No. 29. — 1884.] PADDY CULTIVATION CUSTOMS. 



305 



This can be ascertained either from the village astrologer 

 (ckdttiri) or by consulting one of the Tamil almanacs.* 



Paddy cultivation forms no exception to this rule. It is 

 of the utmost importance that every operation connected 

 with it should be commenced on an auspicious day, for it is 

 believed that the good or ill-fortune of the undertaking is 

 decided by the influence of the asterism that governs 

 the day upon which the work is begun. For instance, 

 with respect to sowing and reaping, the rule is, 



vittum Putanil aruviyum dkdtu) " sowing should not be 

 done on Tuesday, nor reaping on Wednesday " ; while, as 

 regards threshing, it is believed that if the day be domi- 

 nated by a malevolent star, the crop is liable to be pilfered 

 by the kulis (mischievous sprites, who correspond to the 

 Sinhalese yaksayo). This is set forth with due precision in 

 the following stanza :— 



(^(TfiLjafr ^n<°<fcr® j56®qrj>ih Qds/r^^^© u9jf5luLj<g pQs. 



Iraviyil pattil on-rum 

 Intupannortril onrum 

 Varuputan munril on/rum 

 Manmakat keddil onrum 



Irupatil onrun karik kiyal pudaik kuli kollum 



Kuru Pukar irandu nanrdm kolun chudu mitippatatke. 



[" On Sunday the kulis will carry away one-tenth ; on Monday, 

 one-eleventh ; on the following Wednesday, one- third ; on Tuesday, 

 one-eighth ; on Saturday, one-twentieth ; Thursday and Friday, 

 these two are good for a bountiful threshing."] 



In addition to these precautions it is necessary, before the 

 commencement of any undertaking, that the assistance of 



* There are at least three of these in use in Jaflna,— one published 

 there, and the others at Colombo and Madras. See Note 1, at end. 



