OR TAKSEYO. 



35 



XIV . Baddracali, is a female demon, whose assistance is sought 

 for winning lawsuits, and for subduing enemies and rivals of any- 

 kind. 



XV. Riddhi Yakseniyo are seven female demons, who also 

 bring disease on men, like any other demons. 



XVI. Uda Yakseyo. There are many demons of this name. 

 They are as cruel, as any of the preceding. 



XVII. Curumbera Yakseyo. Of this name also there are 

 several, all equally prodigal of their powers of inflicting sickness. 



XVIII. Hanuma is another powerful demon of great cruelty. 

 These are the principal demons, who figure in Demon Ceremonies, 



either as having caused disease, or as the effective agents in curing 

 it. But there are also a very large number of demons of inferior 

 power, collectively called Mala Yakseyo, who also inflict diseases 

 of a less malignant character. These demons, as mentioned in a 

 preceding page, are, as their name implies, the spirits of deceased 

 men, born as demons in consequence of some demerit of theirs 

 when living as men, or of some feeling of animosity or hatred, which 

 was uppermost in their thoughts at the moment of death. 



In addition to both these classes of demons, there is a third, which 

 includes a few demons of a different kind. These are Gara Yaka, 

 Dewalla Yakseya* Bodrima, and the Pretayo. 



XIX. Gara Yaka has no evil disposition, like those already 

 described. He does no harm whatever to men, but on the contrary 

 assists them in expelling all sorts of evil influence, to which new 

 houses are supposed to be subject. Hence, when a house has been 

 built, before or soon after its occupation, a ceremony called Gara 

 Yaka Maduwa is generally performed, without which it is sup- 

 posed that some misfortune will fall upon the inmates. Gara Yak- 

 soya is represented to be an individual of a voracious appetite and 

 a capacious stomach. On one occasion Pattini Detviyo, the goddess 



* Yaka and Yakseya are synonymous terms, both, equally used by the Sing- 

 halese. The first is derived from the Pali Fakkho, and the second from the 

 Sanscrit Yaksha, 



