Dear Italy...Greetings from Sri Lanka!

Dear Italy...Greetings from Sri Lanka!

Hello friends,😃😃
How are you all doing?

In this post, I am going to talk about something very special traditional and cultural thing in Sri Lanka.
It is called in English as "Devil Dance". In our language, it is called as "Thovilaya".

source

What is this so-called Thovilaya. Basically, it is a ritual ceremony but not just a common one it is some kind of healing, curing event for someone who has got affected or touched by inhuman spirits.
May be ghost, devils.. 👻👻
The main purpose of this event is to chase away that devil. Actually nowadays this kind of Thovil ceremony is not conducted very much. It is also disappearing from society.
May be lack of skilled enchanters (mantra gurus) or lack of devils. Anyway, in the past centuries, this event was a huge thing in Sri Lanka.

There are many local devils(Yaka) in Sri Lankan legends😈👹.
Such as Mahasona(a devil with a bear head), Gara Yaka, Reeri Yaka(Blood tasty devil), Kalu Kumaraya(Black Prince), Mohini(A lady in a white saree with a baby on hand).
When someone walks through at night through a lonely place (maybe a jungle road or cemetery), there is a chance to get attacked by this kind of devils. If someone gets frightened or sick, the villagers and family members conduct a Thovil ceremony. The black prince only attacks for young girls and Mohini mostly attacks alone men.

Every village has one or two experienced enchanters. people go to him and tell the need.
Then they prepare the ceremony. The necessary equipment and lantern are made by coconut leaves and different parts of the coconut tree.

There are a few roles in the ceremony. The enchanters take place as a devil by wearing devil outfits(costumes). there are special masks for each devil such as I mentioned before.
And one or two-person play the hand drums(Beraya). This Beraya and devil mask is also huge cultural things in Sri Lanka.

Mahasona devil. source



Gara Yaka (devil) source



Reeri Yaka (devil) source


Yak Beraya (Devil drum) source

After all set, the enchanters perform the ritual ceremony. Normally it takes all night until morning. Playing fire and singing special mantras and quotes the enchanters do their part.

performing source

performing source

performing source

performing source
All the things are done while the affected person is kept the middle of the ceremony area. Somehow or other by morning, the sick person gets recovered. 😇😇
Maybe he had not been really attacked by an inhuman spirit. Maybe he got just frightened and after doing this kind of thing he gets to forget that and starts to feel better.
Anyway, this Thovil ceremony has been taken place in society for a long time. If it is not real at all, it could have vanished a long time ago. who knows. Every culture in every corner of the world has its own special ritual things.
so, this is just one of our very important traditional event.

I hope you may have enjoyed the article.
After reading it, if you feel unwell or haunted😱, come to Sri Lanka. We still have the best enchanters.😎

Thank you all. Grazie mille
Have a nice time.
See you.

#dearitaly #srilanka #history