The Ahikuntaka

www.dilmahconservation.org
A vanishing community Maddili
Within the Galgamuwa Giribawa electorate, in
Maduragama, resides a special nomadic clan known as
‘Maddili’. The clan comprises of 60 families and they live in
land that is owned by the Giribawa Veheragala Purana Raja
Maha Viharaya. They seem to have moved away from their
traditional nomadic lifestyle, and completely intertwined with
the local Sinhalese lifestyle.
To an outsider, the gypsies and Madillis would be one
and the same. Both clans used Thelingu as their language
of communication and lived the usual nomadic lifestyle,
migrating from one place to another. However, the disparity
between the two groups is such that there was no evidence of
even a marriage taking place between the two communities.
The Maddili exhibit ‘Rilawa’- the Macaque , a local version of
the monkey while the Ahikuntaka are snake charmers. This is
the main difference between the two groups. The forefathers
of the two clans were proud of their respective livelihood
and believed that one was below the other in the hierarchical
structure and vice versa, therefore there was seldom an
interconnection between the two exhibits. The Ahikuntaka
would never exhibit a Rilawa just as the Maddili would never
charm snakes. However, economic constraints mitigated this
disparity within both communities when they realised that
they could earn more money by having two exhibits. Today, a
majority of gypsies, carry both a snake and a monkey as props.
The senior most citizen of Maduragama is known as Somasiri.
However, he told us that his original name was Thangayya,
which he later changed in order to integate with the new
environment. According to him, his father migrated to this
area during the 1940’s from a place called Variyapola Bandara
Koswaththe. Upon arrival they have lived in a place called
‘Hambogama’ in the vicinity of a lake. They moved from
place to place exhibiting Rilaw and were engaged in palm
reading. Once they earn their wages, the men always came
back to Hambogama. The reason for the shifting of residence
from Hambogama to the current Maduragama was explained
by the chief incumbent of the Raja Maha Viharaya, Ven.
Maradankadawala Nandarama. ‘There was an incident with
a village head during the 1960s, where some traders refused
to sell him palm trees because they were being transported
to the Madillis. This wasn’t taken well by that arachchi. He
called for a council meeting and it was unanimously decided
to chase away these people. They were given notice that
evening to leave the environs of Hambogama. They had left
the place and the next day they were found in the vicinity of
the temple with no place to go. The villagers were very angry
with the fact that the order had not been obeyed; they were
insisting that the Madillis should leave the area for good. This
issue was brought to the notice of the then chief incumbent
of the temple who told the Madillis to live in land owned by
the temple. To this day, this is where they live. The high priest
did not change his decision despite so many threats from the
villagers.’
The chief incumbent of the temple at the time was Ven.
Weehenegama Dharmapala who then sought to transform
this community. Subsequently, they gave up the practice of
palm reading and exhibiting and got into other trades and
industries in order to make a living. They have erased their
original identity completely, with almost all members of the
clan changing their names to local Sinhalese names.
40 The Ahikuntaka
A vanishing community Maddili