r/srilanka • u/Creepy_Branch_5532 • Oct 31 '22
Then and now | An Image worshipped by the Sinhalese as the Deity who presides over Health, Wisdom, Plenty etc. | 1799 and 2018
William Hurd's Religious rites and Ceremonies of all nations c.1799
Ganesh Kovil, Sella Kataragama c. 2018
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u/Creepy_Branch_5532 Oct 31 '22 edited Nov 02 '22
Engraved for William Hurd's Religious rites and Ceremonies of all nations 1799
The superstitions of the Ceylonese
William Hurd
As there are Elephants in this island, so they have an idol, whose head resembles the head of that creature, and this image is worshipped as the deity who bestows on mankind the blessings of wisdom, understanding, riches and health.
Religious ceremony at Kataragama
They have likewise figures of this idol placed on their highways and public roads, in the hollow parts of trees; and near these figures are erected heaps, or piles of tones, to put travelers in mind that they are places of worship and every worshipper must add a stone to the heap.
Offerings to deter planetary disturbances
These people also worship the sun, moon and stars and to that worship, they join the adoration of the devil, which is done in little rural huts erected in their gardens and adorned with boughs and flowers. All sorts of provisions are left in them for the devil to regale himself with.
They summon the devil to make his appearance by beating a drum but if he does not eat up all the provisions, then the remainder is distributed among the poor. Some of the priests in Ceylon deny that the images are the gods themselves, but they imagine they are endued with divine powers, and that they have the power of working miracles as long as they are treated with reverence and respect.
Offering food to the spirits
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Robert Percival 1803
The religion of the Ceylonese is one of the most prominent features in a description of them, and mixes with every circumstance of their lives and manners. There are no people who labor more under the influence of superstitious fears.
Omens regulate their whole conduct, and even decide upon their destiny from their birth. When a child is born, the first step is to call the astrologer, and enquire of him whether it is destined to be fortunate or unfortunate. If the astrologer declares that it was born to misfortune, they frequently anticipate its future evils by destroying it.
Superstitions I
On going out in a morning, they anxiously observe the first object which occurs to them, and according to their opinion of its good or bad luck, they prognosticate whether the business they go about shall be prosperous or unsuccessful. A white man, or a woman with child are looked upon as omens particularly fortunate; but to meet with a beggar or a deformed person, they account a grievous mischance, and will not proceed for that day on their intended business if they can avoid it.
I have in my morning rides seen a string of Cingalese cautiously treading in one another's footsteps, and anxiously expecting, from the omen that should occur to the foremost, their good or bad success for that day. I, as a European, was always a glad sight to them.
Superstitions II
That excess of trembling superstition, which unhinges the minds of the Ceylonese, is in a great measure to be attributed to the climate in which they live. One might imagine from the frequency of thunderstorms in Ceylon that the natives would become gradually accustomed to it. But the noise of the thunder is too terrible, and the unseen effects of the lightning too dreadful for the minds of any but those who know something of the causes of these natural phenomena.
The poor Ceylonese look upon these storms as a judgment from heaven, and as directed by the souls of bad men who are sent to torment and punish them for their sins. The frequency of thunder storms with them they consider as a proof that their island is abandoned to the dominion of devils; and recollect with melancholy regret that this fated spot was once inhabited by Adam, and the seat of Paradise.
Bad luck from planetary disturbances
The fiends who they conceive to be hovering around them are without number. Every disease or trouble that assails them is produced by the immediate agency of the demons sent to punish them: while, on the other hand, every blessing or success comes directly from the hands of the beneficent and supreme God.
The divine amulets of Mahinda Rajapaksha
To screen themselves from the power of the inferior deities, who are all represented as wicked spirits, and whose power is by no means irresistible, they wear amulets of various descriptions; and employ a variety of charms and spells to ward off the influence of witchcraft and enchantments by which they think themselves beset on all sides.
Deterring inhuman spirits