A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE PRINCIPAL RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES OBSERVED BY THE KANDYANS OF CEYLON
BY C. J. R. LE MESURIER, C.C.S.
Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
vol.7, part.1, no.23, (Read May 7th, 1881.), pp. 32-42
p. 32
1.-THE religious ceremonies of the Kandyans begin
with that of New Year - the Anurudu Mangaliya. This
commences at a lucky hour, fixed by the astrologers,
on the 11th of April. During the short interval that
precedes it, while the old year is passing away, no
food is eaten save that which has been prepared
before that interval; and the people do not wash,
work, spend money, or give alms. At the lucky hour
(the Nekata) a gun is fired from a parapet on the
walls of the temple containing the Sacred Tooth at
Kandy, and the New Year begins. The customary daily
ceremonies are then observed, but with more show than
usual. The tom-toms are more vigorously beaten, the
tenants of the temple and the priest put on their
best clothes; and the services are more sumptuously
performed. Milk is boiled in the main entrance to the
temple, and is afterwards sprinkled over the floors.
During the days of the kingdom, the king himself used
to attend the opening services; but now the
Diyawadana Nilame and other influential Buddhists
take his place.
The offerings are much better than usual, and
more neatly and extravagantly prepared. If the lucky
hour is in the morning, rice and curry and sweetmeats
are offered; the curry being of thirty, and the
sweetmeats of thirty-two kinds. If the lucky hour
falls in the evening, drinkables are presented.
Besides these, it is usual for the wealthy to offer
robes, fans, cloths, and other articles of value to
the priesthood. At the beginning of the
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year all Buddhists wash, and confine themselves to
certain victuals prescribed by the astrologers. A11
work is abandoned for a certain specified time; and
after the usual religious rites have been performed,
the people engage in games of various descriptions.
These they break off and resume at stated periods.
During the intervals they pray, or have the
scriptures read to them by their priests, or visit
their friends, according as their fancies or
opportunities dictate. The priests confine themselves
for the most Part to their religious duties: or they
keep away from the busy world and meditate; it being
considered that the New Year is a peculiarly fitting
time for the exercise of this duty.
2.--The next in importance is the Perahera
Mangalyaya, the great processional festival of the
Kandyans. This festival is begun at Alutnuwara in the
Badulla district on the first day after the full moon
in May; and is repeated at different times in
different parts of the Kandyan province. The forms in
all cases are the same, though of course the
magnificence of the ritual varies with the place and
the means of those who engage in it. The most
magnificent and complete is that at Kandy, which
begins at a lucky hour on the first day after the new
moon in the month of Esala (July-August). A jack
tree, the stem of which is three spans in
circumference, is selected beforehand for each of the
four dewala--the Kataragama, Nata, Saman, and
Pattini; and the spot where it stands is decorated
and perfumed with sandal-wood, frankincense, and
burnt raisins, and a lighted lamp with nine wicks is
placed at the foot of the tree. At the lucky hour a
procession of elephants, tom-tom beaters, and dancers
proceeds to the spot; the tree is cut down by one of
the tenants (the wattorurala) with an axe, and it is
trimmed, and its end is pointed by another with an
adze. It is then carried away in procession, and
placed in a small hole in a square of slab rock,
buried in the ground or raised on a platform in the
small room at the back of the dewale. It is then
p. 34
covered with a white cloth. During the five following
days the procession is augmented by as many
elephants, attendants, dancers, tom-tom beaters and
flags as possible; and it makes the circuit of the
temple at stated periods. The processions of the
several temples are then joined by one from the
Dalada Maligawa (the temple of the Sacred Tooth), and
together they march round the main streets of Kandy
at fixed hours during the five days next ensuing. On
the sixth day, and for five days more, four
palanquins--one for each dewale--are added to the
procession, containing the arms and dresses of the
gods; and on the last day the bowl of water
(presently to be explained) of the previous year, and
the poles cut down on the first day of the ceremony.
On the night of the fifteenth and last day, the
Perahera is enlarged to the fullest limits which the
means of the several temples will permit, and at a
fixed hour, after its usual round, it starts for a
ford in the river near Kandy, about three miles
distant from the temple of the Sacred Tooth. The
procession from the Maligawa, however, stops at a
place called the A'dahana Maluwa in
Trincomalee-street, and there awaits the return of
the others. The ford is reached towards dawn, and
here the procession waits until the lucky hour
(generally about 5 A.M.) approaches. A few minutes
before its arrival the chiefs of the four temples,
accompanied by a band of attendants, walk down in
Indian file under a canopy of linen and over cloths
spread on the ground to the waterside. They enter a
boat and are punted up the river close to the bank
for some thirty yards. Then at a given signal (i. e.,
at the advent of the lucky hour) the four jack poles
are thrown into the river by the men on shore, while
each of the four chiefs, with an ornamental silver
sword, cuts a circle in the water; at the same time
one attendant takes up a bowl of water from the
circle, and another throws away last year's supply.
