Kebiliththa Dewalaya Nanumura poojawa - කැබිලිත්ත දේවාලයේ නානුමුර පුජාව

#Kebiliththa කඳ සුරිඳුන් අදටත් ජීවමාන කැබිලිත්ත දේවාලය - කැබිලිත්ත දේවාලයේ නානුමුර පුජාව සිදු වෙන්නේ මෙහෙමයි
යාල ජාතික වන උද්‍යානයට අයත් අංක 02 කලාපයේ රමණිය කුඹුක්‌කන්ඔය ආසන්නයේ ඇති මෙම සියඹලා දේවාලය හෙවත් කැබිලිත්ත දේවාලය ඈත අතීතයට උරුමකම් කියා පාන ඓතිහාසික ගුප්ත වු ස්‌ථානයකි. කතරගම දේවාලය ඉදිකිරීමට පෙර සිටම මෙම අඩවිය කතරගම දෙවියන්ගේ අණසක පැතිර තිබූ බිමකි. 1602 දී අප දිවයින ආක්‍රමණය කළ ඕලන්දක්‌කාරයින් විසින් දේවාල පන්සල් කොල්ලකමින් දේශිය උරුමයන් වනසමින් සිටි සමයේ දී කතරගම දේවාලයේ වස්‌තුව රැක ගැනිමට පාරම්පරික කපුවරුන් සිය දිවිහිමියෙන් ක්‍රියා කරනු ලැබීය. මෙම සියඹලා දේවාලය අවට විශාල බෝධියක්‌ද පවතින අතර මේ වටා ඇති වනයේ වෙහෙර විහාර රැසක නටබුන් රැසක්‌ අදත් දක්‌නට ලැබේ. කැබිලිත්ත පුද බිමට යාමට මාර්ග කීපයක් තිබේ. එකක් පානම කුමන පාරෙනි. තවෙකක් යාල අංක 02 ඔස්‌සේ මැණික්‌ ගග තරණය කර පැමිණිය හැකි අතර ගල්ගේ මුර පොළ අසළින්ද කොටියාගල කුමණ ප්‍රදේශයෙන් ද යා හැකිය. මෙයින් කෙටිම පාර ගල්ගේ පාරයි. නමුත් එය තාවකාලිකව වසා ඇත. කුමන පාරද දැනට තහනම් කර ඇත. මේ නිසා කොටියාගල පාරෙන් ඉතා දුෂ්කර මාර්ගයක ගිරි දුර්ග, වන දුර්ග, ජල දුර්ග පසු කරගෙන කැබිලිත්තට යාමට බැතිමතුන්ට සිදුවේ.
Nanu mura poojawa is a way of paying homage to lord kataragama by taking the statue of the lord kataragama to the nearby river (kubukkan oya) and bathing it with a mixture made of milk, (nanu) fruits and water as a way of paying homage to lord kataragama. It isnt an easy task to take the statue out of the shrine, not everyone does it. The Head Person of the Shrine (Kapu Mahaththaya) was chanting the whole time to request permission to take the statue out of the shrine. While all the chantings were happening and the statue was taken out, the air of the whole surrounding changed. It was a quite noticeable change to everyone. Everyone was saying " Haro-Hara " aloud while the pooja was happening. All the men were clad in white dress with a white cloth used as a mask to cover their face.This pooja is a sacred and as well as a rewarding pooja. At last, the statue was dressed with clothes with great honor and was taken back to the shrine with a procession.
Kebilitta Wandana It is an arduous pilgrimage to the sacred Tamarind Tree Shrine of Kebilitta that lies in the foliage of Yala Block III near Kumbukkan Oya to seek divine blessings of God SkandaThe Kataragama Esala Festival, set around the historic Ruhunu Kataragama Maha Devalaya in the deep south of Sri Lanka, begins this week with much reverence. An awe-inspiring annual ritual, which has been held for centuries, the festival draws thousands of devotees from various ethnicities who pay reverence to God Kataragama, the deity with six faces and 12 hands, mounted upon a peacock chariot. I thought of taking you today to the Kebilitta jungle shrine of God Skanda or God Kataragama in the middle of the jungle of Yala.
Kebilitta is said to be the spiritual residence of God Skanda, believed to be a site of great divine power. Although the historic shrine of Ruhunu Kataragama Maha Devalaya and the Kiri Vehera dagoba attract thousands of devotees, the belief that the divinity prefers to spend his time at the more tranquil environs of Kebilitta attracts die-hard devotees to this jungle tree shrine.
The endless virgin forest of the Yala National Park spread in front of us under the towering trees as we made a 45 kilometre arduous trek to Kebilitta in a bumpy tractor through a gravel track from Kotiyagala. Being the dry season, we were fortunate to drive on the dried up river beds, crossing sand dunes. The journey to Kebilitta or Maha Siyabalawa Devalaya, the spiritual abode of God Kataragama near the bank of Kumbukkan Oya was a difficult journey. Yet, it is a spiritual journey with the sounds of nature along the dirt track to the jungle site. The trek has not disheartened the devotees who throng, seeking the blessings of God Skanda.
There are two routes, one from Okanda, an entrance of the Kumana East National Park via Kuda Kebilitta. The other route lies through Kotiyagala, often used by pilgrims.
The journey to the tree shrine on both routes is through the rough terrains of Yala and across the Kumbukkan Oya, where a small shrine dedicated to God Skanda and Goddess Pattini stands at the crossing. Traditionally, an oil lamp is lit every time a pilgrim enters the forest invoking a safe journey.
We used the second route, through the Kotiyagala village in the Moneragala district. We had to park the tractor along the riverside and camp under the Kumbuk trees. We set up camp on the right bank, and spent the night under the stars. At 3 am the next morning, we crossed the river with our guide to offer pooja at the shrine, which he said was done in traditional style.
The dense jungle of Yala and chena cultivation stretched into the distance as far as the eye could see. It is almost inaccessibly hidden deep in the Ruhuna jungles where Veddhas worshipped in the dim past and gathered to curse, swear and seek punishment for wrongdoers.