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| Sunday, 20 February 2005 |
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Moratu Deviyo Sunday parable by Sunanda Mahendra In the distant past, there was a poor farmer, who lived in the forest looking after his cultivated plot of land. The farmer wanted to get rid of animals like the elephants, who regularly came to plunder and harm all that was planted.
To ward off animals, like the elephants and other creatures he would make a bonfire or ginimalaya. He knew that the animals were afraid of fire and they dared not approach the watch-hut nor the land. When he felt that he was free from the fear of the animals, he had a sound sleep in the watch-hut. This particular day happened to be a cool breezy day. The wind swept across the forest,and seemed an impending sign of disaster. But he was fearless, as the bonfire, was well lit. He ate some food, which he brought from home and he fell asleep. The wind, was followed by a shower of rain. The fire was blazing on the side of the watch-hut and rain was pouring outside. This indeed was a good shower of rain, which he thought would help yield a good harvest. The farmer was in a sleepy mood and entered into a fantasy world, and wanted to completely relax. When the farmer was fast asleep, there came a beggar who wanted to go to the other side of the forest. But he was stranded as it was pitch dark. He saw the bonfire and entered the watch-hut and rested awhile. The beggar who was lying on the floor fell into a deep sleep. When the wind got stronger, the fire spread. The beggar was charred to death. The fire then swept close to the farmer and as soon as he felt an unusual warmth, he got up, and saw his clothes on fire. Before he got into any danger, he threw his clothes aside and ran into the forest looking for shelter. As he had no clothes with him he was naked but nobody saw him as it was the forest. Then he saw at a distance, his watch-hut had caught fire and was burnt to a heap of ashes. When he entered into the deep forest it was dawn. He was hiding behind trees and he was thinking that somebody would see him. His wife and children learning that the watch-hut had caught fire wanted, to know what had happened to the farmer. Then they saw the charred body of the beggar and not knowing that it was the body of the beggar, collected the ashes and went home to perform the last rites as was usually done in the villages. They put the ashes into a clay pot and buried it in keeping with religious customs. Some of the villagers kept on saying that they had seen an apparition of the farmer roaming in the forest and near the river bank. One day, close upon midnight, the farmer who covered his body with some leaves and barks of trees woven around his waist had ccme to the front door of his house and cried out in the loudest possible manner. "Look here all you children, I am your father, the farmer whom you thought was dead. I am not dead. Look I am alive, open the door for me to enter the house. I could not come as I was naked. Now that I am covered with leaves and barks of trees, I am not naked any more. So, open the door will you. Where is my dear wife? can't you recognise my voice,? I cannot come during the day time. This is the only time when I could easily see you, so please open the door". But nobody dared open the door, thinking that the apparition of their father had come to see them. "Don't open the door for who knows why an apparition has come. It is said that the dead come in human form as apparitions and they have the same voice and behaviour, but your father is dead. So don't open the door, let the apparition shout and leave the premises, we can't possibly entertain apparitions, they can be nasty." The poor farmer, heard what his wife said. He was so disappointed that he went off once again into the forest. But on his way a bright idea struck him. He stole a calf from a nearby house, took it to the forest and tied it to a tree. He knew that on the following morning the missing calf would be noticed and a search would follow. That's exactly what happened the following morning, but the farmer came close to the house of the calf owner and hid himself behind a tree and made a loud announcement. "You house-holders, whose calf has gone missing, listen to me, if you want my help, I am the apparition living in the forest. I am no longer the apparition but a God in the forest who is destined to protect everyone in the region, understand and listen to me carefully, your calf could be found in my newly erected abode, close to the river that flows at the boundary of the forest. If you want to get the calf back, you better pay homage to me at that holy place today itself, and say that you will protect the abode with great care and mind you, this message should not be misinterpreted for greater harm may befall you." The chief house-holder, who heard this message paid homage to the abode erected in the name of the Forest God as announced by the apparition and found the calf tied to a tree nearby. The message spread like wild fire. The poor farmer during the night would enter the village constantly. He robbed many more items from the houses of rich people. When they complained to the village headman, the farmer would appear the following night and make an announcement about the lost item. "Don't be afraid of anything, you will find the lost property at such and such a place. Go and get it soon and pay homage to the God of the abode .." In this manner, days passed by and the poor farmer found it easy to live like a Forest God than a human being. He would bring various commodities like bags of rice and dry food from the gifts he got from the other villagers. He would keep the commodities in the compound of his own house and vanish into the forest. In this manner he lived for a long time. Though people had not seen him properly they gave him a venerable title Moratu Deviyo or the God of Moratuwa, as the village was situated close to the town now known as Moratuwa. |
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So, he built a small watch-hut known as pela. Once or twice a week, he
would go home to see his wife and children and take a meal or two with them.
But he spent more time in the watch-hut looking after the cultivation. 
