God Devol, god of vengeance, benevolence and prosperity

by W.T.J.S. Kaviratne - Ambalangoda Special Cor.

The legendary narratives woven around the arrival of God Devol against the wishes of Goddess Pattini at the ancient port of Seenigama on the south coast possess the features of an epic journey depicted in Greek literature.

A view of the Seenigama Devale

Before the deportation due to misbehaviour and numerous crimes committed by him in his homeland and in the voyage reaching his final destination at the ancient port of Seenigama, God Devol had to undergo a series of troubles and tribulations.

The folktales connected to god Devol abound in episodes of diversity full of drama with a tinge of tragedy.

Originally the cult of worshipping God Devol and Goddess Pattini was confined to the coastal shrine by the beach stretch of Seenigama.

Over the years these deities have been highly venerated as very powerful and shrines consecrated to both deities had been constructed by ardent devotees and by now found scattered throughout Sri Lanka.

Research

Anthropological research findings and literature reveal that human beings are fatalistic by nature and before the emergence of widely spread major religions of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Worshiping numerous deities proved to be a common practice since the beginning of human civilisation.

Along with the major world religions still the veneration of numerous regional gods and goddesses including animals and inanimate objects such as trees and rocks are continued to be practised throughout the world.

The legendary folktales relevant to Goddess Pattini and God Devol are intermingled with mythology and legendary folktales and these myths are everlasting though anonymous. Mythology is not considered just a collection of stories but it is a universal language using symbols in conveying a deeper message.

The parentage of Prince Devol had baffled the anthropologists and historians due to the prevalence of numerous versions of folklore and the diversity of opinions which had not been properly established.

Mythical king

Prince Devol was believed to be one of the seven sons of a mythical king known as Sri Raman hailed from the kingdom of Malala in India. Folklore reveals that he had seven consorts known as Thedapathi, Gunapathi, Amithapathi, Siripathi, Mihipathi, Yasapathi and Agnipathi.

King Raman's seven consorts had given birth to seven sons known as Devol, Hiruras, Sandaras , Agniras, Maharas, Kudaras and Samiras.

Prince Devol was also identified as one of the three sons of Queen Thrivakkali of Solirata .

In addition to the prevailing folklore traditions relevant to the parentage of Prince Devol, a king known as Swarna Ramasinghe had also been identified as his father.

Andun Kurumbara, Sandun Kudumbara, Erdi Kudumbara, Mal Kudumbara, Dala Kudumbara and Vadiga Kudumbara were the six other names given to Prince Devol.

Myths based on the origin of prehistoric civilisations are full of exaggerations and proved to be extremely complex and confusing mostly due to the additions of numerous other regional folk stories. Some scholars believe that the ancient shrine of Seenigama existed long before the arrival of Prince Vijaya with his retinue of Aryans in Sri Lanka.

Opinions of scholars widely differ on the existence of God Devol and Goddess Pattini and numerous interpretations have been given to the events that unfolded in the long narration of the legend since the day of deportation of Prince Devol and his six brothers.

Goddess Pattini was believed to have held sway all over the country while residing in Seenigama shrine. The era of her reign had coincided with that of the Lord Buddha's lifetime when the country was inhabited by prehistoric tribes of Yakka and Naga.

A hymn usually recited during the ritual dances performed in Devol festival comprised a description of the existence of a shrine consecrated to Goddess Pattini at the ancient port of Seenigama till the invasion of the abode by the Prince Devol.

Resembling Greek traditions of epic poems, verse recitation of the narration of the whole episode of is practised in the annual Devol and Pattini ritual celebrations held in shrines across Sri Lanka.

The ritual dances are performed lasting for one whole night till the dawn of the following day by a troupe of experienced shamen (kapuralas). The verse renditions or hymns recited to the tune of the beating of several drums are highly rhythmic and easy to understand due to the colloquial language generally used in composing them.

Prince Devol and his six brothers were in the habit of killing animals and old people in the kingdom of their father. The citizens made complaints against the terror unleashed by the seven princes.

To resolve this crisis created by his seven princes, the king got seven ships specially made to deport them out of his kingdom. They set sail in the highly decorated magnificent wooden ships full of silk clothing material.

Some scholars are of the opinion of the existence of a busy trading port at Seenigama.

Bartering

They claimed that the merchants reached Seenigama port were engaged in bartering commodities. Sugar was produced in the adjoining villages and exported from the port and due to this the coastal stretch was known as Seenigama. Several other anecdotal evidence had been put forward as connotation for the name Seenigama.

According to legend, it was believed during the era of Kakusanda Buddha a King known as Swarna Kuduppara Ramasinghe had seven consorts. The seven sons of the consorts in their previous birth had offered a robe to Kakusanda Buddha in order to become God Devol.

One of the consorts had given birth to a daughter known as Padmini had offered a sweet mango to Kakusanda Buddha to become the Goddess Pattini.

Padmini died and was reborn as Goddess Pattini and took refuge in the abode of Seenigama shrine.

Dancers

Many years later seven brothers of Padmini (Goddess Pattini) took part in a trade mission and the mid sea ship- wreck posed great danger to their lives. The seven princes were drifting for seven days there Devol Samy prayed to God Sakra about their plight. God Sakra intervened and rescued them and created a stone rafter to continue their mission.

