Sanni Yakuma

Sanni yakuma, sometimes known as Daha ata sanniya is a traditional Sinhalese exorcism ritual. The ritual consists of 18 dances, each depicting a particular illness or ailment affecting humans. These 18 dances are the main dances of the Pahatharata, or low country, dancing form, which is one of the three main dancing forms of Sri Lanka.^[1] The ritual calls the demons who are thought to affect the patient, who are then told not to trouble humans and banished.

Origins

It was believed that illnesses were brought on humans by demons. According to folklore, the 18 demons who are depicted in the Sanni Yakuma originated during the time of the Buddha.^{[N 1]} The story goes that the king of Licchavis of Vaishali suspected his queen of committing adultery and had her killed. However, she gave birth when she was executed and her child became the Kola Sanniya, who grew up "feeding on his mother's corpse". The Kola Sanni demon destroyed the city, seeking vengeance on his father, the king.^[2] He created eighteen lumps of poison and charmed them, thereby turning them into demons who assisted him in his destruction of the city.^[3] They killed the king, and continued to wreak havoc in the city, "killing and eating thousands" daily, until finally being tamed by the Buddha and agreed to stop harming humans.^[4]

Each of these demons are believed to affect humans in the form of an illnesses,^[5] and the Sanni Yakuma ritual summons these demons and banishes them back to the demon world after bringing them under control.^[4] Although it is unclear when the ritual began, it has been performed in the southern and western parts of the country since ancient times.^[6]

Ritual

The name of the ritual comes from the Sinhala word sanniya meaning disease or ailment, and yakuma meaning demon ritual.^[5] In Sri Lankan culture, exorcism rituals are known as tovil. The Sanni Yakuma is possibly the best known exorcism ritual in the country.^[7] It is a mix of traditional beliefs regarding spirits with Buddhism.^[8][9] Before performing the healing ritual, the lead performer known as the yakadura determines whether the patient is affected by a demon, and schedules the ritual for an auspicious day and time.^[10] It has two main stages, namely the Ata Paliya and Daha Ata Sanniya.^[11] The dancers are dressed in colourful attire and masks, and perform swift and complex dance steps and spins accompanied by rhythmical drum beats.^[12] Rather comic and somewhat obscene dialogues take place between the drummer and the demon on stage, in which the demon is humiliated.^[11][13] For example, Moore and Myerhoff (1977) describe the following dialogue translated from Sinhala:

Drummer: Where are you off to?

Demon: I am off to Maradana by a first class express bus.
Drummer: ...What was it I saw you doing only yesterday? You pissed near the sacred bodhi tree, then shitted on the temple grounds after which you stole a monk's robes. What else have you done? ...
Demon: You peretaya!^{[N 2]}

Drummer: Aah – you are only a mad demon – beneath contempt.

Ata Paliya

Ata Paliya is the name given to the eight dances in the first stage of the ritual. Before the dances begin, the Yakadura prepares some offerings for the demons, which will be given to them by the patient. The Ata Paliya depicts eight palis who bless the patient. This includes the Suniyan Yakshaniya who appears thrice as a beautiful damsel, a pregnant woman and a woman carrying a baby. This is followed by Maruwa (death) and demons called Kalu Yaka, Vatha Kumara and Kalu Kumara. The other palis are known as Anguru Dummala Paliya, Kalaspaliya and Salupaliya.^[14]

Daha Ata Sanniya

Although the Daha Ata Sanniya is part of the Sanni Yakuma, the name is sometimes used to refer to the ritual itself. This is the stage when the sanni demons make their appearance one after the other. The demons who first appear frightening when they enter the stage in frenzied dances are then shown as comic figures through enactments, with them being humiliated and forced to do various things. The Kola Sanni demon enters last, who is depicted as a non Buddhist demon. In the end, he is made to obtain the permission of the Buddha and accept offerings from humans, and agrees to stop troubling them.^[15] In the end, the dancer appears before the patient after removing the mask.^[16]

Although there are only eighteen demons, there is a variety of sanni masks that differ from place to place.^[9] However, the eighteen most commons masks (and names of the demons) are as follows:^[17]

