A Study of Local Religious Faiths and Beliefs in Kalutara District

Abstract

Ethnicity is an ancient cultural heritage inherited by every human race. It is no secret that Ethnicity is still a living art throughout Lakdiwa. Faiths and beliefs can be called as one part of ethnicity which is an ancient cultural heritage. Man is an animal created by the environment that lives with the environment. Since the birth of society, human beings imagined many things that were not within their subject range that they could not understand, such as supernatural things or characters such as gods, devils, demons and ghosts. Through that, various faiths and beliefs were born and religious sacrifices have been made to them. Because of those beliefs and faiths, it is also seen that people are inclined towards religion. Also, based on these faiths and beliefs, people have the attitude that their lives will be prosperous. There are also religious beliefs related to various disasters and suffering. In Sri Lankan society, smallpox, measles and smallpox are still known as "God's diseases" and sacrifices are held to cure them during disasters such as rain, cyclones, debts, and tsunamis. Even when building a house, these beliefs are maintained. When asked various situations in life depend on these faith beliefs. These beliefs still exist in the local villages of Kalutara district today. Even today, these beliefs are still locally unknown in the Kalutara district. Examples of this are the ‘Mahagaha’ tree worship heard from Uduvara village and the ‘KiripaluRuka’ tree worship heard from Koronduwa village. It is a problem that existing religious beliefs remain unknown. Due to the suppression of those religious beliefs, it happens that they are limited only to the people in those areas. The practical and psychological basis of these beliefs is also problematic. This research aims to investigate such faiths and beliefs that have not been paid attention to and to find out the non-violence, humanity, psychological background and practicality among them. It is intended to use qualitative research methodology for this research and to use primary and secondary sources as sources. There are 14 divisional secretariat divisions in Kalutara district. Among them, the five divisional secretarial constituencies of Kalutara, Horana, Matugama, Agalawatta, and Bulathsinhala are used as a sample and the method of interviews conducted by the temple heads and villagers in those areas is considered to be questionable. By being able to find hidden religious beliefs in Kalutara district, being able to bring out the psychological basis, human qualities and practicality embedded in those religious beliefs and being able to examine that even if the religious beliefs have no basis, they have a sociological basis are main results of this research and the other results are the facts that the future generation will be able to gain an understanding of the current state of religious beliefs in Sri Lankan culture, especially the hidden religious beliefs.