10 



JOURNAL R. A. S. (CEYLON). [Vol. Ill, 



NOTES ON THE MYTHOLOGICAL LEGENDS 

 OF THE SINHALESE. 



By James de Alwis, Esq., Assistant Secretary. 



There is no reasonable doubt entertained at the present 

 day, as to the belief that Asia was " the country in which the 

 worship of the deity became first corrupted by human inven- 

 tions, and finally degenerated into a system of idolatry, where 

 the adoration of the creature was substituted for that of the 

 Creator." * There is abundant testimony to prove that both 

 Greece and Rome obtained their religious worship from Asia. 



From the position which Ceylon occupies in a geogra- 

 phical point of view, it can hardly be doubted, that the 

 systems of Mythology known to the Hindus, found an early 

 and easy passport to Ceylon. However much the Indian 

 system is opposed to the tenets of Buddhism, f • the religion 

 of Laiika ; the Sinhalese poets have never, it seems, scrupled 

 to adopt that which was used by their Hindu neighbours. if 



* Tooke's Pantheon, Introduction, p. 9. 



t Ramayana Barata — etuluvadedumnudyuta — kimutbasnirata, &c. See 

 note in my Sidath-Sangarawa, pp. xi, xii. 



X It is in accordance with such a feeling, that thoughtless native 

 Protestants consider it not improper to take part in Buddhistical 

 ceremonies, or that Buddhists themselves, under various circumstances, 

 shew an attachment to the forms of Christian worship, believing it 

 by no means inconsistent with their own faith, which inculcates all 

 the virtues which ennoble the soul, besides reverence to parents, charity 

 to the poor, humanity to animals, and love towards all mankind. The 

 case, however, with Sinhalese Roman Catholics is different; and the 

 difference is owing to the rigid requirements and ecclesiastical discipline 

 of that Church, And it is a remarkable fact, that amongst the Sinhalese 

 Roman Catholics there is no wavering of mind, no partnership faith (if 

 I may so call it), and no hankering after the religion of their forefathers. 



