Funday Times

King Kelani Tissa

. When Kavan Tissa was ruling the southern province, there grew up a kingdom in Maya Rata. Its capital was at Kelaniya and the king was Kelani Tissa. He had a beautiful queen and a daughter named Devi. The queen, though a mother, behaved like a princess and the king's brother had a soft corner for her. The brother was Prince Uttiya. The queen too, loved him and there developed a clandestine affair, between them.

This secret did not last long. When the king got to know about it, he became furious. Uttiya, who realized that the king was aware of their secret love affair, ran away from the palace and hid in a secret place. The prince, who loved the queen immensely, could not forget her. He made several attempts to meet her but all that failed. She was under great security. Failing everything, he wrote a letter to her and was contemplating how it could be delivered.

There were Buddhist priests who were frequenting the palace for alms. They were preaching the 'dhamma' to those in the royal household. Among them was a thera who visited the palace daily. Everyone in the palace liked him. Uttiya, who knew about this, got one of his servants to disguise himself as a Buddhist monk, with shaven head, wearing a yellow robe, and with bowl in hand. The prince instructed him thus, "You enter the palace like those other saintly bikkhus. Partake of your meal in their company. Try to give this letter to the queen. You must be very careful in doing this".

The servant did as he was bid. When he entered the palace, he sat next to the most loved 'thera'. The king and queen both being very devoted, served food to this priest too, very

respectfully. He ate well and when all the other priests got up to leave the palace, after the usual sermon, he awaited an opportunity. The monks went out of the palace in order. The king led them out and then went the chief 'thera'. The queen came next. The king was talking to the thera as he accompanied him. The moment the king's attention was drawn elsewhere, the disguised monk dropped the letter at the foot of the queen.

How unfortunate. The king who turned back, saw the letter and picked it up. The letter, which said "I just cannot stay without seeing you", was not signed. The king tried to guess who was responsible for it. He began to suspect the 'thera', as the handwriting on the letter had some similarity to that of the thera.

The king got both the thera and the one who immediately followed him, imprisoned. The disguised monk was killed and his body thrown to the sea. The innocent Maha Thera was completely unaware of what was happening. He was put in a cauldron of boiling oil and made to die. 'Thupavamsa' says this unjust action of the king aroused the wrath of the sea-gods and they made the sea overflow, to ruin the king and his kingdom. The 'Mahavamsa' too agrees here. The king was rendered helpless. He summoned the soothsayers immediately and asked them how it could be stopped.

They said the only solution was to sacrifice the king's daughter Devi, to the sea. The king was deeply grieved. He said that he could never do that. He was weeping, lamenting and behaving like a lunatic. The king's daughter heard about all this. She was a brave maiden. She went to the father and said, "Father, why do you grieve? I am not scared of the sea. I lead a virtuous life and I am sure I'll not meet an untimely death, because of my virtue. Moreover, this is my birthplace. It is my duty as well, to protect it. Just as the soothsayers have predicted, sacrifice me to the sea".

The king agreed to what the princess said. He got a ship in perfect condition and loaded it with whatever items that would be useful to the daughter. The princess worshipped the mother and father and boarded the ship. The citizens, the king and the queen, all started weeping. The princess requested them not to lament. The ship was launched upon the sea.

Gaveshaka describes how village folk help each other
A day in the paddy field
Self help is an important aspect in village life. People in the village help each other in their tasks whether it be preparing the fields, thatching the roof of the house, a wedding or any other occasion where labour is required. They don't accept money for the services. It's more for friendship and goodwill. They believe in helping each other in an hour of need.

In preparing the paddy field for sowing, the cultivator would select an auspicious day to start work and inform fellow villagers. The numbers would depend on the extent of the work involved. Invariably each will come with his own mammoty and the plough because each household has the necessary agricultural implements. Usually buffaloes are used for ploughing and even if they are not found in each household, a few can be collected from the neighbourhood.

There are several stages in the preparation of the paddy field. The first stage is to clear the field by removing the weeds, which grow when the field is allowed to rest after harvesting. During this stage, commonly called 'puran keteema', the clearing is first done by using the mammoty and then the plough drawn by the buffaloes is used. This is done to turn the sods of earth. After a few days, the earth is broken into smaller bits with the mammoty and feet. During this stage (`devana keteema') the mud is levelled with the feet and a flat board which is drawn from one end of the field to the other. Now the field is ready for sowing ('vepireema').

In certain areas, prior to the commencement of the work, it is customary to invoke the blessings of the deities. They also pray for rain and for a rich harvest. A small structure on four sticks is made at the corner of the field using 'gokkola'. Betel and flowers are kept and an oil lamp is lit.

Those who help in the work are given tea and meals in the field itself. This is looked after by the females in the family led by the 'govirala's wife. Tea is brought in a 'kala gediya' (clay pot) and served with either a piece of jaggery or a spoonful of sugar served to the palm. By lunchtime they bring the 'ambula' - a tasty rice and curry meal served not on plates but on 'nelum kola' or 'kehel kola'. A betel chew follows.

Traditionally, the farmer prepares his own seed paddy for sowing. A selected portion is generally kept aside for this purpose after each harvest. Today most of them buy the seed paddy from government stores. Seed paddy is chosen depending on the time it takes to mature. This depends on the availability of water, which again depends on whether the water is received through irrigation channels in which case there will be a regular flow, or whether the farmer is dependant on the rains. The farmer would thus select either 'vedimal vee' , which mature at the end of the full period or 'baala vee' which take lesser time to mature. Prior to sowing, the seed paddy is kept for two or three days in water until the seed begins to sprout.

Although paddy is generally known as the lazy man's crop because once sown, he doesn't have to worry much, in actual fact, there is a routine to follow. Sowing may take one of two forms.

One is to sow the entire paddy field and once the plants come up, the gaps are filled by planting new ones. The other is to sow a portion of the field in a thick layer of plants and to remove them and plant in the entire field when they are a little big. The latter is being practised more now with the hope of getting a better yield.

It enables an even spread of plants at regular intervals with adequate space to grow. Planting is done by females who flock in numbers to help. They form themselves into a single line and singing 'goyam kavi' to ease the burden of the task, start planting in rows.

Next comes weeding where again the females assist. The fields have to be protected by pests and although pesticides are used today, the traditional farmer would prefer to follow native practices used over the ages to protect the fields.

Certain kinds of leaves are used to keep flies and other pests away. As the fields begin to mature and the golden sheaves begin to appear, the birds arrive, usually in numbers, to enjoy a good meal. It's quite an operation to chase them away. And when they are chased away from one field, they land in another. So it becomes a continuous operation of singing and shouting to scare the birds away.

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