was famine and disease during the reign of Upatissa I (365-406).
The city was beautifully decorated and a large crowd of monks
followed a chariot with a golden Buddha image reciting the
ratana sutta and sprinkling water. Sena II (853-887) also
had a similar ceremony when the island was affected by an
epidemic. However, Walpola Rahula says that "chanting of pirith"
appears in the records for the first time during Aggabodhi IV
(667-683). This became a feature thereafter. He says that the
full-fledged pirith ceremony we know today developed
after the Polonnaruwa period.
Buddhist practices were borrowed from Mahayana
Buddhism. The most notable borrowing was the worship of the
Bodhisathva Avalokitesvara. He was known as Lokesvara and
Lokanatha in the 11th century, and as Natha in the 14th century.
He was worshipped at the Lokesvara-natha devale at Wegiriya.
According to Sagama rock inscription, Senkadagala (Kandy) was
well known for the worship of Avalokitesvara. Nandana
Chutiwongse says that the present Natha devale was built before
the 15th century.
Some practices of pre-Buddhist cults such as
yakkas were added to Buddhist rituals. In appeasing
yakkas, if all else failed, the Atanatiya sutta was
to be recited. Buddhism also incorporated spirit worship. There
are many references in early Buddhist texts to spirits and
deities such as those who lived in trees. The public believed
strongly in spirits and located them "almost everywhere". They
believed in evil spirits, and tried to control them through
incantation. Tree deities and other local gods were considered
important in the Polonnaruva period.
In the medieval period, three local deities,
namely Upulvan, Saman and Vibhisana came to be worshipped as
protectors of the island. Upulvan seems to have been the most
popular of these three gods. Upulvan is mentioned in the
Mahavamsa as the guardian deity of Sri Lanka, but the first
reference to the worship of Upulvan is dated to the 13th
century. The main shrine to Upulvan was at Dewinuwara (Dondra).
The Devundara devalaya sannasa speaks of land dedicated to
Upulvan at Devinuvara, by the king. Devinuvara was one of the
busiest ports in medieval Sri Lanka.
A second centre for Upulvan was set up by
Parakramabahu IV (1302-1326) at Alutnuwara in Satara Korale,
Kegalla district. Land and other endowments were made to this
new devale by the Sinhala kings up to the beginning of the 17th
century. This devale is at present situated on the Colombo-Kandy
road, four kilometres from the Hingula junction. Until the end
of the 15th century, Upulvan retained his original identity.
Then Upulvan became identified with the Hindu god Vishnu. Images
of Upulvan as Vishnu were set beside images of the Buddha in
temples. Upulvan and Vishnu became one in the Kandyan period.
The name Upulvan disappeared and Vishnu worship spread
everywhere in Sri Lanka. Saman is the guardian deity of Sri Pada.
He was originally known as Sumana. The Mahavamsa says
that Sri Pada (Sumana kuta) was the abode of a devaraja
named Sumana. An image of Saman was built and worshipped at the
peak in the reign of Parakramabahu II (1236-1270). Parakramabahu
II also built the Maha Saman Devale at Rat Ratnapura. This
became the devale for Saman. Ratnapura is less than nine miles
from Sri Pada. The king appointed officers and attendants to the
devale and granted it the villages of Sabaragamuwa, Ratnapura
and Veralupe. Other kings added to this and the devale ended up
with gold, silver, precious stones, elephants, horses, oxen,
buffaloes and slaves. Musicians for pancha turiya nada,
and dancing girls were also appointed. Parakramabahu VI
(1412-1467) gave extensive land grants and services to this
devale. Vijayabahu VI (1513-152 1) dedicated his whisk and
palanquin to this devale. The devale held an annual procession
in honour of Saman.
The Maha Saman Devale had a Buddhist monastery
attached to it. This was staffed by three pious monks. The
leading monk had to be very holy and well versed in Buddhism.
The second had to attend to the day-to-day services of the
temple. The third monk was to recite pirith in front of
the Saman image and preach bana to those who came to the
devale seeking the help of the god. The monastery was granted
several villages with fields, gardens, oxen, buffaloes and
attendants of its own.
Vibhisana seems to have been an indigenous god
who became popular in the medieval period or a little earlier.
