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[Vol. X. 



of interest except a few stalactites, and I do not believe it 

 ever contained any objects of worship. Certain it is there 

 were no visible signs of Pattini past or present. The story of 

 the goddess was probably a pious fraud of some Kapurala, 

 who imposed upon the credulity of the people and turned 

 their superstition to his own advantage. The narrowness 

 of the entrance and the dreaded wrath of the cobra rendered 

 Ms sham arcana tolerably safe from detection. 



The Dewale of Kataragama was a very small affair. Only 

 its foundations, now overgrown with lantana, remain. Here 

 again I met with a marked exhibition of the superstitious 

 reverence of the natives for the cobra, — a superstition which 

 I have always found to exist in connection with the dewalas 

 of the Hindu gods, and never with the relic shrines of 

 Buddha. I think this worthy of note, as it appears opposed 

 to the conclusions of Sir J. Fergusson that Buddhism and 

 Naga-worship are closely allied and essentially of Turanian 

 origin, whilst the A'ryan development of Hinduism exhibits 

 only such traces of Naga- worship as have been imparted by 

 contact with Turanians. The old Dewale on Madamewatta 

 was replaced by a building now standing in the Vidiya of 

 Medamahanuwara, of which I shall have occasion to speak 

 presently. But the modern Dewala is always closed, and 

 appears forsaken. The decay of the old religions in these 

 parts is very marked. It would almost seem as if the Old 

 World worship of the Tree and the Serpent was about to 

 survive them all. 



Close to the river bed on Madamewatta is a large inscribed 

 stone, of which a copy was made by Mr. J. V. G. Jayawardana. 

 The carvings are mostly symbolic. They portray a trident 

 spear in the centre, — the peculiar weapon of the god Katara- 

 gama, the Sinhalese equivalent of Kartikeya, the Indian 

 Mars. On the left of this trident is a small circle symbolising 

 the sun, and below it a chank. On the right a half circle 

 representing the moon, and below it a sinha and a smaller 

 chank. These carvings are subscribed by the Tamil words 

 @u>/nr^/57 Q&iuiuir ld it l u? 5 Kumdrasin teyyd madam, which 



