni‑Chung, the biography of the bhikkhunis (nuns) compiled by Pao Chang in 526 A.D., and the biography of Gunavarnam and Sanghavarnam, the Sinhala nuns gave the second Upasampada, or higher ordination, to the Chinese nuns. According to another Chinese source, in 426 A.D.,eight Sinhala (shin‑iza‑kuo) nuns (pi--chiu‑ni) arrived in Nanking, the capital of the early Sung dynasty (420‑77 A.D.), on a foreign merchant ship owned by a certain Nandi. Consequently, three more nuns, headed by Tie-so-re (Tissara in Sinhala), arrived in Nanking. Thus in the year 434 over three thousand nuns, received their higher ordination for the second time in the presence of more than ten Sinhala nuns headed by Tissara at the Nanking Temple in China.

It is also recorded that there were religious contacts between Sri Lanka and Java through the Abayagiri Vihara, at least toward the end of eighth century, as attested by a fragmentary inscription from the Ratubaka plateau in central Java. This inscription records the establishment of 'the Abhayagiri Vihara of Sinhalese ascetics trained in the sayings of jinas (Buddha).' Commenting on this record, J.G. de Casparis observes, 'The most important detail is the name of the foundation, vis., the Abhayagiri Vihara. The name at once suggests that of the famous monastery of Anuradhapura, and the addition of the words "of the Sinhalese' proves that this is not just a coincidence. In fact, the foundation is a second Abhayagiri Vihara ... either in common with it in form or spirit, or both, to deserve the same name.'

Periodic South Indian invasions, especially in the ninth century in the reign of Sena 1, almost half a century of Cola rule and the subsequent abandonment of the capital, Anuradhapura, led to the disintegration of the Abhayagiri Vihara. Despite efforts by Vijayabahu I and Parakramabahu I in the thirteenth century to renovate and resurrect the temple, its gradual destruction in the course of time could not be averted, particularly after the final transfer of the capital from Polonnaruva in the Rajarata, or King's Country, to an alternative location in 1215 as a result of repeated Maga invasions.

A dark era of eight hundred years engulfed Abhayagiri Vihara until its rediscovery in the 1880s awoke scientific and scholarly interest in the abandoned and vandalized ruins. Mistakenly identified at first with Jetavana Vihara, they were photographed and drawn by specialists in the late nineteenth century, while the Department of Archaeology, established about the same period, undertook excavation and conservation work of some of the edifices at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Planning and layout

Covering approximately 200 hectares, Abhayagiri Vihara had all the components required by doctrine for a Buddhist temple; the image house, stupa, Bo Tree shrine, chapter house (poyage or ruvanpaha), residence for monks, and refectories. This is confirmed by the inscriptions of Mahinda IV (956‑972 A.D.) found at Abhayagiri: 'Whatever remains after repairs have been effected .... at the site of the great stone statue, Ruvanpaha (the chapter‑house) at the Abayatura‑maha‑sa ... at the shrine of the sacred Bo Tree... shall be kept as communal property.' Recent archaeological excavations at the site have also revealed other features such as roadways, assembly halls and temple buildings such as the Abhisheka Mandapa (the ceremonial anointing hall).

A road access system anticipating modern concepts of town planning has been uncovered, with the highway from the city to the north running through the monastery. The roads and pathways, generally paralleled with the principal axes, are up to ten metres wide. Fa‑hsien throws some light on the circumstances of their creation: 'Buddha's Tooth will be brought out and carried to Abhayagiri Monastery. All monks and laymen who wish to do good deeds may level the roads, adorn the lanes and streets, and prepare all kinds of flowers and incense as offerings.'

By the seventh century, the stupa, the Uposathagam chapter house, the refectory, the principal Bodhighara, and the assembly hall of the Abhayagiri fraternies were completed. The principal roadways and common water bodies were shared by the residents of thirty subsidiary monasteries composed of a quincunx of monastic residences, or pancavasa, within each of the four fraternities. Spatially, the public and private domains of the monasteries were clearly defined, as dictated by the doctrine. The public spaces surrounding the stupa contained the principal BodhighaTa of the complex to the south‑east, the sannipatasala or assembly hall, the chapter house and the Abhisheka Mandapa. The asanaghara can now be identified as the principal Bo Tree shrine of Abhayagiri.

The stupas

According to Fa‑hsien, 'Buddha once came to [his country to convert a dragon ... Over the footprint north of the royal city, a great stupa,, four hundred feet high, was erected ... by, the side of this stupa was erected the monastery called Abhayagiri'.

The centre‑piece of the monastery and its four fraternities, Abhayagiri Stupa, consisting of outer and inner terraces enclosed by walls, is over 75 meters high and 106.5 meters in diameter at its widest point. The outer terrace was strewn with sand, while the inner terrace was stone‑paved. The rain‑water falling on this vast stretch of land was drained into four ponds built near the Stupa grounds. Today stripped of parts of its outer casing and covered by vegetations, the great dome was built of solid brickwork laid in a butterclay mortar, and may contain small, inaccessible chambers or garba concealed in its interior. The superstructure above the dome consists of the massive rectangular cube of the hataraskotuva surmounted by the circular devatakotuva and the badly deteriorated spire.

The Stupa as it stands today is the original as last renovated by Parakramabahu 1. No major renovation or conservation has been done since, apart from some attempts at consolidation of the cube, cylinder and spire by the Department of Archaeology in 1910‑12 and reconstruction of parts of the three basal terraces by the chief monks in 1926 and after. J. G. Smither attempted a careful documentation and after which he published in the form of several excellent drawings in his monumental book, 'Archaeological Remains, Anuradhapura, Ceylon', in 1884.

There are other stupas in the Abhayagiri Vihara complex. One such is the Lankarama Stupa which originally had a conical roof covering. This has been identified as the Silasobbhakandaka Cetiya built by King Valagamba. Another tall brick structure, situated in Vahadu‑mula to the west of the Elephant Pond, was previously thought to be a library building, but turned out to be a stupa. Yet another, popularly known as Indikatu Seya, is situated close to the Ratnaprasada. The last two stupas are similar in design to the well‑known Naka Vehera. The Indikatusaye, or Needle Stupa, is an example of the ingenuity of the ancient Sinhalese in planning and erecting buildings in harmony with the surrounding landscape. Stylistically, it is considered to be Mahayanic.

The Bo Tree shrine

'A former king of this country', relates Fa‑hsien, 'had sent a messenger to the middle kingdom to fetch a seed of the Pattra tree to plant beside the hall, and this grew some two hundred feet high. This tree inclined towards the south‑east and, fearing that it might fall, the king set up a huge pillar that required eight or nine men to encircle it, to support the tree. At the place where the tree was propped, a branch grew from the trunk and pierced the pillar, then sent down roots to the ground. This branch was so thick that it took four men to encircle it. Though the pillar is cleft in two, since it still supports the tree, it has not been removed. Under this tree is a rest house containing a seated image of the Buddha to which both monks and laymen pay homage continuously.' The Pattra tree mentioned by Fa‑hsien is the Bo‑Tree at Buddha‑Gaya in India where Buddha achieved enlightenment.

From previous excavations by the Archaeological Department and recent excavations by the Cultural Triangle, it is now possible to identify the location of the Bodhi Tree described by Fa‑hsien ‑ the principal Bo‑Tree shrine of the complex ‑ with the monument popularly known as the Asanaghara, or Coronation Point. From a‑hsien's‑ description and the chronicles, we know that monasteries already existed by the fifth century to the south west of the stupa. It is therefore clear that, although this was the oldest Bodhi Tree of the Abhayagiri complex, it was not the first on the Asanaghara. Excavations carried out in 1962 and 1963 by Dr Godakumbura revealed three successive cultural phases. Recent excavations in the Cultural Triangle have identified a fourth stratum demarcating the trough used to plant the Bo‑Tree. An inscription, dating from between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D., found in this layer, firmly establishes that the Bo‑Tree shrine and the earliest refectory belong to the fourth cultural phase. Also found in the Bodhighara among objects of worship were representations of the footprints of the Buddha, asana (seats) and seated Buddha images. With the development of the Buddha statue, one can identify the use of disused footprints as column bases. Further excavations have uncovered several seated images, indicating the final development as a shrine with seated Buddhas and asanas.

