A historic ritual centering around harvesting time is still practised in Panama village in Ampara. The ritual, angkeliya, takes pride of place among other rituals associated with harvesting and the Panama devale.
The devale's Basnayake Nilame and Kapuwa play key roles in these festivities.
The elders of the village trace the beginnings of angkeliya to goddess Pattini and god Bandara. Legend has it that after their marriage the two had gone for a stroll in the jungle where they both had played a little game of trying to pick some flowers with two sticks when the sticks got entangled. As they tried to disentangle them one broke. However Bandara named Pattini the winner.
The angkeliya ritual is now performed by two groups named udupila and yatipila. The two groups first go to the surrounding jungles in search of two branches that resemble the shape of two horns. These are then offered to the deities and the two sides lock horns literally. The ritual ends with one horn breaking and one side losing. The rituals that include a devale perehera goes on for 12 days. These pictures depict some of the rituals.
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