42 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). 



[Vol. X. 



profession of his supernatural origin was sure to secure 

 for him from the people around him, must, if he cared 

 for a successful realisation of his intentions, show himself in 

 a place where people given up to devotion are in the habit of 

 congregating ; and no better place could have been chosen 

 for such a purpose than the premises where a famous 

 vihare was known to exist, as people would, as a matter 

 of course, gather there in large numbers for devotional 

 purposes. 



The belief of the Sinhalese in the supernatural powers of 

 gods, the protection afforded by them to Buddhism, and the 

 readiness with which they give ear to the invocations of 

 men, the striking dissimilarity from themselves in appear- 

 ance, habits, and language of this Malabar man, as also the 

 circumstance of his being possessed of a knowledge of witch- 

 craft, which must have at that time been looked upon as 

 miraculous, — all this must have made the credulous regard 

 him as a deviyo, and have induced them to make offerings 

 to him. 



This custom lasted for several years ; and even up to the 

 present time offerings are made at this devale in the hope 

 of protection both from calamities and even in prosperous 

 circumstances. 



Orthodox Sinhalese, too, whose belief in this deviyo had 

 taken an unusually strong hold of them, turned Kapuralas 

 (demon-priests), and initiated the performance known as 

 Dewol-sdmdyama, or Gini-yakuma — a ceremony which, in 

 behalf of sick or diseased persons, Kapuralas continue to 

 perform up to date, dressed in scarlet garments, and dancing 

 with lighted torches in hand, varying the wild antics they 

 perform with occasionally treading heated coal with amazing 

 briskness and confidence, while engaged at the same time in 

 the manipulation with equal agility of the several tom-toms 

 that contribute the music necessary for the ceremony. That 

 part of the ceremony which has to do with the heated coals is 

 enacted, I am told, in imitation of a like feat performed by 

 the Dewol Deviyo himself. 