The Image House and other monuments

'By the side of this stupa, a monastery was erected which is called Abhayagiri (the Hill of Fearlessness), and here are five thousand monks. It contains a hall for the worship of Buddha, engraved with gold and silver and adorned with precious stones. In it stands an image of Buddha made of green jade, some twenty feet high. The entire image sparkles with the seven precious substances, and its splendour and magnificence defy description. In its right hand, the image holds a priceless pearl...'

This description by Fa‑hsien, and an inscription by Kasyapa V, confirm the existence of a principal Image House which it has not yet been possible to locate, although many image houses can be identified within the existing ruins. The Mahasena pavilion and the queen's pavilion, for example, indicate the existence of image houses within a pancavasa complex.

The largest preaching hall hitherto discovered in Sri Lanka, the Sannipatasala, is situated opposite the southern entrance to the Stupa, serving both the clergy and laity: this was an open hall with stone parapet walls on four sides. The entrances, facing the cardinal points, were flanked by the four guardian deities. The statue of Virupaksa, the guardian deity of the west, found in ruined state, is now preserved in the Abhayagiri museum. The stone plinths of statues of other gods were also found here. The ruins of an image house towards the north‑east can be dated to the late Anuradhapura period, although the remains of brick walls dating from three earlier construction phases were discovered during excavations.

The remains of a building to the south of the Ratnaprasada, the Chapter House of Abhayagiri, mistakenly thought by earlier scholars to be a refectory, were identified by Dr Roland Silva as a preaching hall. Subsequent excavations under the Cultural Triangle project at Abhayagiri have confirmed this identification.

The Abhishaka Mandapaya, or Anointing Hall, is thought to have been used for anointing Buddha statues and other objects of veneration during festivals.

The residential quarters

A pancavasa complex, of which approximately thirty have been found at Abhayagiri, consists of a group of five two‑storied residential buildings enclosed by a wall, according to the requirements of the disciplinary code of monks, with its entrance situated at the end of an axial avenue. In its outer precincts were anciliary and service buildings. The central unit was the space for the teacher and his classroom, the upper floor being usedas a library, while the four corner buildings were set aside for the pupils with three on each floor, giving a basic unit of twenty‑four students to one teacher for each pancavasa complex. There is evidence to suggest that an image was kept within the central building. The buildings had elaborate doorways and a lotus petal pedestal of brick or stone. The walls were of brick plastered with lime mortar and reinforced with structural stone columns, while the upper floors were of timber, sometimes finished with lime plaster. The roofs of the residential buildings were covered with terra cotta roofing tiles; recent excavations have led to the discovery of ten different colors of glazed tile used to decorate the roofs.

Each of these residential units had baths, sometimes equipped for hot water, urinals and sanitary closets. The drainage system was similar to modern concepts in sanitation, and the lavatories were connected by stone conduits to septic tanks outside the building. The sanitary complex of Vahadurnula is 19.75 by 13 metres and is surrounded by a brick wall. The waste water from the basin is drained by an underground conduit to a covered square soakaway pit, 2.2 metres square and of an equal depth, situated within the walled enclosure. In the centre of the stone slab covering the pit is a small circular opening, perhaps meant as an air‑vent. The lavatory and ablutions adjoin each other. Within the complex, but outside the courtyard enclosure, was an area for sun‑bathing after applying a medicated oil or ointment to the body. A beau tif ully‑made urinal carved in stone, a stone seat and a paved bathroom floor have been unearthed in a pancavasa, behind the second Samadhi Buddha statue. The foul water was filtered and drained into the ground through a series of clay pots. A small refectory comprising a kitchen and a storage area was found at the entrance to the pancavasa complex. This individual refectory was used for every-day meals and daily delivery of alms.

A significant architectural feature of each complex, adding much to the beauty of the landscape environment, was the pond, often very ornamental, as the Eth Pokuna, or Elephant Pond, were linked to these smaller ponds by underground pipes.

The biggest rice‑bowl in the world

The Chinese monk Fa‑hsien, who lived at Abhayagiri for nearly two years, reports that there were five thousand monks living there at that time. Within the refectory excavated and conserved by the Cultural Triangle project is a stone trough with a capacity of five thousand alms bowls, indicating that this trough was used to contain boiled rice, or alternatively, to store uncooked rice offered as alms to the bhikkhus. The plan of this refectory differs somewhat from those found in other monasteries in Anuradhapura. Two courtyards, paved and well‑drained ensured adequate light and ventilation to the building. There are indications that it was expanded a number of times. This is confirmed by excavated remains from four different cultural phases, and a stone inscription from the first century BC.,to the first century A.D., describing a gift to the refectory. Underground conduits supplied fresh water and drained away waste water. A stone sun‑dial was used to ensure that the midday meal was served prior to noon, as dictated by doctrine. Hearths and various forms of grinding stones have also been found.

Ancient water management

The Elephant Pond, equivalent in area to six modern Olympic swimming pools, is perhaps the largest man made pond in Sri Lanka. A flight of steps leads down to the pond from the centre of each sidewall. To the north and south, underground water conduits have been found which probably supplied water from neighboring tanks. One such conduit continues to function during the rainy season even today.

The existence of the bisokotuva, or cistern sluice, in the south‑west corner, indicates that water was distributed through conduits to other ponds in the vicinity, and an underground conduit supplying water to the refectory to the cast has been discovered.

The Elephant Pond was perhaps built for the supply and storage of water to three of the fraternities, excepting Kaparamula. It is an eloquent testimony to the highly developed water management and hydrological engineering techniques of the ancient Sinhalese.

Among the most significant artistic achievements in the field of hydrological engineering are the Twin Ponds, or Kuttam Pokuna. These can be considered one of the outstanding architectural and artistic creations of the ancient Sinhalese. Built of polished stone slabs, they have entrance steps flanked by two stone punkalas, or pots of abundance. The embankments were perhaps made to enable the monks to bathe using pots or other utensils. Water supplied through the underground conduits was first conveyed to stone chambers, or silt traps, from whence it was filtered before flowing in to the ponds. An opening for an outlet allowing water to be drained away during repair was discovered at the bottom of each pond. The ponds were restored during the time of Dr. Senerath Paranavitana. During excavation small figures including a fish, a conch, a crab and a dancing women were found in the bottom.

Ancient technology

The 500-acre sight also contains many ancillary buildings connected with the day-to-day functioning of the monastery complex. These include foundries and workshop areas for the processing of lime plaster and pottery glazes. Samples of plaster produced in these workshops can be seen in the vahalkada of the stupa. The raw materials for the glazes, used for application to roofing tiles and ceramics, seem to have been lime and sand. Remnants of grinding stones, lime and sand, moulds and pots discovered at the site of the workshop building provide clues to the manufacturing process of glazes. Among several foundries which have been excavated are furnaces of clay, lined with mica and graphite. A crucible was found on one site. A gilt bronze Buddha statue, fragments of two other figures and a bronze astamangala bowl with eight auspicious symbols unearthed nearby indicate that they were cast at this particular foundry. Raw materials for iron manufacture and iron stag have also been discovered, and further excavations have revealed a series of moulds for casting images, coins and crucibles.

It is significant that remnants of paintings belonging to the Anuradhapura period have been discovered in the Abhayagiri Vihara Complex. Some of these are found in the sculptures of the gateways and the gate houses. A patch of paint is found under the right shoulder of the Samadhi Buddha statue. There is evidence in the chronicles, supported by finds from the excavations, that the entire stupa, stone stabs and statues had all been painted with locally produced lime or lime‑based paint. One such 'paint factory' has in fact been discovered and restored at Abhayagiri, within the precincts of the Mahanetpamula.

