Regional deity beliefs and concepts of the Wanni Hathpattuwa

Abstract

Wanni Hathpaththuwa is located in the upper part of the Kurunegala district in the present North Eastern province, which is in the region between Deduru Oya and Kala Oya. Many unique cultural features have emerged in this village society which was created based on the "Wew gammana". Like other parts of the island, this area has many unique religious concepts. The purpose of this research was to study the reasons and their nature that influenced the creation of indigenous religious beliefs, based on it. Data for the research were collected through field exploration, participant observation, and interviews. A manuscript containing poems sung during a ritual called "Bath Malava" was mainly used for the research. In this ritual, there are several concepts that they worship. "Ayyanayaka", "Kadawara", "Kambili", "Kalu Dewatha", "Handun Kumara" are among them. Also, there is another religious figure unique to this region called "Anguruwelle Muththa". There are many poems describing the genesis and other characteristics of that deities. For example, people believe that deities like "Aiyanaka", "Kadavara" and "Kambili" are not indigenous and migrated to this country from India. Among them, “Kalu Devatha” is believed to be the son of “Walli amma” and the god “Kataragama”. The other thing mentioned in these recitals is that all these gods are Buddhists. Although these religious concepts were primarily based on Tamil culture, it can be believed that people integrated these religious concepts into Buddhist culture.