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THE PERAHERA FESTIVAL IN CEYLON.
SEPTEMBER, 1874.]
Dêwalê. During the third or last five days, called the Maha-* or Rand ôli-perahera, the procession issues out of the temple precincts, and, taking a wider circuit, passes round the main thoroughfares of a town. The festival concludes with one of its chief ceremonies, the Diya kepima, when the insignia are taken in procession on elephants to the customary ferry, which is prepared and decorated for the occasion; and the Kapurâlâ, proceeding in boats to the middle of the stream, cut with the Rankuduwa (golden sword) the water at the lucky hour. At that very instant the Rankendiya (the golden goglet), which is first emptied of the water preserved in it from the Diya kepima of the previous year, is re-filled and taken back in procession to the Dêwâlê. It is customary in some temples for the tenants to wash themselves in the pond or stream immediately after the Diya kepima. This is a service obligatory on the tenants. After the conclusion of the Perahera, the officers and tenants engaged in it, including the elephants, have ceremonies for the conciliation of lesser divinities and evil spirits performed, called Balibat-uêtima,t Garayakun-nêtima, ‡ and Waliya kun-netima. The Perahera is observed in all the principal dêwâlas, such as Kataragama, the four Dewâlas in Kândi, Alutnuwara Dêwâlê, and Saman Dêwâlè in Sabaragamuwa, &c.
The following account of this ceremony as observed nearly 60 years ago was presented to His Excellency the Governor, 19th August 1817, and published in the Ceylon Government Gazette of 13th September 1817. §
The Disawa of Nelasse's Account of the Perahera.
Perahera (properly called E h salêkeleye) is a very ancient ceremony in commemoration of the birth of the god Vishnu, beginning on the day that the god was born, viz., the day of the new moon in the mouth of July (Ehsala). In some sacred books this ceremony is said to be in remembrance of Vishnu's victory over the A suras, or enemies of the gods.
The ceremony of the Perahera is thus begun :-The people belonging to the four principal dewâlês go to a young jacktree, not yet in fruit, the stalk of which is three spans in circumference. They clear the ground round the tree, and consecrate it by fumigating it with the smoke of burning rosin, smearing it with a preparation of
Randoliya is the palanquin in which the insignia are carried in this procession.-Report, p. 78.
+Balibat nețima-a devil-dance performed for five days after the close of the Perahera by a class of persons superior to the ordinary Yakdesso (devil-dancers), and called Balibat Gamme hêl, supposed to be descendants of emigrants from the coast. A Yak desso
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sandal, made on purpose, and further by an offering of a lighted lamp with nine wicks, which is put at the foot of the tree, and of nine betel leaves and nine different kinds of flowers arranged on a chair. This being done, the woodcutter of the Mahâdêwâlê, dressed in a clean cloth, and purified by washing and rubbing himself with lemon-juice, with an axe fells the tree at its root, and cuts the trunk transversely into four pieces of equal length, to be divided among the four dêwâlês. The lowest piece is the property of the Nata dêwâlê, the next of the Maha dê wêlê and the next of the Kataragama dêwâlê, and the top piece is the property of the Pattini dê wâlê.
Each log is carried to its respective dêwâlê, accompanied by the beating of tom-toms. On the day of the new moon of the month of Ehsala each piece is fixed into the ground in a particular spot in the dêwâle, a roof is erected over it, it is covered with cloths to keep it concealed, and decorated all round with white olas, fruits, and flowers, &c.
Thus prepared and situated, the logs are called Kip, which signifies pillars.
Till the fourth day from that on which pillars were fixed, the Kapurâlâs carry round the Kip morning and evening the bow and arrows of the gods to whom their temples are consecrated. On this occasion tom-toms are beaten, and canopies, flags, talipats, umbrellas, fans, &c. are displayed. The bow and arrow are called the god, and carrying them round the Kip is called carrying the god. On the fifth day of Perahera the Kapurâlâ brings the bow and arrow to the gate in the street, and places them in the Ranhiligay on the back of an elephant. The elephants of the four dêwâlas, thus bearing the bows and arrows of the four gods, are led to the Maluwa, which is situated between the Mah & and Nå ta dewalas, where the chiefs and pecple assemble.
At the same time, the Bauddha priests of the Maligawa bring to the gate of their temple the Datukarenduwa (the shrine containing the relic. of Buddha), and place it in the "Ranhiligay," on the back of an elephant, who remains at the gate. In the meantime the procession moves from the Maluwa between the Mahâ and Nâta. dêwâlas, making a circuit round the latter on its way towards the gate cf the Maligawa, where the relic of Buddha is in waiting.
The procession is as follows:
(1.) The king's elephants with Gajanayke Nileme : is a tenant of the tom-tom-beater caste who performs devilceremonies. (pp. 60, 82.)
Gara-yakun.A devil-dance performed in some districts at the close of important undertakings, such as construction of buildings, at the close of the Perahera for the elephant, &c. (p. 65.)
§ Keport, pp. 75, 76. For a notice of the Kandi Perahera see Ind. Ant. vol. II. p. 117, note.