Architectural decoration

The architectural elements of the buildings excavated at Abhayagiri Vihara clearly reflect the social beliefs and religious practices prevalent at the time. Although Buddhism was the state religion and the principle doctrine followed by the majority of the population, the influence of other local beliefs, particularly Hinduism, were considerable, and are expressed in the architecture of the period. The design of entrances, for example, illustrates the practice of placing buildings under the protection of a guardian deity.

The two slabs erected on either side of the foot of the flight of steps leading to a building are know as guard stones (Muragal). They are usually carved, although plain guard stones have also been found. Among the Hindu symbols represented on these stones, the most common, apart from the Pot of Abundance and Kalpavrksa, is the figure of the Nagaraja, or anthropomorphic King Cobra. The best example of these, and one of the finest guardstones yet discovered, was found at the Ratnaprasada in Abhayagiriya, and illustrates the degree of perfection reached by the sculptors of Abhayagiri. Lotuses and punkalas are indicative of plenty. Representations of the lotus are of particular significance in agricultural societies where they symbolize the daughters of the guardian deity of rain. The elephant figure at the Eth Pokuna is also a symbol of water.

The principle Buddhist guardian deities are frequently indicated by the animal vehicles of the particular gods, particularity on the guard stones. A good example is furnished by the the exquisite statues on either side of the entrance to Abhayagiri Stupa. The head‑dress of one of the statues is a conch while that of the other is a lotus. Representing Sanka and Padma, the two principal treasure houses of Kuvera, they are believed to have been erected to ward off any evil or danger that might threaten the stupa or its precinct. Even at present they are commonly believed to be endowed with mystic powers, and courts of law in Anuradhapura accept swearing before the statues as evidence in settlement of minor disputes between litigants.

The best example of a moonstone, a unique creation of Sri Lanka sculptors, can be seen at the foot of the steps leading to the Pancavasa commonly known as Mahasenas palace. A smaller example, just as exquisitely carved, was found nearby at the Queen's Pavilion. Varying in shape and size and made of different kinds of stones, all are exquisite artistic creations. According to Paranavitana, the moonstone symbolizes samsara, the endless cycle of rebirth, and the path to freedom from the samsaric process leading to nirvana. He interprets the pattern of the outermost ring as flames, and the various animals shown in the other concentric circles as successive phases of man's passage through samsara.

The Samadhi Buddha images

The image of Buddha in Samadhi posture, considered the finest samadhi image in all Sri Lanka, is dated by Coomaraswamy to a period before the third century A.D. javaharlal Nehru wrote that he found solace during his imprisonment by the British by looking at a photograph of this statue. Sculptured out of dolomite, it is Gupta in style and execution. Probably the eyes were originally studded with gems, and a path of paint found under the right shoulder is evidence that the entire figure may have been painted. The discovery of a pit behind the statue suggests that this was one of four that stood on each side of a Bodhigara, or Bo‑Tree shrine.

Some  remarkable finds

The Ardhanarinatesvera bronze image, discovered during excavation of inner wall of the Abhayagiri Stupa, is the first of its kind discovered in the world. The dancing posture is a feature which is not found in similar statues discovered in India. Traditionally, the female half of the statue is on the left side and the male half on the right, but in this statue the opposite is the case. The male figure wears a headdress, and his left forearm is in the form of a snake's tail, the rest of the arm being in the katakamudra. The left leg is raised in dancing posture. The right leg, in a similar posture, is kept on the ground. The right hands have jewellery, whereas the left hands are without them. The right ear is adorned with a large and beautiful ear ornament, but the one in the left ear is not as beautiful. Each half is appropriately dressed according to its sex. This great work of art portrays the Hindu creation myth of the genesis of the human race by Agni and Soma, the principles of heat and cold.

A bronze bowl, discovered at the foundry of Mahanet‑ pamula, though described as a bowl, is more like a vessel with three legs. Measuring 14.5 cm. in diameter and 8 cm. in height, it is the only vessel of its kind to have been discovered in Sri Lanka. It is well‑preserved and there is evidence to show that it originally bore a lid. A metal sheet fixed inside the bowl with three nails shows that it was broken into pieces. Perhaps it had been brought to the foundry for repairs. Moulded in low relief in a band around the outside of the bowl are the 'eight auspicious symbols'. These are the bhadrapita (auspicious seat), the matsya yugala (double fish), the ankusa (elephant goad), the camara (fly-whisk), the srivatsa or purnaghata (pot of abundance), the sankha (conch), and the svastika. There can be no doubt that this vessel was used for ritual purposes.

Over seventy inscriptions, dating from the first century B.C.,to the eleventh century A.D., illustrate the development of early Brahimi, middle Sinhala, Sanskrit and Tamil. They are of inestimable value to archaeologists and historians for the new light they shed on the religious, political and soci--economic life of ancient Sri Lanka. For example, the Digapasana inscription indicates a gift to a Tamil monk by Tamil devotees. One of these inscriptions, on a paving stone in the terrace near the south frontispiece (vahal,kada) of the stupa, helped to clear the confusion regarding the identity of Abhayagiri and jetavana. Three important inscriptions belonging to the reigns of Mahinda IV and Kasyapa V describe the plan of the Abhayagiri complex and its administrative organization. Equally important is the discovery of a unique Sanskrit inscription at Kaparamula, which provides the exact date and time of a solar eclipse.

Also of special significance is the finding of an inscription on a gold ingot with older lettering specifying its weight, thereby making possible a comparison between early units of measurement and those used today. Coins found at Abhayagiri date from the pre-Christian era to the Dutch period. (Source: The Cultural Triangle by UNESCO Publishing - CCF)

WWW Virtual Library - Sri Lanka


Should interpreters work under those conditions?

April 24, 2017 § 4 Comments

Dear Colleagues:

Freelance interpreting is a beautiful career but it has its complications. Besides the general complexities of being an interpreter, independent professionals must worry about getting and keeping clients, the administrative aspects of the business, and the market conditions, including competitors, unscrupulous agencies, and ignorant individuals who, knowing little of the profession, try to set the rules we all play by.

We all have our own personal motivations to work as interpreters. All legitimate and many honorable. I am an interpreter for two main reasons: Because I like working in the booth, and because of the freedom, flexibility and income.

In my experience, I have rarely encountered a colleague who hates the profession (although I have met some). Freedom and flexibility are appealing to many; but with the actual decision to take or reject assignments based on content and other factors, or the relentless pursuit of professional good work conditions and a professional fee, many interpreters bulk at confronting the market and demand what they deserve.

For many years I worked as court and conference interpreter simultaneously. I liked the work in court, the cases, the challenges, the drama, and sometimes the outcome of a legal controversy, but it was wearing me out.  Many times working in court was depressing, not because of the truculent cases or the human misery you get to see in the courtroom, but because of the conversations among many of my colleagues.

It wasn’t unusual to hear interpreters talk about how they could barely make ends meet, or complain of how little work they were getting from the court. Common topics would include choices between paying the rent or a child’s medical bills. The interpreters who dared to talk about a nice dinner in town or an overseas vacation were met with resentment. It was almost like those with a good income had to keep it secret. It was very uncomfortable.

I do not like to see people suffer, and no doubt these colleagues were in pain. The problem is that it was self-inflicted. Being an interpreter who makes little money is a curable disease. It requires that the interpreter practice and study to improve their rendition, grow their vocabulary, and increase their general knowledge. It also needs a good dosage of courage and determination to go out there and look for good clients. Sitting in the courthouse interpreters’ room complaining of how they are not given more assignments, and settling for the fees (low in my opinion) that the judiciary pays interpreters will never get you ahead of the curve. I never liked it when other interpreters would describe themselves as “we work for the courts”. Unless you are a staff interpreter, the courts are your clients, not your boss. Talking to many colleagues all over the world I can say the same for those who work in healthcare: You will never make a lot of money interpreting in a hospital or clinic. The cure for the disease is one paragraph above.

