Caste, Religion and Ritual in Ceylon

Abstract

in the separation of ritual functions and their performance by different groups. This quest for origins is however entirely speculative. A close analysis of the caste structure, religion, and ritual in a given community will establish the linkage between religion and ritual on the one hand and the caste structure on the other. It is such an analysis that is attempted here of a culturally homogeneous community, the Ceylon Tamils, inhabiting the Northern peninsula of the island of Ceylon, (Ryan 1952) the part called Jaffna.' They are Hindus in religion and speak Tamil as their native language, related, as they are to the Tamils of South India, and being composed of immigrants from there in historic and prehistoric times. In fact the social institutions of the Ceylon Tamils can be considered an extension of that of Tamil South India with regional variations, which are nonetheless important. The Tamils of Ceylon still look to South India for cultural sustenance; they claim common interests in the spheres of literature, 1 The data used in this analysis were never collected as such. The author is a member of the culture and social system described and one can say that he literally grew up in the system. There is scarcely a practice described that has not been actively participated in by the author. Hence the method used may well be called-to distinguish it from cross-cultural participant observation of short duration-total participant research. The concept of an ideal village where the different elements of the caste structure and ritual structure were made to operate was used by the force of two circumstancs. (1) All the important castes do not live in each and every village. Some villages will operate without the presence of a few castes by making appropriate alterations in the ritual structure. For example, a village without Nalawas will arrange the sequence of festivals at the temple without assigning a day to them. (2) Recent changes in the direction of secularization have so altered the picture that it is not possible to see any village in which the pristine form of ritual structure operates.