Utsava murti, Vattappalai Amman Kovil
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Utsava murti, Vattappalai Amman Kovil |
Goddess Pattini is prominent as the most popular female Buddhist divinity in Sri Lanka; she has her devalayas scattered throughout the country. Her cult goes back at least to the second century A.C. The then ruler, King Gajabahu, is said to have introduced the worship of this divinity into the island from South India.1 The legend about her life is told in the Tamil poem Silappadikaram. According to the myths current in the island about her, she had seven incarnations, being born seven times from water, the tusk of an elephant, a flower, a rock, a fire (or peak), cloth, and a mango. Hence she is designated as sat-pattini, sat meaning seven.
There are colourful stories woven around these births. The story about her unswerving fidelity to her fickle husband Kovalan (or Palanga) in her birth as Kannagi, is quite popular among the local Buddhists as attested by the existence of many Sinhala literary works dealing with the story (e.g. Vayantimalaya, Pattinihalla, Palanga-halla, etc.).
Her favours are sought especially at times of pestilences like chicken pox, measles, etc. and also by women who desire children. It is customary for the Sri Lankan Buddhists to visit her devalaya and worship her with offerings after recovery from infectious diseases. The banishment of evil influences and the attainment of prosperity in general and good harvests are other purposes behind the ceremonies performed in her honour. She also plays an important part in the ceremonies connected with the offering of first fruits.2
Devalayas dedicated to her are found in many parts of the island, the one at Navagamuwa, about fifteen miles from Colombo on the old Avissavella Road, being the most important. The sanctity of this place seems to go back to the time of King Gajabahu.3
The large number of rituals and ceremonies connected with the goddess Pattini also come under Buddhist practices. This goddess, believed to be of South Indian origin, has become the most popular female deity of the Sinhala Buddhists (see below, pp. 65-66). While Hindu goddesses like Lakshmi, Sarasvati, and Kali are also worshipped by the Buddhists, only Pattini has separate abodes among the Buddhists. The most important of the rituals connected with Pattini is the gam-maduwa, which is an all-purpose ceremony. As this ceremony is usually held after the harvest by offering the first portion of paddy harvested, this is also a ceremony of first-fruit offerings.4A gam-maduwa has many interludes dramatized mainly from rich legendary lore about the goddess Pattini.5 Kohomba-kankariya, or the ritual of the god Kohomba, is a ceremony similar to the gam-maduwa but performed more as an expiatory ritual.
Two other ceremonies of this type are pan-madu and puna-madu. All these are different forms of the same type of ritual with slight differences. They are generally referred to as devol-madu or occasions for the propitiation of the gods.6 The general purpose of such devol-madu is the attainment of immunity from disease and evil influences and the achievement of success, especially agricultural, for the entire village. A point that is sociologically important is that as they are big communal gatherings they also fulfil the social needs of the village folk. As they are performed in public places to bless the community as a whole and turn out to be social get-togethers, they bear a corporate character. When it is decided that such a ceremony should be held, all the village folk would forget their differences and work together to make it a success. Further, while it mainly serves as a ritual to propitiate the deities, it is a form of entertainment as well. Serving as it does the socio-religious needs of the masses, it becomes a big social event for the entire village.