I respect others’ opinion, and we all know what we want to do with our career and our life, but to me getting to know the market (or markets in many cases) where you work does not mean “learning the limits to what you can request or charge”. To some, interpreters who adapt to their market are doing something good. To me, they are just giving up and convincing themselves this is the best they might do. An interpreter who does not accept irrational work conditions or insultingly low fees is on the right track. Those who demand team interpreting for any assignment that will go over 30 minutes to one hour maximum, or ask for a booth with decent interpreting equipment, or want to get the materials ahead of time so they can study, are doing what professionals do. Interpreters who refuse to work under substandard conditions or don’t dare to charge a high fee for fear that the client will go with somebody else are digging their own graves and hurting the profession.

The interpreter who rejects an assignment because the agency wants him to work alone, or the interpreter who walks away from an offer to do a conference for a miserable fee are doing what should be done. Accepting work without materials because “nobody in my market provides materials ahead of time for this type of assignment” and working solo or without a booth because “If I don’t do it I will go out of business” may be adapting to the market, and to some this may be praiseworthy. To me they just are excuses; a pretext to avoid the constructive and educational confrontation with the agency or direct client. This interpreters do not “adapt” to the market, they shape it, and that is good.

I started this entry by emphasizing that to get what we want we must practice and study. Only good professionals may demand (and enjoy) everything we have discussed here. We must be professionals at the time of our rendition in the booth, courthouse, hospital, or TV network. We must earn the trust and appreciation of our client by becoming reliable problem-solvers who will do anything needed from us as professionals to make the assignment a success.  Be flexible as an interpreter. Once, the console failed in the middle of a conference, and instead of suspending the rendition until the tech staff could fix the problem, I jumped right on stage and continued interpreting consecutively until the system was working again. This is what we do. This is the right flexibility the client should expect from us. One time an agency asked me if I could be the driver of some of the foreign visitors I was to interpret for. I immediately refused. Driving is not part of what an interpreter is expected to do as a professional, and neither is to do photocopies, or set up the chairs and tables for the conference.

That we have to get a lot of clients to generate a good income is false. I consider myself a successful interpreter and I probably have fewer clients than many. I am never the first interpreter the agencies most of you are familiar with call, and I don’t want to be. If you are the first name on the list it means you could be undercharging or too willing to accept the agency’s work conditions.  I am the last name on the list, and that is good.

Whether it is because the agency could find nobody else, and they are now willing to pay my fee, or because it is a difficult, or high-profile assignment and they need one of the best, even though they know that my services don’t come cheap.  Well-run agencies make a great deal of money; hospitals charge more than any other service provider in society; attorneys keep one-third of the money awarded in a case (and interpreter fees do not even come from that slice, they are deducted from the part the plaintiff is to receive).

I know we all have our reasons to do what we do with our careers. I respect everybody’s decisions. All I ask you to do is that the next time you evaluate taking an assignment under less than ideal work conditions, or for a lower fee, before saying yes to the agency or direct client ask yourself if adapting to the market is a good thing, or shaping the market to satisfy your needs is better.  I invite you to share your opinions with the rest of us.

Will my clients find me in this association’s directory?

April 17, 2017 § 10 Comments

Dear Colleagues:

I am tired of getting this call repeatedly: “Hi, I got your name from the ATA directory and I was wondering if you would be available for a medical evaluation (or a worker’s compensation hearing) this Friday…”

Maybe those providing the service would be happy with these calls, but I am not.  Every time I must answer the phone to tell somebody I don’t do that work, and that I refuse to work for peanuts, is a waste of my time.  I do conference interpreting and I don’t like to explain two or three times a week I do not work for fifty dollars an hour.

For years I have almost exclusively worked as a conference interpreter, doing some court or legal interpreting for established Law Firms I regularly work with, generally in civil cases or some federal criminal matters.  Motivated by ATA’s outreach campaign regarding the credentialed interpreter designation and database, I thought that maybe, if I clarified it on the ATA directory that my credentials are United States Department of State Conference-level, and Federal court certification, all these people would stop calling asking me to do work that I do not provide.

I have been an ATA member for many years, and even though the association does many things I am very much against, I also get many benefits from my membership: a monthly publication with some very good articles, a discount on my errors and omissions insurance, good divisional activities, valuable webinars, and a well-known directory.

I logged in to the members section of the website to update my information and take advantage of the new credentialed interpreters’ database in their directory. This happened:

I must start by confessing that I rarely access ATA’s website, so I found it a little bit too crowded; maybe appealing to translators, but I believe it could be a little intimidating for clients looking for an interpreter or translator. After I accessed the “members” section, I looked for a section called “Interpreters’ credentials”, or something similar, but I found nothing. I clicked on the menu where it says “update your contact information” and “update your online directory profile”.

As I got to the profile section, all my information was already there (so I had entered it before). I did not need to change anything. Since I was already inside the program, I reviewed it anyway to see if I needed to make any changes. When I got to the “Interpreting Services” section, I saw that I had previously highlighted “consecutive”, “court”, “escort”, and “simultaneous”. Since I saw a “court” category, I scrolled down to see if I could also highlight “conference”, but the only category left for me to highlight was “sign language”. I thought it was odd. On one hand, if all you are listing are the interpreting you do, then “court” does not belong in here. If they added “court” to make the search easier for the clients, then I would like to see “conference” as an option. I suppose that healthcare interpreters would argue the same for their specialization.

Under the “Certifications” section, I entered my federal court interpreter and my two state-level court interpreter certifications from the drop down menu. I saw nothing for other credentials that are not certifications, but equally important, such as AIIC, U.S. Department of State, European Union, etc. The menu had another category: “other” where I entered my conference interpreting credentials, constantly wondering why I could not find the so much talked about “credentialed interpreter” menu for the new database ATA has been advertising so much. I thought the reason the place to enter that information was somewhere else, perhaps later on the form, was because these other credentials are not certifications and ATA had included them separately.

I kept looking, and my search only found a different category towards the end of the page called: “Additional Information”. That was it. No other place to enter conference interpreter credentials. Knowing I would not get what I wanted, I tested the directory, so I looked myself up. On a simple search I found my information, not as advertised with the credentialed interpreter information, but as I had entered it earlier. I immediately thought of the unwanted agency phone calls that would keep on coming as before.

I ran an advanced search just for English<>Spanish interpreters in Illinois, where I live, asking for State Department conference-level credentials, and the result was “we found none”.  I found this interesting, so I dug deeper to see if there was a problem with the directory search engine. The first thing I tried was a search for interpreters with that same language combination and credentials in the largest state: California. I know several colleagues there with the credentials and are members of ATA. The result was: “we found none”.

At this time I decided that maybe it was a glitch on the search engine, but before concluding that, I wanted to see if I had missed the section where you enter these credentials. I went over the form two more times and I found nothing. At this point I am thinking that maybe I needed to submit my credentials for a verification before the information was displayed, so I went back to the form once again. I read it carefully looking for some instructions or description of such process. I found nothing.

I did the only thing left: I went to the search menu at the top of the page and I typed: “credentialed interpreter process”. The search took me to a page with all the results. At the top I saw one that looked like the information I was looking for, so I clicked on it.

I finally found the explanations and instructions, with a link to a form to start the process. The first thing the program asks you to do is to reenter your ATA membership information. Once you are in the form, you are greeted by a message in red that tells you to submit a separate form for each credential and that you must pay $35.00 USD. As an attorney I must confess that although the red-inked message clarifies that one fee covers all requests, it is ambiguous on a second matter: it reads: “A $35-administrative fee covers all requests for one year.”  I did not understand if this means that for your information to continue to be available indefinitely you must pay $35.00 USD every year, or that any request filed after twelve months is no longer covered by the initial $35.00 USD fee and therefore you must pay again for the new credential.  Finally, I also learned that the process could take up to something like forty days.

After reading this, I stopped for a minute and reflected on what I was about to do: I was ready to send $35.00 USD to ATA (with my documentation) to be a part of this new database, but so far I had had a miserable time looking for, and finding any colleagues with the desired credentials; so far I had found zero conference interpreters. I even had a difficult time finding the instructions to get my credentials reviewed.  My friends, I am pretty active on social media, and even though I am not a computer genius, I am resourceful. Can you imagine how tough it would be for a regular individual looking for an interpreter to navigate through these? Even if I do this, send the documents, pay the fee, and wait the forty days, will my clients find me?

