he is seated astride

"blue ... mare (velamba)"

in his left hand

"broken pot (kabala) of fire"

in his right hand

"sword"

his body

"is covered in snakes"

technique

method

details

pilluva

p. 38 "sending an animal ... or some other small creature as an instrument of destruction"

p. 310, n. 2:16 "Wirz (1954:203-6) gives details of pilluva ... the use of the mummified corpse of a child ... and its revitalization through magical means. The child is then instructed to visit the place of the victim and to destroy the victim ... .

Other kinds of pilluva described by Wirz involve using snakes and chickens to attack victims."

iri-pa:nnum [‘line’- (p. 354)] / va:l-pa:nnum [‘creeper’- (p. 359)]

p. 311, n. 2:17 "poisonous creepers are likened to poisonous snakes"

p. 38 "the drawing of lines (e.g., with funerary ash) or

the planting of poisonous creepers in the way of victims so as to kill them"

katugasima

p. 38 "making wax effigies and

sticking them with thorns at the five vital parts of the body"

pa:tali giniam

p. 311, n. 2:18 "a life in return for ... help"

p. 38 "the burning of copper foil shaped like a human figure, causing a furious and maddening fever"

?

p. 38 "the introduction of poisons ... through the medium of tiny drops of oil onto the victim’s skin"

p. 311, n. 2:19 "the heads of a great variety of snakes are boiled in a pot, a mere drop of the resultant brew being enough to cause death."

bumipalu

throwing of a substance into the abode of victim

p. 39 "the ash of a burned corpse (mini alu), or

the earth from a black ants’ nest (geri pas)"

bandana

[Skt.] bandhana (p. 352)‘binding’

p. 39 "hira bandana (tight ... bond) ... is suspected in the case of disputes between close kin ... ."

"... muka bandana is to control the speech of another or to strike another dumb.

... preta bandana ... the ghost of a dead relative becomes bound to the house of the victim, causing a train of misfortunes". {haunted house}

p. 311, n. 2:20 "kalava bandana is intended to paralyze its victims in the midst of sexual intercourse."

p. 63

"in the ritual drama of the Kohomba-Kankariya [a ritual cleansing from sorcery (p. 31)], ... Kuveni’s curse is significant in the use of the punava pot (the cursing or "leopard" pot, the leopard being one transform of Kuveni)". ["The spots of the leopard are indicative of the boils that covered King Panduva’s body as a result of Kuveni’s curse." (p. 312, n. 3:1)

p. 115

Vijaya’s hair is like a peacock’s plumes."

p.

myth

68

H. Vasavarti Maraya flew to Mahasammata’s palace, and as he approached, he changed his voice and his form to take on the appearance of King Mahasammata. But he could not change his smell. ...

69

L. Vishnu changed himself into a beetle (kuruminiya) and brought Oddiya to the palace. {cf. [Kemetian] beetle-god H^PR pushing forward the sun} Oddisa then performed the first ritual to cure".

#

pp. 74-5 wall of __

p. 75 ditch

1^st

p. 74 crystal

dry

2^nd

pp. 74-5 stone

of mud

3^rd

p. 75 metal

of water

p.

myth

74

"A. The king of Vadiga (the father of Oddisa Kumara) ruled the country of Oddivaga in the land of Kalinga in Dambadiva [?/dambha-diva/ ‘fraud-rich’]. ...

75

E. The queen told the king that she ... longed to coil her body with cobras and vipers and to walk naked around Vadiga city. ...

H. At first the king ... gave the prince into the care of nursing mothers (kiri amma). When the prince reached the age of seven months, he was given his first rice to eat (kiri bhat) and given his name, Vadiga Kumara. When the prince reached the age of sixteen, he left the palace and went out into the jungle (Hirandara jungle).

76

I. In the jungle he found an antihill (a golden anthill) {cf. emmets digging up gold among the Paktues (Pas^to), according to Herodotos}, and he reached into it, pulling out many cobras. He ... absorbed their poison into his body. He coiled his body with all kinds of serpents : the mapila (a bloodsucking snake), the polong telissa (jumping viper), the karavala (black-and-white ringed snake). He collected the bones of vipers and the thorns of poisonous creepers : timbol (a tree with toxic fruit and thorns) and ukkuresssa (the fruit parches the throat). The prince garlanded his head and shoulders with foul-smelling flowers. {flowers of certain large epiphyte (parasitic) plants are malodorous} He captured the Maha Kala Naga [Maha Kala Naga] (the great serpent at the beginning of time) and extracted his four venomous fangs on which dwelled the demonesses Takari, Makari, Yami [Yami], and Yamaduti [Yama-duti]. ["These are ... the wives of Suniyam." (p. 313, n. 3:8)]

J. The prince now returned to Vadiga city. he killed his father, the king, and he ate all the people of the Vadiga country. He attacked the kings of Kalinga and Dantapura, killing them and eating all the inhabitants of these kingdoms.

