VALLIYAMMA (p. 115). ADDENDA Valliyamma is addressed with Skanda in an invocation for the cure of sickness caused by the Sohon Yakā; and I find that she is also included in a Low-Country list of seven Kiri-Ammās, who are goddesses. They are as follows: 1. Polawē Mahikāntāwā, the Goddess of the Earth. 2. Mūdē Manimēkhalā, the Goddess of the Sea. 3. Saraswati, the wife of Brahmā. 4. Sitā Pramēswari, the wife of Rāma, and an incarnation of Lakshmi. 5. Māē-anganāwā, or Ammā Dēvi, or Umayanganāwā, the wife of Siva. 6. Valliyamma, the wife of Skanda. 7. Pattini Dēvi, an incarnation of Durgā. AYIYANAR (p. 158). Ayiyanar is said to have five Ministers, who are termed 'The Five Dēvatās.' They appear to be the deities of the Wanniyas, who may have erred in including Ayiyanar among these five deities. The list varies in different places, but all agree that three are Ilandāra, Kalu Dēvatā, and Kaḍawara Dēvatā, while another is said to be Kambili Unnaehae, and the fifth may be Gurumā Dēvatā. In that case Ayiyanār is their Wanniya Baṇḍāra. THE SWASTIKA (þ. 492). In the case of the peculiar elevated Swastika of Ceylon an alternative and perhaps preferable explanation of the four basal uprights is that they typify the Four Guardian Gods who protect the four quarters of the island. The base line would then represent the country itself. The pointed ends of the lines on some coins may be intended not merely to close them against the entry of evil spirits. The pointed uprights resemble the right spear-head amulet on the crown of Duttha-Gāmiņi (p. 538), and pointed weapons are well known to be demon-scarers. The points would thus increase the protective power of the symbol. According to the kapurālas, the Four Guardian Gods (Hatara Waran Deviyo) of Ceylon are, Saman 'Divya Rāja,' in the east; Skanda, in the south; Vishnu, in the west-he is said to have delegated his powers to Vibhisana, the Rākshasa king of Ceylon, who is now treated as a god in the Western Province-and Ayiyanār (called also by Low-Country Sinhalese Boksal), in the north. It is probably due to Rama's being an incarnation of Vishnu, whose brother is Indra, that Saman Deviyā (or Sumana) is sometimes identified with Lakshmana, Rāma's brother, who assisted him in conquering the Rakshasas in Ceylon. According to Forbes (Eleven Years in Ceylon, i, p. 185), the colour of Saman is yellow (Dr. Davy says white), and his emblems are a golden bow and arrow; these are Indra's emblems, and he is the Guardian of the East in India. Buddha is stated to have placed Ceylon under the special protection of Sakka (Indra), who delegated the duty to his brother Vishnu, 'the [blue] lotus-coloured' God (Mah. i, p. 32). Saman or Sumana was evidently a mountain deity in Ceylon, the seat of his worship being Adam's Peak, called Sumanakūta in the histories. It is clear that the early annalists believed him to be settled on it before the first visit of Buddha, since it is stated that on that occasion he asked Buddha for something worthy of worship,' and received some of his pure blue [black] locks,' which he enclosed in the emerald dāgaba at Mahiyangana (p. 315). |