I concluded that I had to do more research first, so I did.

I went back to the directory and tested it:

I did this trying to think like a client and not like an interpreter or an ATA member. The first thing I noticed was that to look for an interpreter, the person doing the search must go through the translators’ section of the advanced search; they must scroll down passing through a section with very confusing questions for somebody who, let’s say, wants to hire an interpreter for a marketing conference at the Marriott downtown. Without being an interpreter, I would not know what to do when asked to indicate if I want an ATA certified or non-certified translator, or what translation tools I will need. As a client, even before reaching the interpreter questions, I would probably close the page and look for a conference interpreter in Google or somewhere else.

Since I had already tried Illinois and California with a result of zero interpreters, I looked first for any conference interpreters with an English<>Spanish combination, with a U.S. Department of State Conference-Level credential in New York State. The result was: none. Then I did the same thing for Washington, D.C. (where most conference interpreters live) Again there were zero. I got the same result in Florida and Texas. Next, I searched the same states for any interpreters with the same combination, but with the AIIC membership credential. The result was: nobody. I considered doing the same for every state in the Union, but (fortunately) I decided against it. Instead, I looked for any conference interpreters with any credential and living anywhere in the world. The result was: 2 interpreters. One U.S. Department of State Seminary-Level colleague in the United States, and one AIIC member in Argentina!

Based on these results, I looked for interpreters in all listed categories. I found this: Under certified court interpreters I found 10 colleagues. Under Healthcare certified I found 4 (2 were also listed as part of the 10 court certified). Under conference credentials I found 2 (one of them is also one of the 11 under court certified). I found 1 telephonic interpreter (also found under another category), and I found zero sign language interpreters.  Looking for simultaneous interpreters I found 10, under escort interpreters I saw there are 9, and as consecutive interpreters they have 14. As expected, all interpreters under the modes of interpretation categories are the same ones listed by specialization. I also noticed that some interpreters I found in this group are ATA Board members.

The page also asks the person doing the search to state if they are looking for a “consecutive, court, escort, sign language, simultaneous, or telephonic” interpreter. My relevant question was stated before in this post, but it is worth repeating for another reason: If I am a client looking for a conference interpreter, how can I find one under this criteria? Ordinary people do not know that conference interpreters do simultaneous interpreting. Even worse, they also do consecutive interpreting in many events such as press conferences for example.

If people we deal with regularly have a hard time referring to consecutive or simultaneous interpreting by their correct name, why would everyday people looking for a conference interpreter know who they need based on this question? If ATA included “court”, and even “telephonic”, they should include conference. Once again, I am sure my healthcare interpreter colleagues want to be heard here as well.

After reviewing the directory my decision was simple. Why would I want to pay $35.00 USD, and perhaps wait up to forty days, to be part of a directory listing a microscopic portion of the interpreting community? Should I encourage my clients to look for a credentialed conference interpreter in a directory that does not even list us as an option, and flatly ignores conference interpreting in their most common questions section, where all explanations and examples are geared to court and telephonic interpreting? And why as interpreters should we reward the work of an association that continues to treat us as second-class professionals by including the interpreter search criteria after the translator search options, instead of having two separate search pages: one for interpreters and one for translators to make it easier for our clients, and to give some respect to the many interpreters who are ATA members? There is no excuse or justification for this.

I know there are plenty of capable people at the helm of the American Translators Association whom I know and respect as friends and colleagues. I also appreciate many of the good things they do for the profession, but at this time, for all these reasons, until we interpreters get from ATA what we deserve as a profession: Unless the search criteria and credentialed interpreter designation process is as prominently displayed on the website as is the translators’ certification; and only when the search criteria addresses the conference interpreter community on a client-oriented, user-friendly platform, I will stay away from the “advanced-options” directory. I hope this post is welcomed as constructive criticism, and as the voice of many interpreters all over the world. It is not meant as an attack on anybody; it is just an honest opinion and a professional suggestion from the interpreters’ perspective. I now invite you to share with the rest of us your thoughts about such an important issue for all interpreters and for the image of ATA.

Are incompetent bureaucrats scaring away good interpreters?

April 10, 2017 § 5 Comments

Dear Colleagues:

Today we will discuss a delicate subject that cannot be avoided as it impacts all freelance professional interpreters. I am talking about the cost of doing business versus the unreasonable cost of doing business. All professionals know that freedom and independence come with a price and we all know that we must pay it to enjoy the best things in life. It is called the cost of doing business.

The time an interpreter spends developing a client base talking to the best prospects in person, sitting in front of a computer answering their questions, or chatting with them over the phone takes part of our time, and for those who sell personal professional services time is money.  Administrative chores such as printing glossaries, mailing documents and buying office supplies are also part of this cost of doing business. So is invoicing.

Getting paid for services already rendered could be a full-time job unless we are organized and develop a billing system that is accurate, user friendly, and does not take too much of our time. Morose payers, crooked client, and banking mistakes are unavoidable, they will always be there and we must factor them in as part of our business. We consider all these factors when bidding for a contract or providing an estimate. The thing we cannot factor in, and we must stay away from are never-ending bureaucratic proceedings filled with nonsensical steps and inspired by the most pure form of institutional chaos and individual incompetence.  We can encounter this condition anywhere, but it is frequently found in government invoicing procedures.

We are all familiar with the long government invoice forms requesting absurd, and often repetitious, information. Nobody likes them, but sometimes the importance of the contract, or the monetary reward, for jumping through all the hoops justifies the sour moments.  The unforgivable part is when interpreters go through this enormous waste of their time, answer dumbness award-winning questions from a bureaucrat, are disrespected, and what they collect is worth less than the time and energy spent navigating the bureaucratic maze of mediocrity.  This is where we must draw the line.

All governments have obsolete, and often outdated, systems and procedures to pay interpreters. This is clear in the judiciary. You all know of puzzling methods followed by your respective states to pay you for work you did sometimes two or three months earlier. Once they realized they were losing money by working with a court system, some interpreters quit working with these clients, while others thought about it, but for different reasons: real financial need, fear, or ignorance, they remained as contractors for that court system. I stopped working federal cases with Criminal Justice Act appointed attorneys (CJA) two years ago when they changed to a system that injected the attorney as an intermediary between the service provider (interpreter) and client (courthouse) and never regretted the decision. I was losing more money doing paperwork and chasing after CJA attorneys and courthouses than the fee generated by my interpreting services.

I understand that to leave that work or stay and take it on the chin is a complex personal decision that only you can make. I also know of the fact that government agencies will always move slowly and have endless checks and balances because of their work volume. This makes it harder to decide what to do; unless there is a case so full of abuse and lack of respect for the interpreter as an individual, or our craft as a profession you have no choice but to get out of the zest pool before you are permanently harmed. This is what I am told has been happening for some time in a particular state.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you remember other occasions when I have written about irregularities in several court interpreter programs at the state-level, including this state, but this time the stories have a human aspect I could not keep to myself.

Sometime ago, this state adopted a billing system similar to the one used by other states (and non-judicial government agencies) that required certain information from the interpreter and some data about the work performed. In that state, interpreters are paid by the hour with a two-hour minimum guarantee (and a bunch of bizarre rules requiring the interpreter to travel to other cities and counties within the guaranteed period of time we will not discuss in this post). The billing system asks interpreters to enter their time, including the time when the “proceeding” ended. The billing system is confusing and it takes some skill and time to understand it and use it correctly. There is no technical help available on line from the state’s Administrative Office of the Courts as far as I know.

As we all know, interpreters are busy interpreting, understanding the culture of the foreign client, and in a court setting they are also paying attention to their surroundings to protect their physical integrity. And to any regular human, the requirement of reporting the time of an assignment and writing down when the “proceeding” ended would be met by entering “3:30 pm”.  In the dark dungeons of immeasurable insanity, an invoice can be rejected if I entered “3:30 pm” and the recording machine that keeps the record shows it ended at “3:24 pm”. The invoice will be sent back even when the times coincide because I entered “3:24 pm” instead of “15:24”. Dear friends and colleagues: They want military time!