He is mentioned in the literature of the Gampola period (14th
century). The Nikaya sangraha says that Vibhisana was one
of the four guardian deities of Sri Lanka. Vibhisana was also
associated with the granting of children to supplicants. The
main shrine to Vibhisana was at Kelaniya, with another at
Dedigama. Sandesa poems record that pirith was recited at
The rituals in these devalas were conducted by
brahmin priests. The Maha Saman devale was headed by a Brahmin
named Nilaperumal, during the time of Parakramabahu II. Mala
perumal, another, was at its head during the time of
Parakramababu VI. The transformation of Upulvan to Vishnu could
be attributed to Brahmin influence. Alutnuwara devale karaveema
says that Brahmins versed in Vaisnava lore were invited from
Ramesvaram to fashion an image of the Devinuvara god. Ibn Batuta
(14th century) says that a thousand Brahmins served in the
shrine at Devinuvara. Another striking feature of the worship of
these gods is the dancing girls. The sandesa poems refer
to dancing girls at Kelaniya, Devinuvara and Ratnapura. The
Kelaniya shrine had dancing girls who chanted hymns composed to
Skanda, the Hindu god of war was elevated to the
list of guardian deities. There is very little historical
information on Skanda. The Mahavamsa refers to him as
Kumara, in its section on the Manavamma dynasty and there is a
reference to an image of Kanta, (Skanda) in the section on
Gajabahu II. Skanda seems to have received recognition in the
14th century. The Embekke devale built in the reign of
Vilmanabahu 111 (1359-1374) is a shrine for Skanda. The vihara
and devale were under the same roof. Skanda overshadowed the
other gods, in the time of Parakramabahu VI. He became the chief
god at Kotte. He rode on a peacock. Skanda was not linked to
Kataragama in the medieval period.
The first inscription that refers to these four
deities as guardians of Sri Lanka is the inscription of
Bhuvanekabahu IV (1341-1351). Several reigns later, but within
the same century, Nissanka Alagakkonara set up four shrines, for
Upulvan, Saman, Vibhisana and Skanda when he was building the
fortress at Kotte. He gave orders that the shrines be well
looked after, with regular worship accompanied by dancing,
beating of drums, and other forms of music.
The Buddhists worshipped several other Hindu
gods as well. One was Siva. There were many devales dedicated to
Siva. Siva appeared in various forms such as Bhaairava and
Isvara. Siva took the form of Isvara at Munneswaram in Halavata
(Chilaw). This devale was repaired by Parakramabahu VI. The
reconstruction was carried out by a Brahmin named Baransi
Nilakantha Nil on behalf of the king. The king gave the devale a
sound administration, with Nilakantha at the head. There was a
Buddhist temple attached to the Munneswaram shrine. In the
Gampola period (14th century) an image of Siva was installed at
the Lankatilaka temple. It was placed outside the main shrine
room, between the inner and outer walls. This marks the first
time that a Hindu god was placed inside a Buddhist temple.
The Hindu god Ganesa was also popular. Ganesa
stands out in the references to Hindu temples found in the
sandesa poems. Aiyyar, a south Indian village god appears to
have entered the Sinhala pantheon in the medieval period as
Aiyanayake. This god is today worshipped largely in the North
Central Province. The cult of the goddess Pattini is based on
the myth of Gajabahu I going to India and bringing back
Pattini’s anklet together with captives of war. The first
mention of Pattini in Sinhala literature occurs in the 15th
century. Parakramabahu VI is said to have erected a statue to
Pattini at Kotte. Pattini became one of the most important and
popular deities in the Kandyan period. One of the four devalas
near the Dalada Maligawa, Kandy today is consecrated to Pattini.
The Kandy Esala Perahera includes the Pattini devala perahera.
A Sinhala Buddhist pantheon of gods developed
out of all this. It consisted of Hindu gods, Mahayana gods, and
several Sinhala ones. The list also included Sakra and
Uppalavanna. I find that this pantheon does not have any order
or coherence and the gods do not have specific places in the
hierarchy. That I think, is because they come from diverse
The writings of M. B. Ariyapala, N. Chutiwongse,
R. A. L. H. Gunawardana, H. B. M. Illangasinha, W. A.
Jayawardana, C. W. Nicholas, S. Paranavitana, Walpola Rahula and
W. I. Siriweera were used for this essay.