The boat then returns to the shore, the procession
goes back to Kandy, the bowls of water are placed
reverently in the several dewala, to remain there
p. 35
until the following year; and the Perahera is at an
end. The next day, however, there is a grand winding
up procession in the afternoon, after which the
chiefs all pay their respects to the Government Agent
of Kandy as the representative of the Queen.
3.--The Was Mangalyaya. On the day after the full
moon in July, the elders of the village visit their
village priest, or any other priest they may have
selected, and ask him to stay with, and minister to,
them for three months. They promise to give him a
place of residence, to feed him and render him any
service he may require during that period. The
request is complied with, and a procession is
organized to conduct him to the place prepared. Here
he remains for the stated period. He cannot leave
except under certain ceremo- nies; and at no time can
he be absent for more than seven days. On a fixed day
in October, determined on beforehand by the elders of
the village and communicated to the priest, he is
requested to invite a certain number of his
brotherhood to the last ceremony. The number varies
according to the means and generosity of the
villagers. On the day named, these priests assemble
and are sumptuously fed in the morning by the
villagers. After the meal is over a sheet of white
cloth, twenty cubits in length, is presented to the
priests, who thereupon divide it into fifteen
rectangular pieces, and these they join together
again into the shape of a priest's robe--a large
rectangle, five cubits long, and four and a-half
cubits broad. The object of this division and
re-joining being to destroy the value of the cloth,
and to carry out the rule that no priest may wear a
robe of one piece. It is then taken by the dhoby of
the village under a canopy to a neighbouring stream,
and publicly washed; tom-toms and trumpets being
sounded in the meanwhile. When washed, it is brought
back to the hall where the priests are assembled, and
placed in a small vessel containing the proper yellow
dye. After it has remained in this a sufficient time,
it
p. 36
is taken out and presented by the chief elder of the
village as a common offering to the priesthood. The
chief of the assembled priests thereupon puts the
question, " Who here requires a robe?" to which all
but the Was priest reply, "We have robes already."
Then another priest says: "They have kept the Was
priest so long here; let us give it to him." This is
agreed to, and two other priests at once rise and
chant the refrain:--"A robe has been presented to the
priesthood, and we have agreed to present it to
[naming the Was priest.]" One of them accordingly
takes the robe, hands it round to each priest in
turn, so that all may touch it, and then gives it to
the Was priest. He puts it on, wet as it is, over his
shoulder, makes a marks in a corner, repeats a stanza
of Bana (the sacred scriptures), presses it over his
other robes, and then hangs it up to dry in view of
all. He is obliged to carry this robe, either on his
body or in a bundle, for three months before it can
be washed; and he always looks upon it with a certain
degree of pride. A second robe is, however, usually
presented afterwards to him: the first being
considered as an offering to the priesthood in
general, the second as a present to the individual
priest.
4.--Next in order is the Keti Mangalyaya:
socalled because on this day the full moon and the
Keti Nekata (the lucky hour) come together. It takes
place on the full-moon day immediately after the
termination of the previous --i.e., the Was festival.
On this day all the temples are brilliantly illumi-
minated. This is done by means of small oil lamps,
placed close together all round the buildings. During
the night a procession of elephants, flags,
tom-tomes, etc, and a large number of torches, is
kept up for many hours; the effect in Kandy, in
conjunction with the illuminated temples, being very
striking. It is customary also at this festival to
make offerings of fans, robes, begging bowls, ,
clothe, etc., to the recent Was priests.
p. 37
5. - The Alutsal Mangalyaya, or festival of the
new rice. This festival takes place on the full-moon
day in January. At the appointed hour, a large
procession consisting of certain officers and the
representatives of certain temples, with their
attendants, elephants, etc., proceeds to the village
of Gurudeniya in Lower Hewaheta, and there receives a
fixed share of the new rice and of the rice of the
previous year; the villagers of Gurudeniya having
originally obtained their lands from the king of
Kandy on condition of devoting a certain portion of
their harvests to this purpose. A fixed quantity is
given to each; but as this in many cases is very
small, it is seldom that all the temples and officers
are represented. I however annex an interesting list
(vide Appendix) shewing how the rice should be
distributed, and during the time of the kings all the
persons to whom rice was due were compelled to be
present. The distribution takes place at the dewale
at Gurudeniya; and in the case of temples the rice is
taken home in procession and cooked on the following
morning. It is then offered at the shrine, and
afterwards distributed to the different priests and
officers.