You can see that the billing system is twin brother of the bizarre, and it could be intimidating for some colleagues. Depending on where in the world you come from, certain things can make you uncomfortable. Add to it the fact that, in the opinion of many, the staff in charge at the Administrative Office of the Courts (where there is not a single certified court interpreter) is not known for their warmth or devotion to the interests of the interpreters or the well-being of the profession, and you can get situations like the one of a very well-respected interpreter who I have known for many years, and strikes me as a professional and dedicated colleague.

This individual is an interpreter in a language combination common in some parts of the country, but rare in a small state like this one, although there are many speakers of the language all over the state. He felt confused, embarrassed, and intimidated to where, after having some invoices rejected for petty reasons like the one above, he did not invoice the state for about a year. A rare language interpreter, actually, the only certified interpreter with that language pair in the State, worked for a full year without getting paid. Finally, when he sent in all of his invoices to the Administrative Office of the Courts, he was met with a bunch of one-sentence communications (I saw 44) rejecting all of his filings because of some nonsensical excuse. To this day, even without pay and after being disrespected, the interpreter continues to work within the court system because he knows he is the only interpreter in that language combination in the state, and he feels bad for the people who go to the court system seeking justice.

This is not an isolated case. A year earlier, the same thing happened to another interpreter whose invoices were also rejected for petty reasons. This interpreter, also one of the most professional in the state, reacted differently, and after being retaliated against by the Judicial Branch administrative authorities, he decided he had had enough and quit. He is now interpreting for the courts in a different state.  I was told by at least three interpreters that depending on the individual doing the filing, the same insignificant billing mistakes are often overlooked by the administration.  If this was true, it could have something to do with who the person filing the invoice is.  I will not get into that because it is a legal matter that interested parties will no doubt take to court.  The issue we are discussing here is the collateral damage that irrational billing requirements by federal and state-level judicial authorities are creating.

These actions, presumably adopted to protect the quality of the services provided, and watch over the taxpayers’ money, are scaring away many good interpreters because of the undue burden and lack of flexibility by often well-intentioned, but not very knowledgeable, government workers who apply these policies with no discretion or awareness of the damage they cause, and the money they cost to the state.  I for one stopped doing CJA attorney cases, one interpreter in the story moved to a different State, and the only certified interpreter in a rare language pair in the state may decide that he will not take it any longer and decline court assignments, forcing the authorities to hire out-of-state interpreters at a much higher cost to the citizens of the state.  I now invite you to share your stories with the rest of us, and if you fear retaliation, I assure you that your name, place of residence, language combination, and any other information that could identify you, will not be included in your comments.

When client and agency do not listen to the interpreter.

April 3, 2017 § 5 Comments

Dear Colleagues:

Interpreting depositions correctly.

March 27, 2017 § 12 Comments

Dear Colleagues:

Next to interpreting in a hearing, legal depositions are the most common professional service provided by court interpreters. They are in high demand, the field is full of potential direct clients, and they usually pay much better than an assignment by the court. With so many apparent advantages, the question that first comes to mind is: Why so many court interpreters do not pursue these assignments? And even among those who provide the service regularly, why is it that so few of our colleagues know what depositions are for, and how to correctly provide the service to ensure top accuracy and quality? Let’s see:

A deposition is the testimony of a witness taken orally (oral deposition) or in writing (interrogatories) outside open court, but in compliance with a court order or statute. It is a pretrial discovery device by which one party, through their attorney, ask oral questions of the other party or of a witness of the other party. It is conducted under oath or affirmation, without a judge, usually at the law office of one of the attorneys or at a court reporters’ office, and a word-for-word transcript is made. Interrogatories are answered in writing under oath or affirmation as well.

Depositions take place in both, criminal and civil proceedings and they are an extremely important part of the discovery process that takes place in an adversarial system, so that the attorneys of one party know what the counterpart or their witnesses will say during the trial. (Fed. R. Civil P.26 et seq.; Fed. R. Criminal P.15)

Oftentimes I run into colleagues who complain about “having to interpret” during a pretrial hearing “instead of interpreting during the trial”. My usual answer has to do with the importance of the pretrial motions and the discovery in general. I try to convey the concept that most cases are won or lost during the pretrial. Ascertaining the facts, excluding illegally obtained evidence, impeaching a witness based on statements made during a deposition, are invaluable as these legal actions and decisions determine what a jury will and will not hear at trial. A litigant exits the pretrial process with a strong winnable case or weakened by the discovery and pretrial motions argued before the judge.

Because of the importance and complexity of a deposition (and all pretrial actions and motions in general) it baffles me how extreme professional interpreting services can be at this stage of the process.

As depositions do not take place in the presence of the court, interpreting services for non-English speaking deponents are left to the professionalism, knowledge, and pocket of the attorney who represents the client. Because many attorneys seldom deal with foreign-language speakers, and for that reason know very little about interpreters and their services, they tend to seek the services of an agency, not for its quality or reputation, but because it was suggested by another colleague who had a case involving a non-English speaker in the past. For the most part the recommendation by the other attorney has to do with things such as: “they are cheap and they are quick”. Quality and experience are mentioned every once in a while.

We all know that, for the most part, there are no standards or policy regulating who can be an agency in the United States. This is an invitation to those with little to no interpreting knowledge to throw their hat in the ring and profit from this very popular professional service.

For the same reason: lack of basic quality standards, many paraprofessionals who unsuccessfully attempted to become certified court interpreters and failed, gravitate to this goose with the golden eggs where they will be on high demand by the above-mentioned ignorant agency owners who in turn will satisfy the requirements of the law office by providing interpreting services that are quick and cheap, regardless of their questionable quality.

But the landscape gets more complicated: For the same good reasons that bottom feeder agencies and paraprofessional interpreters are attracted to depositions, the best of the best in the world of legal interpreting participate in this market as well.

You see,  federal and state court systems retain the services of certified court interpreters, these professionals are for the most part better than non-certified, and from that point of view they are in demand. The problem is that the judiciary does not pay that well, with federal fees being half or less of what a conference interpreter makes, and under constraints of fixed fee schedules and budget cut limitations, the courts are less attractive to the very best in the profession. On the other hand, these top-notch court certified interpreters can negotiate with responsible and experienced law firms that value quality over rock bottom prices. This is the world of the direct client. Reputable agencies who handle big law firms and have a name to protect will also approach and retain these same high quality individuals. In fact, the field is so attractive that even interpreters from the highest caliber who usually do not work in the court system, and despite their vast experience and great skill have never pursued a court certification (but no doubt that candle these assignments because of their knowledge and capacity) provide interpreting services in depositions.

The result of all of the above circumstances and the participation of the wide range of individuals involved in this professional service is a reality where some depositions are interpreted at the highest possible level while at the same time many others are being butchered by paraprofessional interpreters, unscrupulous agencies, and careless lawyers. What a mess!

The good news is that, if they choose to do so, the best interpreters will be able to find good professional profitable clients whose clients will benefit immensely of a properly conducted discovery. The bad news is that many litigants, unaware of this reality, will trust the judgement of their advisers and end up with a defective interpreting service that most likely will impact the outcome of their case one way or another.

The solution to this problem, from the interpreters’ point of view, is relatively simple: stick to the good clients and ignore the bottom feeders. You do not need them, and they think they do not need you.

To me the biggest problem for the best interpreters who work depositions is, dear friends and colleagues, the alarming practice followed by so many of the top interpreters who accept to work alone in a deposition. Yes, I am referring to all of those who work solo, even when they provide services to the richest law firms in the world, including the work they do in very high-profile cases.

Team interpreting is a typical professional practice where two (or more) interpreters work as equal members of a team, rotating responsibilities at prearranged intervals and providing support and feedback to each other. This practice provides continuity and accuracy in the message transmission as it avoids fatigue and allows for word and concept checking during the rendition.

