Yesterday I attended a kiriamma dana. Though I heard such a dana exist in our country it was the first time I experience what happen on such occasion.
When My friends Bindu ayya and Umanga arrived home at midnight after another hectic day on 6th of November 2012, frantic preparations were under way in the kitchen and the newly put up firewood kitchen outside the main house.
The preparations were for the Kiri Amma dana (almsgiving) Those cooking were bindu ayya, Mahatun Uncle, Ranga malli, Chami ayya, Nilu nangi, Misanari, Lalitha aunty, padmini aunty and there were large number of people who gathered there.
This dana is given for all sorts of reasons like warding off evil spirits and driving out curses and runs of bad luck etc. This dana was held for blessing for bindu ayya and umanga’s daughter (Nethuli chooty baba).
All the food for the dana was made from their produce, except for the sugar, plums and cashews used in some of the rasa kavili, the kiriya I think it was. The kiri bath or milk rice was kekulu samba grown by their in Polonnaruwa, the kavum was with rice flour and coconut oil. The ambul kehel was also there.
Once all the food preparation is made all very fresh, they are ready to receive the kiri ammas. I don’t know what it takes to be a kiri amma, but I will find out and let you know next time. I think you have to be a mother of a certain age and have your credits at the temple!! to make you worthy of conducting such a ceremony and partaking in it.
Bindu ayya’s friend went in the van and picked them up at around 3.00 a.m as all this ceremony is performed before sun up. It was all performed in their dining room, cleared of all the furniture.
There were seven ladies all dressed in white clothes in a fashion of taking sill at the temple on poya days. First they are seated in a row along the wall on mats. Then a large banana leaf is placed in front of them and the various items of food are laid on the banana leaf by the ladies who cooked the meal. There was the kiri bath, then the kiriya, then the kavum, fruit and finally the kehel. All this can be seen in the photos. Then a parcel wrapped in paper was put in it was a beautiful white sari. Also panduru (offering) of 5/- coin was also placed on the leaf. Then the coconut oil lamps are lit and all the staff of the farm and I knelt on a mat and the pirith chanting took place for a while. All the pirith was chanted by memory and it seemed all of them knew their lines. This went on for at least one hour.
Then once that is over, they got up and were given a pahan thira dipped in coconut oil, which was then lit, which they held and prayed for all good things to remain and all bad things to disappear then in a flash put the flame out into a bowl of water.
After that the head who performed the main ceremony, blessed us with coconut oil rubbing on to our foreheads and the proceedings concluded with all the food and items given wrapped into a bag and given them to take home, just as dawn breaks. I came home around 5.
Thank you
Aruna Herath
Manager of Esoft Computer Studies (Pvt) Ltd
Polonnaruwa.
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