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by Derrick Schokman

Annual devale festivals are held in the month of Esala (July-August). Very important to both Hindus and Buddhists is the Kataragama festival where god Skanda presides.

According to Hindu mythology (Skanda Purana) the gods (suras) were at one time enslaved by the ungodly (asuras). They appealed to Lord Siva for assistance. He sent his second son Skanda to lead the army of the gods against the ungodly.

The gods were victorious defeating the ungodly in their stronghold south of Tissamaharama. On their way back Skanda decided to stop over at Kataragama.

There he met the lovely Valli Amma, born of the union of a pious hermit and a doe, raised by the chief of the Veddas, one of the pre-Buddhist tribes in Lanka. He made her his second consort.

Maha Devale

Based on this legend a shrine was established at Kataragama dedicated to God Skanda. This place of worship became associated with Buddhism as one of the sixteen places legended to have been visited by the Buddha prior to the introduction of Buddhism.

A Sinhalese king built the Kirivehera there to mark the site where the Buddha trod. And in the third century BC one of the eight Ashtrapala Bodhi saplings that sprang up from the Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura was brought to Kataragama and planted in the compound of the Maha Devale.

The Devale took on greater prominence after the warrior king Dutugamani's victory over Elara. Gamani is said to have gone to the shrine prior to setting off to war to seek the aid of the God. And to have returned there to repay his debt.

Yantra

The Maha Devale is a simple shrine. There is no idol, only a casket containing a mystic diagram or yantra engraved on a golden tablet which is supposed to possess divine powers of grace.

It is in search of this grace that pilgrims go to Kataragama, making their vows and fulfilling them. They attend the rituals performed in the Devale by the Kapurala or chief priest, and place their offerings on the sacred altar.

Having done this Buddhist pilgrims move on to the Kirivehera to pay their respects to the Buddha. The penance aspects you see at Kataragama people rolling on the ground hanging from hooks or moving around with their bodies pierced with skewers, walking on nail-studded sandals or lying on beds of stout nails and walking on burning coals - all these were introduced by South Indian Tamils whom the British settled in the tea and rubber estates as a labour force.

Perahera

The fortnight long perahera at Kataragama is the centrepiece of the festival. It celebrates the union of god Skanda with his consort Valli Amma.

Every night the yantra is taken out of the Maha Devale and carried by the Kapurala in a procession of caparisoned elephants amidst the throbbing of drums, tinkling bells, moaning conches and the "haro-haras" of the thousands of pilgrims gathered there.

The procession proceeds to the Valli Amma devale where the yantra is left for 30 to 45 minutes and then brought back to the Maha Devale. This routine is followed every night.

The perahera terminates with the water ceremony in the Menikganga when the Kapurala dips the yantra in the water, symbolising the washing of the god's clothes polluted by sexual intercourse.

The perahera is a celebration of the god's passion and sensuality a glorification of the life of the senses.

Vel

The Vel festival celebrated annually in Colombo was born of the Kataragama festival, but in the form of a caesarian operation.

What happened was that in 1874 there was a cholera epidemic in the South and the colonial government for health security banned pilgrimages to Kataragama.

The wealthy South Indian business community in Colombo accordingly decided to stage their own event - the Vel festival which has been going on since.

On the last night of the Kataragama festival, the Kavadi procession leaves the Skanda Temple in main street for the Skanda Temple in Wellawatte. On the following day the Vel procession, symbolically carrying the vel or spear with which Skanda is said to have defeated Taraka, leader of the ungodly 'Asuras, leaves the Skanda Temple in Sea Street for the Skanda Temple in Bambalapitiya.

These trips are supposed, symbolically again, to represent the union of the god with his consort. All the poojas and offerings take place in the Bambalapitiya and Wellawatte Temples for three days, after which the processions return to their original precincts.

Greater importance is attached to the Vel. The festival car is magnificently carved and gilded.

It is drawn by two strong white bulls. Seated in front of the car are the officiating Brahmin priests. Above them, elaborately carved and garlanded are the figures of Skanda and his consort.

The Vel festival is entirely Hindu. In contrast to the Kataragama Festival which draws adherents of other faiths too, who come to Deiyange rata from far and wide.

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