Kaksadevi [/kaks.a/ ‘lurking-place; forest of dead trees; armpit’]).

Gora [Ghora = A-ghora] (a kind of terror).

Eventually he came to the city of the lord of the demons, Vessamuni [Vais`ya-muni], at Kuverapura. Vessamuni gave Oddi authority to be a demon. Oddi then returned to Visalamahanuvara, with his eighty-four thousand followers, and he started to eat all the people of that city.

M. The Buddha ... commanded Oddi to receive offerings (dola pideni) and sacrifice (degata billa, "animal with two legs"). ...

77

N. [Od.d.i said :] "I am called Sri Oddi Madana ..., Kadiranga [?/khadira-anga/ ‘acacia-limb’] (horn of the buffalo killed by Mangara [?/mangala/ ‘auspicious’] deviyo {cf. kerukeion as horn of Akheloios, killed by Hera-klees}), Kama Rakshya Devatava."

P. But the Buddha relented."

direction

god

p. 126 sequence of entries into performance-arena by dancers personifying these gods

east

Vis.n.u

1^st

west

Saman

3^rd

south

Kataragama

2^nd

north

Natha

4^th

p. 125

"Vessamuni gathers around him a host that comes with the destructive force of the typhoon (veramba vataya)."

p. 126

in his "golden palace ... the twenty-eight generals (yaksa senadipati) gripped their swords in anger. But Vessamuni gave a gigantic sneeze (nilocchumbaya), and ... demons scattered".

p.

rite

128

"darsana [dars`ana], as Eck (1985:3) describes it for Hindu India, is an auspicious gaze, a central act of worship in which human beings see and are seen by the deity."

130

"rites of the hatadiya [s.at.a-] (seven steps) ... are a repetition of those which Oddisa, the master sorcerer .., instituted for the cure of Manikpala."

132

"The adura ... announces ... that he has been given permission by Mihikata [?/mihika/ ‘snow’] ["who made the original atamagala yantra." (p. 318, n. 5:15)] (Polova Mahi Kantava, Bumi Devi [Bhumi Devi], the earth goddess who protected Buddha from the forces of Mara) to recite the origin of the vidiya (vidi-upata kavi)."

133

"The song tells ... how Vasavarti ... reaches into the hell of ignorance (aviciya) and draws out the burning flames (ginijala : ... semen?) which Vasavarti flings toward the queen, becoming the fire viper (ginijala polanga) that lodges in Manikpala’s womb ... . But Manikpala could not speak. [She became dumb, with aphasia.] ...

134

It spat flames into the city."

__ floor

color

deity

top

red

Kataragama [/katara/ ‘cowardly, timid, embarrassed’]

2^nd

blue

Vis.n.u

ground

white

Brahma

p.

legend

136

"the marvelous generosity of Prince Vessantara, who gives away his wealth and possession, including his wife and two children, to the Brahmin Jujaka. ...

137

Jujaka beat Vessantara’s children and then, when he decided to sleep, tied them with creepers to a tree. ...

138

Jujaka, the greed-driven Brahmin, ultimately chokes to death on food".

319, n. 5:18

"King Sanjaya of the Sivis [S`ivi-s / S`ibi-s], the father of Vessantara, had a dream foretelling the reunion of Vessantara’s family. ... Sanjaya causes the children to be released ... . ... Jujaka, now wealthy ..., overeats and chokes to death".

p. 142

"Maha Kala Naga, the great snake of time, the primordial snake located in ... the earth, ... coiled around the base of Mount Meru ... . The myths of Maha Kala Naga, the cobra king, ... tell of Suniyam’s birth from one of his nostrils and tell that from Maha Kala’s body grew the lime (dehi) cut at exorcism ... . The snake is also understood as the shadow cast by Muchalinda, whose great hood shades and protects the Buddha." [Mucalinda "is described as the uncle or father-in-law of Maha Kala Naga" (p. 319 , n. 5:22).]

"the course drawn by the snake ... is ... the stalk of the lotus (nelum danda) by which Maha Brahma climbed down in the primordial creation of the world-universe (loka upata)."

p. 145

Dreams of being eaten by poisonous vipers."

p.

myth

146

"Sakra [S`akra] disguised himself as Solos [/sol.os/ ‘16’ (p. 359)] Gara Giri Raksaya, with his golden sword and his shaggy matted locks of hair, and appeared where the hare was meditating. ... The raksaya ... built a fire at the foot of a mountain three gavvas [/gavva/ ‘league’ (p. 353)] in height. ... The hare ... first went to the sacred pond Anottattavilla in the Himalayas ... . Then climbing to the mountain top, ... the are flung himself toward the fire.