The National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators of the United States (NAJIT) clearly spells out the function and the need for the second interpreter: “…The typical team is comprised of two interpreters who work in tandem, providing relief every 30 minutes. The interpreter engaged in delivering the interpretation at any given moment is called the active interpreter. His job is to interpret the court proceedings truly and accurately. The other interpreter is called the support interpreter. His job is to… (2) assist the active interpreter by looking up vocabulary, or acting as a second ear to confirm quickly spoken… 4) be available in case the active interpreter has an emergency; and (5) serve as an impartial language expert in the case of any challenge to interpretation…” (NAJIT Position paper Team Interpreting in the courtroom. Primary author: Andrew Erickson. 2007)

Scientific studies have shown that mental fatigue sets in after approximately 30 minutes of sustained simultaneous interpretation, resulting in a marked loss in accuracy. This is so regardless of how experienced or talented the interpreter may be. A 1998 study conducted at the École de Traduction et d’Interprétation at the University of Geneva, demonstrated the effects of interpreting over increasing periods of time. The conclusion of the study was that an interpreter’s own judgment of output quality becomes unreliable after increased time on task.  (Moser-Mercer, B., Kunzli, B., and Korac, M. 1998. “Prolonged turns in interpreting: Effects on quality, physiological and psychological stress.” University of Geneva, École de Traduction et d’Interprétation. Interpreting Vol. 3 (1), p. 47-64. John Benjamins Publishing Co.)

It is true that most reputable agencies and experienced law firms grant the solo interpreter, who is providing the services at the deposition, the choice to take as many breaks as needed. This is often the justification I hear from my colleagues as well.

I am glad that they get to rest their brain and voice every now and then, but it is not enough. There is no scientific conclusion as to how long the interpreter needs to rest before being back in optimum shape in order to continue the rendition with the same quality and at the same level as it was done at the beginning of the session. Obviously, the University of Geneva’s findings suggest that it takes about 30 minutes to get back to the top of your game.

I do not work under these “solo” conditions, but I could assure you that interpreters do not get a 30 minute break for every 30 minutes of service, and if they do, the attorneys would be better served by having a second interpreter actively interpreting during those 30 minutes. You see, it is a myth that having short breaks here and there will protect the interpreter and assure the quality of the service. This “solution” was developed to make everybody feel good even though nothing is really accomplished from the interpreter’s and the interpretation’s perspective. The only “positive” outcome of this solo work with “as many breaks as needed” has to do with the pocketbook of the law office and the profits of the agency. That is all.

But moving beyond that, there is a second, and equally important issue that goes unsolved without team interpreting.

Interpreting is a human task. It is extremely complex and delicate. Depositions present difficult situations that interpreters must solve in order to fulfill the ultimate purpose of the deposition: to ascertain the facts of the case, and to learn the unknown, to be able to ultimately prevail in court. In a deposition setting, interpreters need to understand and convey the message in two different languages, often spoken by individuals of different backgrounds, education, and willingness to disclose the truth. Interpreters need to find in their brain the appropriate scientific terminology, technical word, and regional expression that a deponent has used in the source language. The need to double-check a term, clarify an idiomatic expression, and research a concept are always present; In fact, they are the regular practice of the best interpreters who understand the relevance of the task at hand, and professionally look for the appropriate equivalency with the right syntax and grammar. This is not a job for one. Team interpreting allows the active interpreter to remain mentally fresh, while the support interpreter takes on other functions that would lead the active interpreter to cognitive overload.

For these reasons, it is universally accepted that team interpreting is the standard practice in courtrooms, conferences, international organizations, government events, and any other assignment that may last over 30 minutes. I only agree to do a deposition when I am working with a partner. My sense of professionalism, my reputation, my health, and my sanity, would not allow me to do anything else.

I invite you to stand up for what is right for you and for the profession. Just as you refuse to interpret a trial unless you have a partner, I encourage you to demand team interpreting in all depositions. It is only then that you will be living to the highest standards that a legal process requires. It is only then that you can unequivocally say that you did your best job at a deposition. Working solo, even if you take short breaks, will not relieve fatigue and it will not magically produce a support interpreter who will help you navigate the treacherous waters of legal interpreting.  I now invite you to share your thoughts on this extremely important issue and the terrible practice that permeates deposition interpreting.

Interpreting a live sports event.

March 15, 2017 § 1 Comment

Dear Colleagues:

Today sports play an important role in our world as entertainment and business. We are all aware of the enormous amount of money that events such as the Olympic Games and World Cup Soccer (football outside the United States) generate from advertisers and broadcasting rights.

In a globalized economy, thanks to modern telecommunications, people can follow and root for teams and athletes from every continent. This presents corporations, governments, and sports federations with the challenge of making the games and matches available to everyone, regardless of the language they speak.

The days when the only sports-related events requiring interpreting services were the meetings of the International Olympic Committee, or the conferences attended by FIFA executives are behind us. In this new reality people are watching England’s Premier League, Pay-Per-View world championship boxing, and the Super Bowl from every country in the world. World-class college athletes train and compete in countries where they were not born, and professional hockey and basketball players become stars in foreign countries.  These days all Major League Baseball teams are contractually obligated to provide interpreting services to their foreign-born players who do not speak English fluently, and interpreters living in the United States are getting used to reading ads from professional baseball teams looking for Spanish or Japanese interpreters to be a part of their staff for the entire season.

This time I will skip the description of the professional interpreting services provided by sports conference interpreters during a league or federation meeting where they will interpret for executives, government officials, and athlete’s representatives. I will not discuss the job of sports escort interpreters who accompany professional and amateur athletes for an entire season, acting also as their cultural advisors in everything from training camp to the clubhouse; and from traveling to the away games to opening a bank account, or assisting them during an interview with the media. I have touched on these services before and I plan to do it again in the future.

On this occasion we will talk about the job of the sports media interpreter during a live event.

As a big sports fan, I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to interpret during the broadcast of boxing matches and team sports’ games and tournaments. There are quite a few of us who do this worldwide, but the proliferation of media outlets and the ever-growing public appetite for more sporting events has turned this interpreting field into a more than viable option for many more colleagues in the immediate and long term future.  For this reason, I decided to write about the many services provided by a sports media interpreter during the broadcast of events such as a UFC fight or a soccer game.

Basically, a sports media interpreter can provide professional services in different environments: Live at ringside during a boxing match; live on the basketball court during halftime; live for a quick interview from inside the cage after a mixed martial arts fight; or live before and after a baseball game during a press conference.

One of the most compelling jobs that an interpreter will ever have to perform is that of a ringside or cage-side interpreter for a boxing or mixed martial arts combat. Interpreters sit ringside or cage-side just like the sportscasters; they get a microphone and a headset, and interpret live for the radio or television broadcast the conversation between the fighter and their corner, as well as the encouragement and instructions from the trainer. The task is difficult as the interpreter needs to know sports terminology, idiomatic expressions, and has to be up-to-date on the most current events in the world of that particular sport. A break generally lasts sixty seconds and the broadcast splits the minute between the two corners; therefore, the interpreter has about thirty seconds to render the conversation simultaneously on a clear pleasant voice, but conveying the emotions experienced by those in the red or blue corner.  This must be done in the middle of a noisy arena where music is playing at the highest decibel levels, at the same time that a producer is whispering instructions into the interpreter’s ear through the headphones.

Finally, because these corner conversations are intimate talks between fighters and seconds, there are times when those who are having the conversation code-switch from one language to another (in my case English into Spanish and vice-versa) or use foul words, and even racial slurs.  Interpreters’ concentration is paramount as they have to stay on the target language regardless of the code-switch, and they must decide, according to their contractual obligations with the broadcasting company, or their professional judgement in lieu of the former, whether or not they will interpret the bad words. This has a lot to do with cultural and legal considerations. Audiences in different countries react different to foul language. Sometimes, depending on the network, interpreters have less room to maneuver on the field of profanity. Over-the-air stations usually ban this vocabulary while cable TV is more tolerant. Some countries have a brief time-delay of a few seconds before broadcasting a live event.