6.--Nanumura Mangalyaya: the ceremony of
purification. This is performed every Wednesday
morning in every temple erected by the Kandyan kings,
as follows. Some lime juice is made before the daily
rice is offered, and is mixed with cuscus, sandal,
and other fragrant herbs and bark. The officiating
priest takes a looking-glass, and, holding it in
front of the shrine, anoints the reflected image with
the preparation. A vessel is held under to catch the
liquor as it drops, to prevent: it from falling to
the ground. The liquor is then thrown away and the
daily offerings are made.
7.--The reading of Bana, or the sacred
scriptures. This is done for the most part on the
"poya" days of the month --i.e., the four phases of
the moon. The officiating priest, being seated on an
elevated seat made for the purpose, recites passages
from the Buddhist scriptures, generally from some
portion of a
p. 38
Pitaka and then explains the meaning to his audience.
For this service he is lodged and fed during the time
of his ministry and is afterwards presented with
robes, white cloths, handkerchiefs, etc., and
sometimes money.
8.--Pirit, a ceremony to ward off evil. This is
generally performed on the occasion of some epidemic,
or in the case of serious illness. A large hall,
called a Bana Maduwa, is prepared and decorated, and
as many priests as possible are invited to take part
in it, the number never being less than thirty. The
floor of the hall is covered with mats, over which
white cloths are spread. Cushions are placed all
round for the priests, two for each, one to sit upon
and the other to lean against. A low platform is
erected in the middle, on which a table is placed,
with two chairs on one side. This table is covered
with a cloth, and the Pirit book is put upon it. A
relic in the usual bell-shaped casket, called a
karanduwa, is placed on a second table close by, and
a bowl of water, taken from a newly-dug well in the
vicinity, is put on a bench beside it. A piece of
string is attached to the karanduwa and to the Pirit
book, and is then carried up to a ring in the ceiling
and thence down to the ground. It is of sufficient
length to be held by all the priests when they are
assembled, and sitting round the room; and during the
ceremony they all hold it. On the appointed day the
priests are brought in procession to the hall; their
feet are washed at the entrance, and they are
escorted to their places along stretched-out cloths.
The place is consecrated and the deity is invoked,
while the hall is perfumed with incense and tom-toms
are beaten. An elder of the village then steps
forward, and requests the priests assembled to open
the Pirit, and to continue it for seven days. The
priests assent, and thereupon dedicate the hall to
that purpose. They then
__________________
* The records of the teachings of Buddha are
contained in the three Pitakas--i.e., the Sutra,
Vinaya, and Abhidharma Pitaka.
p. 39
return for the night to the place prepared for them.
At day-break next morning they re-assemble, and
begin the Pirit. This is done by two of their number
seating themselves at the table, and reciting the
opening service of the Pirit-book; the other priests
in the meantime holding their fans in front of them,
and the string above described over their knees. When
the invocation and one Sutra* have been read, the two
seat themselves by the others, and all joining in
chorus recite three particular Sutras: the Mangala
(of festivals), the Ratana (of the means of warding
off disease), and the Karaniyametta (of the methods
whereby dangers may be avoided and prosperity
obtained by gods and men). When these are ended two
other priests come forward, seat themselves at the
table, and go on with the next Sutras, while the
others all retire. Every two hours the readers are
relieved; and three times a day all re-assemble, and
repeat in chorus the three Sutras before mentioned,
There is no break in the continuity, as this would
mar the whole effect; and the reading continues for
seven days. On the sixth night the last seven Sutras
in the book are read over and over again, either by
twos or fours; if the latter, two more chairs are
brought in and placed at the table opposite the first
two. On the morning of the seventh day after the
early meal, one of the priests reads the vihara Asne,
the list of the names of the ancient temples in
Ceylon and elsewhere; and then the assembled priests,
with the exception of those who are reading the
Pirit--for the reading still goes on--compose the
Dewala Patraya. This is a letter written on an ola,
and addressed to the presiding deity of a
neighbouring temple. It sets out the name of the
dewale, and invokes the deity to attend the Pirit
with the other gods. This is taken in procession to
the temple--or, if there is no dewale in the
----------------
* The Sutras are a collection of the counsels of
Buddha and form portion of the three Pitakas.