147

The raksaya now ... caught the hare as he fell. Sakra ... decided to honor the hare and painted his image with a golden brush on the moon ... . However, ... the paint-brush ... fell from the divine world down to the world of human beings. But the earth burst open and the brush fell deeper into the Naga world beneath. The Naga king, Maha Kala Naga, ... quickly swallowed it. The Naga king died within seven days, and a creeper (nagavalli) grew from his head {was he redincarnated as that creeper?}, which is how the betel leaf came to have its cobra shape."

321, n. 5:29

A variant of this tale "has the paint-brush burning the Naga king’s throat. It sprouted from the king’s funeral pyre ... . ... According to Nevill (1955:166), this [/naga-valli/] is the name of the betel leaf at the time of Buddha Kasyapa [Kas`yapa]."

p.

myth

147

"Sakra [S`akra] took a precious blue stone upon which he wiped his sweat and flung it toward the earth. The earth burst open, and the gem fell into the Naga world. ... When he came close to it, the Naga king suddenly rushed upon it ... and swallowed it. The king

148

The lime came through the seven seas until it reached Nanaya beach, and here, ... it took root. ... The branches grew in eight directions."

321, n. 5:31

Nevill presents ... a second myth ... : A fight ... between Rahu [Rahu] and the Nagas during which Rahu was bitten. He passed the poison to the sun and the Moon, and this resulted in the darkening of the world. ... Sakra took a blue gem and wiped his perspiration on it. The gem fell into the Naga world and ... the Naga king ... promptly swallowed it. ... Ananda [Ananda] went to fetch it, but the ... rsis threw it into the sea, and it passes through the various oceans (the Blood Sea, the Milk Sea, etc.) and returned to the rsis, where the seed grew into a tree ... . Nine fruits were collected from one branch (the ascending branch), and the spell on the Sun and the Moon was removed (1954, 1:306)."

#

direct.

fruit

1^st

east

kudali dehi ("leech lime")

2^nd

S.E.

nas-naran (citron)

3^rd

south

jama-naran (mandarin orange)

4^th

S.W.

dodan ("orange")

5^th

west

maha-naran (grapefruit)

6^th

N.W.

naran (orange)

7^th

north

yaki-naran ("demon orange")

8^th

N.E.

hin dehi ("small green lime used in ... sorcery")

p. 148

With the ash from a funeral pyre.

p. 149

Drive thorns into the head."

step

offering

1^st

"milk rice (kiri bat)"

2^nd

"boiled rice colored with turmeric (ranvat bat)"

3^rd

"flower petals for the nine planets"

4^th

"roasted (pulutu) paddy grains (vi)"

5^th

"curd"

6^th

"treacle (pani [pa:n.i (p. 357)]) from the kitul palm"

7^th

"a mixture of all the preceding offerings"

"when Manikpala fell unconscious, Oddisa burst through the earth and chose the spot where Visvakarma should draw the yantra with four kinds of ash." ["The ash of brick (gadol), lime (hunu), crystal (tirivana), and cow dung (goma)." (p. 323, n. 5:40)]

"After preparing eight oil lamps to be placed on the pots (punkalas) at either side of the four doorways into the atamangala, the patient takes a lighted torch with which to burn the threads (kanya nul, virgin threads) that crisscross the front entrance.

Buddha placed his footprint at Mecca." [?]

p.

rite

150

"The patient places a small food-packet (gotu [got.u (p. 353)], made from jak, kos, tree leaves) offering in the lotus altar. This is for Suniyam".

154

A chair is to be used as an offering table is placed outside the entrance into the atamangala, and an offering basket (Suniyam vattiya) set upon it set upon it, into which the patient places offering for Sumiyam and his retinue of female demons. Sixteen small offering plates (aila) [/aile/ "Offering troughs ... made from banana trunks" (p. 351) {stems of banana-leaves}] are in the basket, the number indicative of independent conscious awareness ... . When finished they are taken to the place where the Suniyam clay image (baliya) is laid".

155

"Suniyam Yaka ... traps tusked elephants and eats them."

"where ... the household has a history of persistent sorcery attack, a nicakula tinduva (outcaste destruction or finishing) may be performed. ... the Berava [Bhairava] exorcists (... virtually social outcastes) are the ritualists who might perform such a rite. A yantra is drawn on the ground in ash, with Sinhalese vowels placed at each of the corners. In the center is placed a bull’s head, on which are placed three betel leaves and three pinches of salt. A small fire is lit on the skull and a large cooking pot is placed on it, in which a variety of grains are roasted. The patient cuts the skull with a machete".

