388 JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XL 



It is remarkable that, although the present incumbent is one 

 professing the Mohammedan faith, and the temple has for 

 many generations been a place of worship of the Moorish 

 community, many besides the followers of Mohammed 

 believe in the powers'for evil and good which the presiding 

 deity is said to possess and exercise. Casie Chitty* gives an 

 account of the tradition, which is, so far as I have been able 

 to ascertain, correct. I have summarised and supplemented 

 it with information I have gleaned from other sources to 

 make it as complete as possible. 



The king (the Kurunegala Vistaraya gives his name as 

 Bhuwaneka Bahu) who last reigned at Kurunegala, it is said, 

 left a son by his queen-consort and another by a Moorish 

 woman (said to be of Aswedduma, a village about a mile and 

 a half from Kurunegala), one of his harem. 



The legitimate issue being a minor when the king died, 

 Vastuhimi, or Vathima Kumaraya, the bastard, gained over 

 the ministers to his side by liberally bestowing on them the 

 immense riches which were at his command, and from the 

 acquisition of which he received his name, and got himself 

 crowned king to the exclusion of the lawful heir, who, 

 despairing of his ability to recover his rights, privately 

 retired from the capital and lived in disguise at a village in 

 Udapola Korale. Here he took to wife Sirimal Etana, 

 daughter of Patabendirala, one of seven sisters, the eldest of 

 whom was named Kalu Etana. The prince was first 

 captivated by the latter, but she having rejected his addresses, 

 the royal suitor was forced to transfer his affections to the 

 object of his second choice. 



Vastuhimi reigned for some time with great popularity, but 

 his predilection for the faith of his mother soon gave offence 

 to his Buddhist ministers, who plotted to assassinate him. 

 He was accordingly invited to attend a meeting of priests to 

 be held on the top of Eta-gala, for the purpose of reading 

 bana. On his way alone up the rock to the meeting, and 



* " Ceylon Gazetteer," pp. 146-8, 



