Funday Times

King Mahanaga, first king of Ruhuna
Prince Mahanaga was the second brother of King Devanampiya Tissa. He was the 'Yuva-raja' (Vice Regent). He was as good natured as the king and loved his subjects. He loved and respected the king so much, that he took upon himself a lot of duties of the king. He helped to develop agriculture. It is Mahanaga's support in administering the country, that gave Devanampiya Tissa time for his religious activities.

King Devanampiya Tissa had an only son and he spent more time with the uncle Mahanaga. He looked after the brother's son as his own. Devanampiya Tissa's queen hated Mahanaga but never did she openly exhibit her enmity. Her one ambition was to make her son the next king, bypassing Mahanaga, who was due to succeed the brother.

Mahanaga, who patronized agriculture was building and repairing major irrigation works. Once he started building a new tank named Walas-Wewa. 'Thupawansa' refers to it as 'Sarasa Wewa'. When Mahanaga was spending almost the whole day at this site, the young prince preferred to be with him. The queen in the meantime, was planning to kill Mahanaga.

This is what the wicked queen planned. She got a basket of mangoes, selected the best mango and injected poison into it. She kept that mango right on top and through a servant, sent the basket to Mahanaga, who was supervising the work at the tank. The servant was ignorant of the queen's plan. As the mangoes were delivered, it was Devanampiya Tissa's son, who accepted it. He ate the mango that was right on top. This brought about the death of the young prince.

Mahanaga was shocked and frightened about what had happened. Later on, he got to know the truth of the matter. He thought it was not safe to live in Anuradhapura. He assembled his supporters and said, "If I continue to live here, I'm only inviting death. I have decided to go to another province. I'm not asking anyone to join me, but those who wish to, could follow me". All the people who were gathered there, wanted to accompany Mahanaga.

Maha-naga valued life more than kingship and collected whatever was needed for the journey. His wife was pregnant at the time. Although with difficulty, he had to take her. Devanampiya Tissa and Mahanaga, the two brothers, loved each other so much that the king would never have allowed Mahanaga to leave Anuradhapura. Hence, Mahanaga never told his brother that he was quitting his birthplace.

The people who consented to join Mahanaga were also sad to leave their homes and all that was closely associated with their lives. But it had to be done. As agreed, all of them left the city of Anuradhapura secretly and marched to the south. As they were passing the village 'Yatalagama', Mahanaga's queen was in labour pain. There was no house close-by. The only building they could see was a temple. Mahanaga managed to take the queen to the temple.

The priests, having arranged a suitable place for the queen, moved away. Before long, the queen delivered a baby boy. In naming the boy, Mahanaga took Tissa from his brother's name and Yatala from the place where he was born, and named the boy 'Yatala-Tissa'. After a few days, the queen recovered and they could resume their journey. They reached 'Ruhuna'. Mahanaga became king of the Southern Province, with Magama as its capital. 'Thupavamsa' differs here by mentioning that there was a ruler already in the south and Mahanaga killed him to become king.

However that may be, it is Mahanaga, who developed the south by improving agriculture. He was responsible for raising a peaceful and prosperous people in the Southern Province. He was succeeded by Yatala-Tissa, who was able to rule the province righteously. By the time Yatala-Tissa's son Gothabhaya became the king of the south, the province was well developed. After Gothabhaya, his son Kavan-Tissa came to the throne.

Living in harmony with few wants
Just as folk tales taught simple lessons, the rural folk were simple people leading an uncomplicated life. They had few wants. Theirs was not a complicated life. Most of them were paddy cultivators. They needed water for the paddy fields when the plants start growing. Normally a village would have a small tank from which they got water. Otherwise they had to depend on rainwater. When the rains failed, the crops failed. If there was a tank in the village, rainwater got collected and the villagers could use it for cultivation.

Where it was difficult to find water, people would do chena cultivation. This happened particularly in the arid zone. The villager would clear a patch of jungle land by cutting down the trees and burning the branches. Grain would then be sowed and a variety of food crops grown. When the soil loses its fertility, they would move to another location and begin to clear the jungle land and begin all over again. The land is thus rotated as opposed to the rotation of crops.

A hut is built at a central spot and the head of the family spends the night in the hut scaring the wild animals away, particularly when the plants begin to bear.

Water is the most essential thing in the village. Each household has a well dug in the garden. Sometimes there would be a common well used for both bathing and taking water for drinking purpose. Usually the womenfolk bathe in the well while men prefer to take a dip in a nearby stream. The well became the meeting place for women where village gossip is discussed.

Access to the village is either by footpaths or cart tracks. Often these are through jungle where the wild animals roam in search of food. The villager is not scared of them. He considers them as part of their life and follows a policy of live and let live. Sometimes he would hunt a deer or a hare for flesh but on the whole, he leaves the animals alone. He would sense if a wild animal is blocking his path or is in the vicinity. Then he would avoid the animal by taking a different route or wait a while till the animal moved away.

The houses were built in the natural setting. They were simple homes. Following traditional practice, they were wattle and daub (warichchi saha mati) wall houses thatched with cadjan or illuk grass. Clay is used for the floor. Cow dung is generally applied as a top layer.

There would be a front door to enter the house. In front is an open verandah where there would be a bed. Visitors usually sit on the bed, which is used by the male to sleep at night. The wife and children sleep on mats inside the house.

The kitchen with an open hearth (lipa) is built separately behind the house. A reed platform (atuva) is hung over the hearth at a height of four to five feet. In addition to pots and pans, paddy and other grains and dry fish are kept on it. The well-to-do villager would build a paddy barn ('bissa') outside the house where paddy is stored after the harvesting.

As the family grew and the older children got married, each would be given a block of land to build a house. Usually it's the sons who lived close to the parents having got married and brought the wives either from the same village itself or a nearby village. The sons would continue to help the parents in tilling the land or preparing the paddy fields. Married daughters would shift to the husband's home.

In a village, one's kith and kin live in close proximity within a 'hoo handa' (the distance when someone hooting can be heard). Thus a 'gammana' would appear with common facilities being built up.

The 'vedarala' (physician) is an important personality with the villagers depending on him to cure their illnesses. It's only if he is unable to cure that the patient would be taken first to a government dispensary a few miles away or to the hospital which may be quite far away.

The 'kattadiya' (exorcist) also has a role to play just as the 'sastrakaraya' (astrologer) whose main job would be to prepare horoscopes for the newborns according to the astrological readings. He will also indicate the auspicious times for numerous activities ranging from the first meal being given to an infant to starting to build a house or preparing the land to cultivate.

Then there are the 'kammalkaraya' (blacksmith) and the 'vadurala' (carpenter). They both come in handy to get things turned out for their agricultural work and also household use. They all form an integral part of the village society.

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