No. 26. — 1883.] PADDY CULTIVATION CUSTOMS. 



G3 



to the room, and at his bidding the house inmates offer 

 more panduru, and are sprinkled with the holy saffron 

 water, as well as the women who have prepared the ddne. 



Finally, the Kapurala taking some dummala, (resin), 

 charms it with a kepa-har'tna-mantra and perfumes the 

 whole of the food about to be partaken. Those assembled 

 then seat themselves on mats in a row, and do justice to the 

 viands, only waiting for the Kapurala to first taste something. 

 The mal-bulat-taituva and the seven plantain leaf offerings 

 are placed at a little distance from the house — left for dogs 

 and crows, into whom it is considered has entered the disti 

 or perception of the Yaksayo. 



As though the superstitious rites of the Demyanne-danaya 

 and Rdlakdmi-pidima were not sufficient " spots on their 

 feasts of charity," the Sinhalese goy'tyd too frequently resort 

 to further devil ceremonies such as Devol-madu, Gam-madu, 

 which need not be described at length here, not being inti- 

 mately connected with the subject in hand.* 



NOTES. 



do 



Astrology in Agriculture. 



Those who may care to become thoroughly versed in the set 

 " times and seasons," which ought to be observed in native 

 agricultural operations, will find full particulars in the Muhurtta- 

 chintdmam, a metrical treatise on the subject, by the famous 

 astrologer E'pa Appuhami, published at Colombo in 1876. 



The following extracts from a similar ola MS. in the writer's 

 possession give some idea of the extent to which " the stars in 

 their courses" influence the action of the Sinhalese cultivator. 



* In other districts (Sijan6 Korale, to wit) instead of the 'gipsy-kettle' 

 support, a post ( evari-kanuvn ) is planted outside the compound with 

 a light upon it, and the plantain-leaf-cone there offered to Kada- 

 vara Yaksayd. The yahana, too, is constructed in the compound, and 