"The vadiga patuna ... declares that it is a book (potak) written by Oddisa on the command of god Sakra, and written in different scripts, ... it was written in ten different languages and was brought ..., ... on the back of Sakra’s royal elephant, to Oddisa’s cave (ratgal, red rock)."

other body ornaments (abarana) [abarana (p. 351)]."

p. 167

Before the hoops are placed around the victim’s body, the master exorcist takes a crown (otunna, woven with coconut leaves ...), and ... sings of its origin (otunu upata). He tells that it is the crown of the Naga King, ... and is made from 108 poisonous vines." ["Nevill (1955:350) presents ... a ... manuscript, which ... names some 108 of the poisonous vines. He states that each hoop indicates a different creeper." (p. 324, n. 5:49)]

p. 168

While binding the patient’s body, the master adura takes a spray of mango leaves (which have been hanging inside the atamagala, on the left, or moonside, of the structure) and brushes them repeately, head to foot, down the patient’s body. ... These actions ... sweep the body clean ... of the fire of curses, and, so the exorcist intones’ dispel the ten fears".

#

dread of __

1^st

bhuta (spirits)

2^nd

yaksaya (daimones)

3^rd

raksaya (planetary daimones)

4^th

preta (ghosts)

5^th

raja ("power" [royalty])

6^th

cora (thieves)

7^th

gini [agni] (fire)

8^th

mara (death)

9^th

humbas (emmet-hills)

10^th

vasangata roga (infectious diseases)

"Pattini’s birth from the mango that Sakra, the king of the gods, gave to Buddha to eat. Sakra plants the stone [seed, kernel] in the land of the evil king of Pandi. Pattini is born from this stone and puts out the third eye of the cruel king."

"Pattini destroys the city of Madurai as punishment for the unjust killing of her husband, Palanga, whom she raises from the dead (see Obeyesekere 1984a ...)."

"Yawudagiri ... : ... the conception of Oddi as a result of her unwilling intercourse with a lustful god while she was bathing (during her menstrual period, kili mala), Oddi’s birth, ... how Oddi drinks the snake venom, changing its poison into the antidote of sorcery."

p.

rite

171

"three exorcist-dancers shoot clouds of burning resin (dummala) in the air toward the palace.

Simultaneously, the master adura boils with limes ... . Their boiling is the making of nanu [nanu (p. 356)], the paste ... with which the king was anointed at ceremonies of installation and reempowerment. ...

172

Suniyam has the face of a pig (and the forehead of a bull) ... . The Buddha dies after a meal of pork ... . {or rather, of mushrooms sought by swine; as like died emperor Claudius} ...

173

[The master adura] screams ..., and reeling, encircles the palace. He sees the image of Suniyam at the apex of the palace’s central tower, and reaching up, hacks it down with his machete. He stabs ... the emblems of the Sun and the Moon at the side towers of the palace ... .

174

... the cutting of the ash pumpkin, the puhul tinduva [puhul tinduva "ash pumpkin judgement" (p. . 357)] {the apotheosis of emperor Claudius (conducted by emperor Nero) was designated ‘pumpkinification’} ... In the puhul tinduva, the master adura lies down on a rush mat ... . His attitude is that of a corpse; his head is oriented toward the west, in the direction of death, and rests on the rolled end of the mat (where the head of a corpse is placed). {cf. the thrice-feigned deaths of emperor Tiberius} ...

175

A basket of offerings is set on the exorcist’s stomach, on which an ash pumpkin is placed. ... At the adura’s feet, an egg is cooked in the cranium of a human skull". {cf. the decapitated human head under the feet of Kemetian god BS (BS = yBuS (Yru^-s^alem).}

p.

shrine

241

"At one Suniyam shrine near the boundary of Colombo municipality, supplicants enter the premises through the jaws of a lion, a representation of the lion of Sinhala, the lion of state of the ancient (5^th century C.E.) fortress site of Sigiri rock ... . Worshippers descend into a series of dark caverns ... . At the center of the shrine’s inner chambers ... are images of demons and gods. Bhadrakali is one, and the priest turns on a light that bathes her in a red light. ... A large statue of the devouring bearlike form of the great cemetery demon, Mahasona [Maha-s`on.a {‘great purple’}], has a prominent position. Mahasona, according to the myths of his rebirth, was destroyed ... and was restored to life, but in a distorted ... form, by Saturn, the planetary god ... . ... Mahasona is the commander-in-chief (senadipati) of Suniyam’s army."

242

"A famous cursing shrine for the demon-deity Gale Bandara ... is situated outside the town of Kurunegala ... . ... The ... shrine is crowded with dogs ... given by supplicants".

243

"There is a ... popular shrine at Gatabaruya (for the demon-deity Rajjaruvo Bandara) in the southern foothills of the Moruwaka District. ... The area of the shrine is overrun with cocks given in return for favors done."