© 2018 Dr. M. Sheppard
(References : Exorcism and the Art of Healing in Ceylon by Paul Wirz 1954)
Paul Wirz studied these extensively (see especially page 18-
During the devil dances the history of the dancing and cures is sung during the ceremony as well as the origins of the various disease causing demons. These are very ancient curing dances that are believed to have originated from Southern India but have been adapted by the Sinhalese.
There are various legends about the origin of the Sinhalese Devil Dance. One main one is that it originates from a blind man from the ancient and very holy Sri Lankan capital Anuradhapura. In order to restore his sight, he danced the whole way from Anuradhapura to the image of Kataragama at the Temple of Dondra (about 340 Kms). His sight was restored and he wrote the details of this dance down in a book which he presented to the Shrine of Kataragama. According to this version of the legend, this ancient dances is what the Devil dancers use in a Devil Dance. It has been handed down from Devil dancer to Devil Dancer via trainees, through the generations.
Another legend is that a Buddhist monk died and was reborn as an elephant. He became the leader of a large herd of elephants that lived by an enormous swamp. A gigantic crab lived in this swamp and every day when the elephants crossed the swamp, the crab would kill and eat the last elephant, dragging it down into the swamp. The leader of the elephants noticed that the herd was decreasing and so placed himself last. He caught the crab and crushed it to death. Its body floated to the mouth of the river causing a tremendous flood over the surrounding area.
The local people appealed for mercy. The deity Sakra heard their cries for help and came down from heaven and dragged the body of the crab back with him to heaven so the flood cleared. He called two of his sons who were the Masters of Music to make two enormous drums out of the crab’s claws. These drums were 16 miles across. These Masters of Music then taught the gods how to beat the various rhythms on the drums and the different dance poses and steps of the curing dances. They also taught the gods the 64 verses sung and recited during the Devil Dances and the 216 hymns sung in praise of Buddha.
Training to be a Devil dancer is long and often starts in childhood. Typically the art is passed down from father to son through the generations although boys and men whose relatives are not Devil Dancers can be apprenticed. First the trainees learn the poses and steps.