178 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 



stump, called henakanda is loosely inserted, with the root end 

 upwards. The toughest jungle creepers are looped round the 

 lower part of the sheltering tree , and a loop of them is placed round 

 the stump ; to these are tied ropes that have been attached to the 

 an-molas, which are placed between the tree and the stump. 

 Other strong ropes of considerable length are fastened to the upper 

 part of the henakanda, and these are now pulled by the united 

 force of the villagers, or in some places only by the section of them 

 who form the party of Palanga, until one of the horns gives way. 



Membership of these two sides is hereditary, and so strong is the 

 party feeling or jealousy between them that those of one side 

 usually avoid marriage with the members of the families belonging 

 to the other side , and in fact never have much intercourse or friendly 

 relations with them. In places where the udupila men alone do 

 the puUing, the yatipila men stand as on -lookers under the tree. 

 For managing the whole ceremony tBach party elects a temporary 

 leader. 



At the beginning of the ceremony the two bars — the an-mola — 

 and the ropes to be attached to the horns are first dedicated to the 

 goddess. 



After a trial pulling at the respective ropes by the two parties, the 

 yatipila rope is tied to the loops round the tree, and the udupila 

 rope to the henakanda, which is inclmed towards the tree for the 

 purpose. Where it is the custom of the yatipila men to jom in the 

 final pulling, both parties then unite in tugging at ropes attached to 

 the top of the henakanda, or passed though a hole in it, and fastened 

 to the udupila log, until one horn is broken. 



The leaders then examine the horns and ascertain whether the 

 yatipila or udupila one has given way. The victorious horn is 

 removed, wrapped in white cloth, and carried under a white canopy 

 round the henakanda in a procession, accompanied by the music, 

 and is again placed in the dewala, or the temporary shed erected 

 for it.* 



The other things in the same half of this case are domestic articles 

 used formerly, and in some cases used at the present time. Of 

 the former, special attention is directed to the water clocks. The 

 Sinhalese water clock is a clepsydra, consisting of a copper bowl, 

 of larger and smaller sizes, with a small pinhole m the bottom, and 

 with or without silver datum marks let in at the sides. The 

 bowl is set floatmg in a clay water chatty, the water gradually 

 entering through the pinhole aperture until a datum level is reached , 

 and eventually the bowl sinks. In the larger of the clocks shown 

 with graduations the water reaches the level of the highest datum 

 mark in exactly forty-eight minutes. The Sinhalese hour or peya 

 consists of twenty -four minutes, and the day and night are divided 

 into thirty peyas each. The water clock is called pe-tetiya. 



The other articles consist of opium and mat weavers' knives, 

 comb-making implements, velliya for weighing gold with, ivory rod 

 in wooden case, a wooden club called kitul-mal-telma for beating 

 the flower of the kitul to make the toddy run out, jewellers' mould, 

 bronze moulds used by silversmiths, jewellers' scales with pagoda 

 weights and touchstone, dat-kapana-gal (fine grained sandstone for 

 grinding down the teeth), articles used in the preparation of 

 native medicines, and cattle branding and castrating implements. 



For further information about these games see Parker's " Ancient Ceylon." 



