No. 39.-1889.] notes on ritigala. 



15 



already been ousted, was selected as a suitable spot to build 

 viharas on. 



The king Suratissa, who reigned between 247-237 B.C., 

 erected the " Lanka Vihdre" at the foot of the Arittha 

 mountain (" Mahawansa," chap. XXI.). 



The following century, it is recorded that the king Lajji- 

 tissa (109-119 B.C.) built another, and called it the "Arittha 

 Vihdre" {Ibid., chap. XXXIII.). 



Nearly a thousand years later Sena (838-58 A.D.) added to 

 the Ritigala sacred buildings : — 



And the king Silamegha (Sena) built, as it were by a miracle, a 

 great vihare at Arrittha pabbatta, and endowed it with great possessions, 

 and dedicated it to the Pansukulika* brethren. And he gave to it also 

 royal villages and honours, and a great number of keepers for the 

 garden, and servants and artificers. (Chap. L., 63, 64.) 



Even at the present day the ignorant villagers in the 



neighbourhood of Ritigala believe that the mountain is 



inhabited by Yakku, and hence they dare not take anything 



away from the place through fear of incurring the wrath of 



the Yakku. 



It is said that one day a man from a village close by lost 

 his way, and was benighted in the jungle just below the 

 mountain. Seated under a tree he was surprised to hear the 

 barking of dogs, the crying of children, and all the bustle 

 of a busy village. A little while after a Yakd, in the form * 

 of a man, came to him with a chulu light in hand and 

 offered him a large quantity of rice and curry with 

 plantains, oranges, &c. The Yakd then told the man to eat 

 his fill, but enjoined him, rather fiercely, to depart before 

 dawn of day in the southern direction, and take nothing 

 away from the spot. The man, through sheer fright, could 

 not then eat the ample repast laid before him, but after- 

 wards, when he was left alone and his fear had subsided, 

 he ate as much of the food as he could. Before daybreak 

 he got up and, as was directed, took a southern direction, 



* An order of bhikkus who strictly follow the theory regarding the 

 dress of Buddhist monks, that it should be made of dirty rags taken from 

 a dust or refuse heap or from a cemetery, and pieced together, 