All the deities reigned in various parts of Sri Lanka reached the consensus not to allow Prince Devol and his retinue to disembark on any of the ancient sea ports of Sri Lanka.

Prince Manawamma prevented disembarking at Yapa Patuna(Jaffna), Kandakumuru prevented their entering Samankula at Panadura, God Upulwan objected entering at Dondra point, God Dadimunna intervened when Devol tried to enter the country from Lanumodara, God Deva Rajjuru objected Prince Devol and his retinue entering from Unawatuna.

In addition to these ancient sea ports. Prince Devol had tried to reach ashore from Kosgoda, Beruwala and Ambalangoda. Failing all these attempts of reaching ashore Devol and his six other brothers tried to disembark at Seenigama where his sister Padmini from a previous birth was residing at the coastal shrine as Goddess Pattini.

All the deities including Goddess Pattini conspired against the arrival of Prince Devol at Seenigama. Pattini created seven mounds of fire on the beach stretch behind the ancient Shrine of Pattni built on a rocky crop of land now found several metres away in the sea as a result of massive sea erosion taken place as far back as 1921.

Showing his divine prowess Prince Devol and his six brothers crossed over the flames and destroyed the seven mounds of fire.

Reminiscing that they were born as brother and sister, they reached an amicable settlement .

Fire walking in Sri Lanka is believed to have originated at Seenigama and Prince Devol known as Devolsamy was groomed how to conduct rituals by his sister Goddess Pattini.

According to folklore believed by the devotees for generations Goddess Pattini had handed over the throne to his brother God Devol, ceded her reign in the area and left for Navagamuwa identified by her as her permanent abode where the ancient shrine consecrated to Goddess Pattini is located. Some considered Prince Devol (Devolsamy) as a magician who possessed the ability to do miracles.

Magic powers

Prince Devol after coming to Seenigama was in the habit of exploring the hinterland and he settled down at a suburban village known as Weragoda where Devol found his mistress. Nobody in the village Weragoda was aware neither Devol's magic powers nor his divine connections as he was a total stranger to the area.

Devolsamy was the name given to him by the villagers and he appeared to be a vagrant even though he was on disguise. Even though Devolsamy was unemployed he was in the habit of bringing home rice, fish, sugar, coconuts and other essential foodstuff.

After a lapse of several years Devolsamy's wife at Weragoda gave birth to a son who grew up to be a young boy at Weragoda and one day Devolsamy's wife explained to her son about her suspicions of his father's behaviour and asked him to follow his father to check how Devolsamy managed to bring all the food items almost daily. On the instructions given by his mother,one day son followed his father and found how his father collecting sand from the beach into a piece of cloth and shaking coconut trees and plucking nuts. Devolsamy's son revealed everything to his mother.

The following day Devolsamy went to the beach but the miracles did not work, the sand did not change as usual into rice or sugar, coconuts could not be plucked by shaking trees.

Devolsamy suspected his son was responsible for revealing the secret . He thought that he lost all his divine powers because of his son. He went home and killed his son.Certain shamen were of the belief Devolsamy killed both his wife and the son as a way of vengeance.

Some villagers of Weragoda still believe that the local wife of Devolsamy was from a clan known as Masachchi. The descendants of Masachchi clan is still found at Weragoda where there is an ancient shrine consecrated to God Devol.

Later, Devolsamy left for the Kataragama shrine and revealed his plight to God Kataragama. Devolsamy found it extremely difficult to survive and became a vagrant again and prayed that God Kataragama help him find some kind of livelihood and he was assigned a job as a sentry to Kadawara shrine at the precincts of Kataragama shrine.

Originally people sought the assistance of God Devol whenever they want to take revenge against their enemies and wrongdoers. Grinding chilli, pepper and garlic was practised as a ritual on a grinding stone found in the ancient shrine now found in the sea.

It has also become a trend among politicians to break coconuts against their political opponents at Seenigama.

The seenigama shrine consecrated to God Devol, on the Galle- Colombo main road in close proximity to the Hikkaduwa Tourist Resort has become a sought after shrine by the devotees seeking divine assistance in resolving numerous problems.

Sterility

When medical treatments was found to be not effective for sterility and failure of legal procedures for exam success, promotions and winning elections people of all walks of life seek the assistance of God Devol.

The plethora of information based mostly on mythology and folklore relevant to the arrival of prince Devol at the ancient port of Seenigama and his activities at a surburban village of Weragoda could be garnered from the scholarly treatises compiled by Prof Vinie Vitharana, Prof Thilak Kariyawasam, Prof Bandusena Gunasekara, Prof M.H.Gunathilaka, Scholalrly bhikkhus.

Besides Chief Kapuralas (Shamen) having experience of conducting rituals continuously for several years both at the ancient shrines of God Devol at Seenigama and Weragoda sing numerous hymns praising God Devol and narrate of the origin of Devol in verse.

Almost similar rituals are performed annually with thousands of devotees from various parts of Sri Lanka in every shrine dedicated to god Devol and goddess Pattini found throughout Sri Lanka.