agama. Devotees who came from India would sail to Trincomalee harbour, and from there they started walking via Batticaloa, Akkaraipatthu, Ampara, Thirukkovil, Sangaman Kanda, Uraniya, Pothuvil, Arugambay, Pānàmà, Okanda, Kumana, and crossed Kumbukkan Oya to enter Yala. From there they passed Katagamuwa and Vallimathagama, crossed River Menik and reached Kataragama.
Even after such tiring expeditions pilgrims were left with a completely dried-up River Menik. This made things go bad to worse. Without a good supply of water nobody was able to maintain personal hygiene which in turn made way to cholera and diarrhea. Mosquitos brought in malaria to make things worst. With all these odds against the pilgrims the entire pilgrimage was at stake. There had been occasions that epidemics broke out in Kataragama during Esala pilgrimage season and a lot of people had to die on roads.
Cholera!Such epidemic breakout occurred in 1858 is prominent in the recorded history of Kataragama. Cholera broke out among the pilgrims, and many men, women and children began dying on roadsides. This caused panic among all. Those who came from far off places of the Island even started running away from Kataragama leaving behind their sick relatives and friends, even forgetting the noble motives that brought them there. The infected individuals who were among the fleeing groups too might have finally died somewhere unknown to them, and their infected excretions might surely have helped to spread the disease to more and more people. Cholera spread out from village to village like wildfire. A recorded 76 dead bodies were found along the 28-mile road from Hambantota to Tangalle in 1858 Esala Season. In the Esala season of 1869 there were 28 corpses in Kataragama, on the streets only. Consider the number of deaths which might have happened on the way and in the jungle. Those dead bodies were consumed by leopards and jackals. Death in Muruga’s territory is blessed for Hindus, and it makes them to have a better afterlife, so they were rather happy and have had courage until the last moment of their life.
|The Great Kataragama Shrine today. (Compare this with the 194-year old picture at the top.)|
Due to the risk of breaking out epidemics the colonial government decided to limit the number of individuals entering the holy city of Kataragama during the Esala festival. Pilgrims needed to obtain a permit from the Government Agent of the particular area they lived. Those days, the Government Agent of Uva or Hambantota had to inspect the conditions at Kataragama at every pilgrimage season. They had to inspect whether the devotees observe what was called as the ‘Camping Rules’. First of the rules was to stay in the camp during the night; second was not to jump into the river from the bridge; and the third was to strictly use toilets and nowhere else for calls of nature. Toilets were actually pits dug in the ground, probably covered around with woven coconut leaf. Soil dug from the pit was kept close to it with a few coconut shells to cover-up the excreta in the pit. Pions were employed to show those toilets to people, and to make sure they do not use any other place for this requirement. Prisoners were brought there to keep the area clean. A medical officer too was stationed at the pilgrimage site to give free medical aid to anybody in need. Big containers of drinking water were set up along the roadside for the use of pilgrims. Such primary measures of hygiene were started to be taken in 1871 and 1872. With them the death rate of Kataragama pilgrims by cholera was gradually minimized.
Assistant Government Agent of Hambantota, Mr. E. A. King writes in 1870 that Kataragama reminds him of a small unpopulated and ruined village in Ireland. He says that there were a lot of huts spread out by the side of the main road, and those nobody was living were rented out to Chetti, Muslim, Malay, Sinhalese and Tamil sellers who come there in the festival season to open their stalls. Brass items such as cups and saucers, trays, plates, lamps and bells of superb craftsmanship were 