CH. I] RICE AND OTHER CEREALS AND FOOD PLANTS 48 



have a great love for them, while the paddy is believed to be 

 taken away to provide for a meal. 



" The time of ploughing is one of great solemnity to the 

 Kandyan paddy cultivator. The Neket-rala is again consulted 

 for the purpose of finding a lucky hour 



" Thinning is done by the women when the paddy is about 



three months old No one dare cross the ridges with an open 



umbrella while the women are at work, unless there be urgent 

 need for so doing, and permission be first obtained, otherwise 

 mud, etc. are thrown on the intruder, whoever he be. 



" Paddy is liable to be attacked by a grub... which sucks the 



juices of the plant In the Anuradhapura district, sand, after 



being 'charmed/ is scattered over the field, and offerings are 

 made to Jyan and Abimana Dewiyos with a view to inducing 

 their intercession to stay the ravages of the pest 



"When the paddy is approaching maturity, other cere- 

 monies are gone through ; the goiya after purification places 

 three ears of grain on a leaf of the Bo tree, which is held in 

 great veneration for reasons too well known to need mention A , 

 and buries them in the kalavita or threshing floor, at the same 

 time chanting some mystic words, invoking the gods to protect 

 the crop from flood, fire, birds, and wild beasts The Neket- 

 rala, attired in fantastic dress, describes a peculiarly shaped 

 figure with ashes on the kalavita with a view to preventing 



sorcery and other evil influences Another rite of a peculiar 



nature follows this It consists of digging a circular hole in 



the field and placing inside a model of the sacred footprint of 

 Buddha, a husked coconut, a creeping plant, clusters of areca 

 nuts, leaves from the hiraspalu and tolabo, and covering these 

 with about three bundles of straw 2 ." 



When such complicated ceremonies are gone through for 

 such simple operations as are involved in the cultivation of rice, 

 it is not surprising to find that the methods of cultivation are 



1 This tree (Ficus religiosa) was that under whose shade Gautama attained 

 his Buddhahood. Almost the oldest tree in the world of which there is any 

 historical record is the sacred Bo at Anuradhapura in Ceylon, planted there in 

 288 B.C. 



2 Ceremonies observed by the Kandyans in Paddy Cultivation, T. B. Pohath- 

 Kehelpannala, Journ. Anthrop. Inst. November, 1895. 