p. 40
neighbourhood, to a bo-tree, where a god is supposed
to reside, and carried by a villager, dressed to
represent an angel, in many-coloured cloths and a
Kandyan hat. The priests, except those who are
reading, accompany the procession if desired. A
portion of the water from the bowl in the hall is
taken too; and this is sprinkled over any sick
persons that may be met with along the way. On
arrival at the dewale, the letter is presented, and
is hung upon the wall. The procession returns; and
the "angel" reports at the door of the hall that he
has presented the letter, and that the gods have
come. One of the priests blesses the gods, and the
Mangala Sutra is read over once, after which the
A'tanatiya Sutra is read over and over again by fours
till dawn. The ceremony is then at an end; and the
priests are conducted back to their residence.
9.- Goduna Mangalyaya: the ceremony performed for
the very aged, or those who are about to die. The
relations of the dying man are assembled, and
offerings of' different kinds are collected. These
consist sometimes of cattle, sometimes of furniture,
such as the bed of the sick man, sometimes of his
implements of agriculture or of his trade, but more
often they are merely cloths, robes, fans, etc.
The priest of the neighbouring pansala (residence
of the priesthood), and any others that may be
selected, are summoned and entertained; and the
offerings are made to them, They read a portion of
the scriptures suitable to the occasion, and bless
the sick man; after which, escorted by the assembled
company, they depart with their presents.
10.--Mataka Dana: the ceremony of conferring
merit on the dead.
On the seventh day after death the priest of the
neighbouring pansala is invited back, and is
entertained as before. Bana is read till midnight,
when he retires. In the morning after the early meal
a cloth is presented to him; and he is escorted by
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the friends and relations of the deceased to a
prepared spot near the house. Here the plate and cup
that had been used by the dead man are deposited; and
cake and rice are put into the plate, and water is
poured into the cup. A light is set up by their side,
and incense is burnt; while the priest invokes the
deceased in the following words: "Take this rice,
water, cake, light and fragrance, and release thyself
from the condition of an evil spirit." At the same
time he takes the cup of water and pours it on the
ground. The plate and cup are washed; and the priest
carries them off to his residence. The object of the
ceremony is to confer merit on the departed, in
whatever condition he may have been re-born.
10.--Ana Mangalyaya. A day is fixed, a month,
forty-five days, or three months after the Godana; of
which due notice is given. A number of priests are
invited, through the priest of the neighbouring
Pansala, the number varying with the means of the
family; and rice, cakes, fruit, etc., are collected.
The priests are brought in procession to the house,
where they read the scriptures for several hours.
After this, robes, begging-bowls, cups,
handkerchiefs, etc., are presented.to them; and a
common offering, consisting of a load of vegetables,
cakes, an adze, a mamoty, an axe, an arecanut-cutter,
a chunam-box, and (if the deceased was an old man),
a betel-pounder, is placed before them, A cloth not
less than 16 cubits in length, and held at one end
by the relations of the .deceased, is then tied to
the load, a priest holding it meanwhile near the
other end. Another priest takes his seat close by;
and, holding his fan in front of him, recites the
following words, the people repeating them after
him:-" These offerings, which have been procured by
just means by us and the dead man, we offer to you,
the descendants of the great Buddha, in order that we
may obtain merit in the name of the deceased." The
cloth is then rolled up and placed on the offering,
and the eldest priest intones the stanza: "As the
p. 42
rain from the sky falls on hills and mountains, rolls
down the valleys, and thence to the rivers, which
carry the waters to the ocean; so may the merits of
this great act descend on the dead man." Upon this
the remainder chime in with the prayer: " If there be
anything you wish to obtain by these offerings, may
you be blest with it as with the full moon." Bana is
then read for about an hour; and after it a priest
closes the ceremony with the words:--" By these
virtuous acts.may you all obtain prosperity here and
in the next world, and attain Nirwana at last."
I was going to add a short account of the
ordination and confession ceremonies of the
priesthood; but my paper has run out to too great a
length already, An exhaustive account of these will,
however, be found in two papers contributed to the
Royal Asiatic Society by Mr. J. F. Dickson in 1873
and 1875; and I need do no more here than merely
refer to them.
Kandy, 2nd April, 1881.