Traditional Agricultural Practices Unique to Meemure Village, Kandy District Sri Lanka

Abstract

Meemure, located in the Central Province, in Kandy District, 343 km from Colombo is one of the uniquevillages in Sri Lanka that has about five hundred years of history and is remaining isolated from the mainsociety with its own specific culture. Village prehistory has built on mythical stories related to “KingRawana” as well as folklores centered around a Vedda name “Beduruwa”; owner of the village during KingWimaladharmasuriya I (1542-1604). Due to its isolation from the main society many of the early traditionsare still been preserved in this community. Therefore the main objective of this research is to study thetraditional agricultural practices that are unique to them which they inherited from their forefathers. This isa descriptive study which used qualitative data collection methods. Questionnaire survey was conductedusing seventy informants representing one person from each family and in depth interviews were conductedwith five individuals. The study was conducted from April to November, 2013. Ninety percent of the Meemurevillagers were farmers. Results revealed that the majority of the agricultural practices in Meemure villageare unique to them. In paddy cultivation “Aluyanthraya adima”, traditional paddy storing system- “Veeatuwa” and many religious practices as well as land apportion system-“Pendi weta” (fence) and themethods used to construct the “Chena pala” in Chena cultivation cannot be seen in other cultures. Howeverthere is a gradual decrease in the usage of these practices nowadays thus it is necessary to record andprotect these diminishing cultures.

KEYWORDS Diminishing cultures, Folk lore, Religious practices, Chena cultivation