Demon	Associated ailment
Amukku Sanniya	Vomiting and stomach diseases
Abutha Sanniya	Non–spirit related insanity
Butha Sanniya	Spirit related insanity
Bihiri Sanniya	Deafness
Deva Sanniya	Epidemic diseases
Gedi Sanniya	Boild and skin diseases
Gini Jala Sanniya	Malaria and other high fevers
Golu Sanniya	Dumbness
Gulma Sanniya	Parasitic worms and stomach diseases
Jala Sanniya	Cholera and chills
Kana Sanniya	Blindness
Kora Sanniya	Lameness and paralysis
Maru Sanniya	Delirium and death
Naga Sanniya	Bad dreams about snakes
Pissu Sanniya	Temporary insanity
Pith Sanniya	Bilious diseases
Slesma Sanniya	Phlegm and epilepsy
Vatha Sanniya	Flatulence and rheumatism

Current status

The Sanni Yakuma is still performed today, though more often as a cultural spectacle than an exorcism ritual. However, it is not widely performed because of the high costs involved and also because of its long duration.^[6][14][18]

Notes

1. ^ However, this story is given differently in Buddhist sources, and describes the Buddha saving the city from a plague through the chanting of the Ratana Sutta. See Vaishali_(ancient_city)#Visits_of_the_Buddha_to_Vaishali.
2. ^ Peretaya refers to preta, and is used here as an abusive term.

Citations

1. ^ "Traditional Dances of Sri Lanka". Info.lk. http://www.info.lk/srilanka/srilankaculture/srilankatraditionaldancing.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
2. ^ Schechner and Appel (1990), p. 126
3. ^ Obeyesekere (1990), p. 191
4. ^ ^{a b} Obeyesekere (1990), p. 192
5. ^ ^{a b} Claus, Diamond and Mills (2003), p. 133
6. ^ ^{a b} Seneviratne, Vidushi (2003-02-16). "A burst of Daha Ata Sanniya". The Sunday Times. http://sundaytimes.lk/030216/plus/12.html. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
7. ^ Bailey, Mark S; de Silva, H Janaka (2006-12-23). "Sri Lankan sanni masks: an ancient classification of disease". BMJ. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7582/1327. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
8. ^ Schechner and Appel (1990), p. 124
9. ^ ^{a b} Macdonald and Fyfe (1996), p. 38
10. ^ Gunasekara, Naomi (2002-09-22). "Unmasking a craft". The Sunday Times. http://sundaytimes.lk/020922/plus/10.html. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
11. ^ ^{a b} Moore and Myerhoff (1977), p. 108
12. ^ Moore and Myerhoff (1977), p. 102
13. ^ Moore and Myerhoff (1977), p. 109
14. ^ ^{a b} Amarasekara, Janani (2007-02-04). "Daha Ata Sanniya: How it's performed". The Sunday Observer. 
15. ^ Schechner and Appel (1990), p. 125
16. ^ Claus, Diamond and Mills (2003), p. 134
17. ^ Bailey, Mark S; de Silva, H Janaka (2006-12-23). "Sri Lankan sanni masks: an ancient classification of disease - table of masks". BMJ. http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7582/1327/TBL1. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
18. ^ Macdonald and Fyfe (1996), p. 37

References

• Obeyesekere, Gananath (1990). The work of culture: symbolic transformation in psychoanalysis and anthropology. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226615995. http://books.google.com/books?id=HiPo1fDddO8C&pg=PR1&dq=The+work+of+culture#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 
• Claus, Peter J.; Diamond, Sarah; Mills, Margaret Ann (2003). South Asian folklore: an encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 0415939194. http://books.google.com/books?id=au_Vk2VYyrkC&pg=PP1&dq=South+Asian+Folklore#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 
• Moore, Sally Falk; Myerhoff, Barbara G. (1977). Secular ritual. Uitgeverij Van Gorcum. ISBN 9023214579. http://books.google.com/books?id=78gecnM8SKgC&pg=PP1&dq=Secular+Ritual#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 
• Macdonald, Sharon; Fyfe, Gordon (1996). Theorizing museums: representing identity and diversity in a changing world. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 0631201513. http://books.google.com/books?id=3_nIsyJ8BWMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Theorizing+museums#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 
• Schechner, Richard; Appel, Willa (1990). By means of performance: intercultural studies of theatre and ritual. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521339154. http://books.google.com/books?id=PC5GJknPwlEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=By+means+of+performance#v=onepage&q=&f=false.