No lizard is heard chirping within the shadow of Hunasgiriya Peak in Pata Dumbara for when the Buddha, on his aerial visit to Ceylon, wished to alight on this mountain a lizard chirped and he passed on to Adam’s Peak.
Ritigal Kanda (Sanskrit Arishta) in the Nuvara Kalâviya district, S.E. of Anuradhapura and Rummas Kanda (modern Buona Vista) in the Galle district are associated with the Hanuman tradition. It was from Ritigal Kanda that Hanuman jumped across to India to carry the joyful message that he had discovered Sita in Ceylon, and when Lakshman was wounded and a medicinal herb was required for his cure, Hanuman was sent to the Himalayas to fetch it; on the way the name and nature of the plant dropped from his memory; whereupon he snapped a portion of the Himalayas and brought it twisted in his tail and asked Rama to seek for the herb himself. Buona Vista is that portion of the mountain and valuable medicinal herbs are still to be found there.
Râvanâ Kotte,—the stronghold of Râvanâ (king of the Rakshas)—was off Kirinda in the Hambantota District and is now submerged. The Great Basses are what is left of this city; the golden twilight seen there of an evening is the reflection of the brazen roofs of the submerged city.
Dehi Kanda opposite the Dambulla rock caves in the Matale district is the petrified husk of the rice eaten by the giants who made the caves.
Near Sinigama in Wellaboda pattu of the Galle district is shewn a crag as the petrified craft in which Wêragoda Deviyo came to Ceylon from South India.
When a severe drought visited the island, an elephant, a tortoise, a beetle, an eel, a goat and a she elephant went in search of water to the tank Wenêru Veva near Kurunegala. A woman who saw this kept a lump of salt before the foremost of them, the elephant; while he was licking it she raised a screen of leaves to conceal the tank from the intruders’ view and began to pray; and the gods answered by petrifying the animals, the screen and the lump of salt, all of which are still visible round Kurunegala.
“Panduvasa, the seventh king of Ceylon, was visited by the tiger disease, a complicated malady of cough, asthma, fever and diabetes in consequence of Wijeya, the first king, having killed his old benefactor and discarded mistress, Kuvêni, when, in the shape of a tiger, she endeavoured to revenge her slighted charms. The gods taking pity on Panduvasa, consulted by what means he might be restored to health, and found that it could not be effected without the aid of one not born of a woman. The difficulty was to find such a person. Rahu being sent on the service, discovered Malaya Rajâ, king of Malva Dêsa, the son of Vishnu, sprung from a flower. Rahu changing himself into an immense boar, laid waste the royal gardens to the great consternation of the gardeners, who fled to the palace and told what was passing. The king, who was a keen sportsman, hastened to the spot with his huntsmen, whom he ordered to drive the boar towards him. The boar, when pressed, at one bound flew over the head of the king, who shot an arrow through him in passing, but without effect, the animal continuing his flight. The king, irritated, instantly gave pursuit with his attendants in the direction the beast had taken, and landed in Ceylon at Urâtota (Hog ferry) near Jaffna; the boar alighted near Attapitiya. A piece of sweet potato that he brought from the garden in his mouth and which he here dropt was immediately changed, it is said into a rock, that still preserves its original form, and is still called Batalagala or sweet potato rock. The king came up with the beast on the hill Hantana near Kandy, instantly attacked him sword in hand, and with the first blow inflicted a deep gash. On receiving this wound, the boar became transformed into a rock which is now called Uragala, is very like a hog, and is said to retain the mark of the wound. The king, whilst surprised and unable to comprehend the meaning of the marvels he had just witnessed, received a visit from Sakra, Vishnu and other gods who explained the mystery that perplexed him, and the object in view in drawing him to Ceylon—he alone, not being born of woman, having it in his power to break the charm under which Panduvasa laboured. Malaya Rajâ complying with the wishes of the gods, ordered the Kohomba Yakku dance to be performed which, it is said, drove the sickness out of the king into a rock to the northward of Kandy, which is still called the rock of the Tiger sickness.”[1]
“The spirit of Kuvêni is still supposed to haunt the country and inflict misfortune on the race of the conqueror by whom she was betrayed. Kuvenigala is a bare mountain of rock on which are two stones, one slightly resembling a human figure in a standing attitude, the other looking like a seat. It is on this that traditions assert, the Yakinni sometimes appears and casts the withering glance of malignant power over the fair fields and fertile Valley of Asgiriya—a sequestered and most romantic spot in the Matale District.”[2]
Rocks with mystic marks indicate the spot where treasures are concealed and lights are seen at night in such places.
When the owner of a treasure wanted to keep it safe, it is said that he dug two holes in some lonely jungle and at night proceeded to the spot with a servant carrying the treasure; after the treasure was deposited in one hole, the master cut his servant’s throat and buried him in the other to make him a guardian of his treasure in the form of a snake or demon.