Racial slurs are universally left out of the interpretation as they add nothing to the sport-watching experience. The most important rule is to keep it accurate but coherent, informative, and brief. The interpreter never can go beyond the time allotted to the corner conversation. Sometimes there is a second interpreter of another language pair waiting for you to finish so they can start their thirty seconds from the opponent’s corner and you cannot eat up part of their time.  Sometimes it is even more complicated as you have to interpret both corners dedicating thirty seconds to each fighter.

Sports media interpreters also provide their professional services for brief one-on-one interviews with a sports broadcaster. They usually happen at the end of a game or bout, during the halftime of a team sport’s game like football, soccer, or basketball, or in between periods in a hockey match. In boxing and mixed martial arts they take place in the cage or ring, and for the other sports the interview can be on the field, court, or right outside the locker room.

Unless you are working in the clubhouse, these interpreting assignments are performed in a very noisy environment and without a headset which makes it difficult to hear the interviewer’s questions and the athlete’s answers. Because they are extremely short, generally about ten to thirty seconds, the one or two questions by the sportscaster (with the second being a follow-up question many times) are interpreted simultaneously by whispering into the athlete’s ear, and the answers are interpreted consecutively speaking into the microphone held by the interviewer.

All rules above apply to this interpreting situation as the limitations are similar, but there is one unique situation that often arises during these interviews, especially the ones that take place after the game or fight: Regardless of the question they are asked, many athletes start by thanking or acknowledging a higher power, and they end the interview by greeting certain people in their staff, their hometown, or any other group they identify with. Because of time constraints, the interpreter should limit the rendition to the subject matter, leaving out these statements and greetings. Air time is very expensive and the audience has a short attention span.

There are times when TV networks do interviews that are slightly longer right after the fight or game. They do them at a TV set built under the seats of the arena or stadium. Usually, these short interviews take place before the athletes get to the locker room and they last about two to three minutes. For these interviews, the interpreter generally appears on camera between the sportscaster and the athlete and does an abbreviated consecutive rendition of both, question and answer. In this situations, interpreters are given the question ahead of time so they have a chance to figure out how to shorten it by going straight for the main topic at issue. Again, answers are kept to the essential, and the interpreter must look professional and sound pleasant. Interpreters speak into a microphone held by the sportscaster and usually go to the makeup chair before appearing on camera. As you see, to perform these unique tasks interpreters who do this type of work must have deep knowledge of the sport in question, have vast knowledge of the athlete’s career, and need to be up-to-date on everything that is going on in that particular sport. You must keep in mind that there are many in the TV and radio audience who know everything there is to know about the sport. I hope this explains why sometimes some interpreters who are not familiar with this type of work unjustly criticize sports media interpreters’ performance with remarks about everything that was “left out” of a question or an answer. Now you know the true story of the “he didn’t say that” or “that is not what they asked”.

Another common professional service in the world of sports media interpreting are press conferences. Like all similar events interpreted by conference interpreters, sometimes the question is interpreted simultaneously from a booth, and on occasion the rendition is consecutive. Answers are generally interpreted on the consecutive mode, and rarely rendered simultaneously.  When the interpreters are not in a booth, they sit away from the TV cameras at a table with microphones and headsets. Here the interpretation is just like at any other press conference.

In individual professional sports there is usually one press conference on the day before the event and a second one right after the match. For team sports there is usually one before and another one after the game. These team sports’ conferences are attended by the coach of the team and some of the most distinguished players during the game. Before the game the visiting team goes first, followed by the home coach and players. After the game the winning team goes last. Unlike the other interpreting services described above, press conferences are interpreted by teams of two or three interpreters, and unlike most other press conferences in the world, sports press conferences often take place in the wee hours of the night (often spilling over into the next day).

Every day we see more TV stations emerging all over the place; most of them are local in coverage, and because local sports coverage is relatively inexpensive compared to producing TV series or movies, and due to the popularity of sports, especially local teams and athletes, there will be more broadcasts of regional tournaments everywhere. This reality, paired with globalization, which brings to your hometown athletes from other latitudes who many times do not speak the local language, will continue to build up the demand for sports media interpreters all over. I immediately think of the hundreds of professional minor league farm teams in the United States for example.

I hope you will find this brief description of the profession useful when deciding whether or not to apply for one of these jobs. I now ask you to share your thoughts and experiences as sports media interpreters.

A despicable practice in healthcare interpreting.

March 8, 2017 § 2 Comments

Dear Colleagues:

For several months I have received phone calls and emails from some of our healthcare interpreter colleagues in the United States complaining about the same situation: Unscrupulous interpreting agencies asking them to work for laughable fees. I know this is not breaking news to you; we all run from time to time into these glorious representatives of the “industry”.  What makes this situation different, and motivated me to write this post, are the shameless tactics used by these agencies’ recruiters. They have decided that giving the interpreter a guilt trip will soften us up enough to work for a miserable fee that will not even pay for gas and parking, or for the babysitter.

Oftentimes when interpreters provide their fee schedule for healthcare interpreting services, these programmers, recruiters, project managers, or whatever may be their official title in that particular agency, throw the ball right back in the interpreter’s court, not to negotiate a professional fee that is fair considering the complexity of the service requested, but for the interpreter to feel awful about turning down an assignment. The argument goes like this: “…but the patient does not speak English and he is really sick… we cannot afford the fee you requested; his condition will get worse unless you help him… the patient really needs you…”  Another version they use brings up the issue of all patients’ right to an interpreter derived from Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.  In that case, the agency representative would add something like: “…but you know these people must have an interpreter if they don’t speak English, and you are the only one in town. We all need to comply with the law. It is your duty as a healthcare interpreter. You cannot use the fee as an excuse…”  To make a long story short, these agencies are passing the ball to the interpreter through guilt trips and fear.

The good thing, dear colleagues, is that interpreters are not obligated to provide professional services under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.  The fact that there may not be an interpreter to assist the patient may be something awful, but it is not your problem. Let me explain:

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 USC Section 200d et seq. prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin (including language, according to President Clinton’s Executive Order No. 13166, Aug. 11, 2000, 65 F.R. 50121) in any program or activity that receives federal funds or other form of federal financial assistance. The term “program or activity” and the term “program” mean all of the operations of a department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of a State or of a local government; or the entity of such State or local government that distributes such assistance and each such department or agency (and each other State or local government entity) to which the assistance is extended, in the case of assistance to a State or local government. It also includes colleges, universities, or a public system of higher education; and a corporation, partnership, or other private organization, or an entire sole proprietorship if assistance is extended to such corporation, partnership, private organization, or sole proprietorship as a whole, or if it is principally engaged in the business of providing health care, or social services.

Therefore, it is the hospital who has the obligation to provide the interpreter. Not you. In fact it is not the interpreting agency’s legal obligation either. Federal funds and other types of assistance are very important to hospitals and universities for research and other purposes. It is extremely unlikely that one of these institutions would risk losing those resources just because they are unwilling to pay the healthcare interpreter’s professional fee.

If the interpreter is contacted by an agency, it means that said company has a contractual relationship with the hospital or medical institution to provide interpreters in order to comply with the mandate of Title VI. The agency is getting paid by the hospital, but they now want to profit a little more at the expense of the interpreter. When an agency has this plan of action to be more profitable, they direct their agents to generate the highest profit possible. This is when they resort to despicable practices like the ones described above.

It is important that we as interpreters understand the law, and recognize these horrible practices. It is also essential that we take action in two different ways: (1) Always turn down these agencies, and (2) Let the hospital know that their contractor agency is jeopardizing the hospital’s Title VI compliance by scaring away the professional interpreters because of low interpreting fees and disgusting practices such as these guilt trips. I am sure that hospital administrators will put an end to this “activities” very quickly.

I now invite you to share with the rest of us any experiences like the ones above that you, or another colleague had with an agency, and what action you took to stop this from happening again.

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