Indian Antiquary Vol 02

SR No.: 032494
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 428
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 20 MB

Page 129

APRIL, 1873.]
SERVICE TENURES IN CEYLON.
117
supply lime; the dobi or washerman; the mat- weaver (Kinnaraya); and the outcast Rodiya who buries the carcases of animals that die on the estate, and supplies ropes, &c, made of hide and fibres. Others supply pack-bullocks for the transport of the produce of the fields, and for bringing supplies of salt and oured fish from the towns on the coast.
The relations between the proprietor and tenants are generally of friendly character, and when the connection has remained unbroken for many generations a strong feeling of attachment exists, and it is to this that may be attributed the readiness with which the proprietors have assented to the adoption of the view propounded by the District Judge of Kandy (Mr. Berwick), that the mere fact of the present holder being a son or heir of the tenant who preceded him, and died in posBession, raises a presumption of praveni, i. e., hereditary title, which presumption is directly opposed to Kandyan tradition. Nevertheless the chiefs and priests have been generally willing to waive all dispute as to the hereditary title, on being asBired of the continuance of the customary services, or the payment, in lien, of a fair rent...
The tenants on estates belonging to the Baddhist monasteries keep the buildings in repair, cultivate the reserved fields, prepare the daily offerings of rice, attend the priests on journeys, &c. A remarkable case of religious toleration which has become known in the course of the Service Tenures inquiry is perhaps deserving of mention. The tenants in the village Rambukandana, belonging to the ancient monastery of Ridi Wihåre, are all Muhammadans. The service which they render to that establishment is confined to the payment of dues and the transport of produce, &c., and has no connection with the services of the Buddhist Wihare, and their own lebbe or priest is supported by a farm set apart by the Buddhist landlords for that purpose. There are thus Muhammadan tenants performing without reluctance service to a Buddhist monastery, and that monastery freely supporting a priest for its Muhammadan tenants. The head of this monastery has from its foundation been a member of the Tibboţuwwe family. This is the most important of the numerous private livings in Ceylon. When one of these becomes vacant, before one of the family to which it belongs has been ordained,
here, as in England, a temporary incumbent is put in, who generally serves as tutor to the young heir.
On the Dewalo lands the service is most complicated and peculiar, the part which cach tenant has to take in the annual processions being minutely defined, and it is to this that the popularity of the Dewale service is owing. These processions afford the ordinary villagers the only opportunities for a general gathering, and for taking part in a pageant and a show, and above all it is on these occasions that the social distinctions, to which the Kandyans attach great importance, are publicly recognized.....
There is one question connected with the Wihåre and Dewâle estates which must before long force itself on the consideration of Government. There is no means of ensuring the due application of the rents from these estates to their legitimate purposes. The labour which should be employed on the repair of the ecclesiastical buildings is frequently taken for the erection of private buildings of the priests and lay incumbents, and the dues are often not accounted for. The complaints of misappropriation of the temple property are frequent. Even the land is sometimes sold to ignorant purchasers, and when the services are commuted, this misappropriation, if not checked. will increase, to the serious demoralization of the priests and Basnayakas. If the revenues are not devoted to their original purpose, they should be employed in education or otherwise, for the benefit of the people, and not be appropriated to the personal use of Buddhist priests and Basnayakas. In a village near Badulla, nearly the whole of the land is in the hands of one family, which holds the office of Basnayaka of the Dewale to which the village is said to belong. But the Dewale is in ruins, the processions are not conducted, and the Government gives up its tithe only to enrich a
It is necessary to again call attention to this question, as the evil is daily growing greater, and, with its growth, demoralizing the people, and di. minishing the value of the public lands set apart for ecclesiastical purposes. lu the course of the past year a very serious case a.me to the knowledge of the Commissioners. The Dambulu wihara is, as is well known, a shrine held in great reverence
• The most celebrated of these processions is the Pershers, which takes place at Kandy in Raald (July-August), commencing with the new moon in that month, and continning till the full moon. It is a Hindu festival in honour of the four deities, Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama (Kandasv&mi), and Pattini, who are held in reverence by the Baddhists of Ceylon u dewiyo who worshipped Gautams, and are seeking to attain NirvAna. In the reign King Kirtisari (A. D. 1747-1780), a body of priests who came over from
Siam, for the purpose of restoring the Upsampada ordination, objected to the observance of this Hindu ceremony in Buddhist country. To remove their scruples. the king ordered the Dalada relic of Buddha to be carried thenceforth in procession with the insignia of the four deities nevertheless, the Peraher is not regarded as a Buddhist ceremony.
Report for 1870.