22 



THE DEMONS 



posed to be not his own disguised self; but separate individual 

 demons, who act under him and in obedience to his orders. Reeri 

 Yakseya has 18 of these apparitions, or avatars as they are called 

 by the people. In the 1st he is called Ri'eri Yakseya; in the 

 2nd Bee Raj-ja ; 3rd Agu Raj-ja ; 4th Pulutajja ; 5tli Reeri 

 Gopolla ; 6th Reeri Buddia; 7th Reeri IVatukaya ; 8th Reeri 

 Billey Dewataica ; 9th Reeri Kavisia ; 10th Reeri Sanniya; 

 11th Reeri Curumberay a ; 12th Reeri Madana Yakseya.; 13th 

 Lay Avatar Yakseya; 14th Lay Caama Yakseya ; lath Serra 

 M ami it Dewatawa ; 16th Mara Reeri Yakseya; 1 7rh Maru 

 Caama Yakseya; and in the 18-th Maru Avatar Yakseya. Reeri 

 Yakseya is represented to have Lad above a hundred different in- 

 carnations; in one of which he was the sou of a king of Sanka pala 

 Nuwera; in another, of a king of Lagal pura; in a third, of a she- 

 et, rnoa named Giuiniuru Yaksani of a country called Hanumanta 

 Besay; but his disposition and conduct were the same in all. 



II. Maha So iion Yakseya, or Mali a Soiiona means the Great 

 Graveyard Demon. He is so named because he chiefly frequents 

 graveyards. He is also supposed to haunt the summits of large 

 rocks and hills, where he deiiamts to surround himself with human 

 carcasses, and to swallow huge morsels of the delicious repast, pre- 

 ferring the entrails above all other parts. He is 81 cubits (122 feet) 

 high; has three eyes, four hands, and a skin of a red colour. His 

 origin is thus given — "In ancient times, there were giants in this 

 Island, men who could defeat even half a dozen elephants in single 

 combat by their mere physical strength. One of these giants, by 

 name Jay a Sena, was very fond of displaying his extraordinary 

 strength, even at times when there was no occasion for it, and hap- 

 pening on one occasion to pick a quarrel with Gota Imbra, another 

 great giant, the latter with one blow knocked off his head. Pre- 

 cisely at that moment the planet god Senasura, who was a spectator 

 of the scene, seized a bear, and tearing off its head from its body, 

 applied it to the headless trunk of Jaya Sena, to which through his 

 supernatural power it adhered, and became a part of the body. So 

 the deceased Jaya Sena instantly rose up alive as a demon, and has 



