The talk about evil spirits is a never-ending one in the world. Anywhere on this planet, we find stories about evil spirits, demons, and ghosts in the vast ocean of folklore. These scary demons are usually based on regions, countries, religions and beliefs, and ethnic groups. Among them, there are the scariest demons of all. Likewise, the most feared, scariest demon in Sri Lanka is Mahasona.
He is also known as the god of the graveyard or the devil of the graveyard, with numerous claims of real-life encounters and folktales. “Maha” means “giant” or “great,” and “Sohona” means “graveyard” in Sinhala. Mahasohona indeed means the demon of the graveyard. This scary evil spirit is the real deal in some Sri Lankan rural areas, even today. So, if you are looking for scary stories for kids, scary campfire stories, or scary bedtime stories, search for this folktale character.
Origin of Mahasona, the Scariest Demon
Historical Background
The birth or origin of the demon Mahasona happened during King Dutugemunu’s rule in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. King Dutugemunu is the one who fought against the invader Elara, who ruled the main kingdom in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka for 44 years. Mahasona was Ritigala Jayasena before he became the demon. Ritigala is an area name that was also known as Aritta Pabbatha in ancient times. Jayasena was his name. Just like Robin of Sherwood, he was Jayasena of Ritigala.
Ritigala Jayasena was the main Yodha of King Dutugemunu’s military. Yodha means soldier in early languages like Sanskrit. However, it is believed that these soldiers, called “Maha Yodha,” were like majors in the military. But, according to the legend, “Yodha” means giant. There were ten of them in King Dutugemunu’s army. However, Ritigala Jayasena was the strongest of all and was undefeated.
The Dual Between Jayasena and Gotaimbara
According to the folk tale, after the final battle of Anuradhapura, the war was over and all the soldiers were celebrating the victory. Drunk Jayasena was caught performing adultery with the wife of another “Maha Yodha” in the army known as Gotaimbara.
As a result, Gotaimbara requested a dual with Jayasena, challenged him, and threatened to rip his head out of his neck, hitting one shot with his little finger. The king, Dutugemunu, advised them not to fight and to make peace between the two of them without further bloodshed. But Gotaimbara wanted to regain his pride and justice for what Jayasena did in a dual. As said, Gotaimbara did separate Jayasena’s head from his body in the dual battle. The head ejected from the body and landed on a tree called “karanda,” known as Pongamia pinnata. Gotaimbara won the dual and took his revenge.
A Bear-Head for Jayasena’s Acephalous
However, Jayasena did not die right away. His body had life in it. That was when Senasura intervened to save Jayasena. According to one version of the folktale, Jayasena had a friend called “Senasura”. In another version of the folktale, “Senasura” was a god and Jayasena was a loyal devotee to Senasura.
However, Jayasena’s friend or God, Senasura, wanted to save Jayasena and he was in a hurry to do it. Senasura looked everywhere but he could not find Jayasena’s head and he was running out of time. The battle was going on at Ritigala, a deep forest side in the country, where fearful animals like bears have lived up to date since the beginning of time. According to the legend, Senasura saw a bear nearby. He ran towards the bear, cut its neck off and attached it to Jayasena’s body before it was too late.
It is said that the bear head was attached to the headless body of Mahasona as it was facing backward by Senasura, who was scared and troubled. However, Senasura attached a bear’s head to Jayasena’s body and made him live. Jayasena survived but he was not human anymore. He had a human body and a bear head. Due to this ugliness, Jayasena left the village and hid in the graveyard.
Mahasona the Scariest Demon Rises
The legend says this Jaysena with a bear head who hid in the graveyard died and became Mahasona, the scariest demon or Yaksha in Sri Lanka.
Mahasona is considered to be the student of Shiva, called Bhasmasoorya, who has five avatars. Le-Mahasohona, Amu-Mahasohona, Jaya-Mahasohona, Maru-Mahasohona, and Golu-Mahasohona are the five of those avatars. Le-Mahasohona or Le-Sohon-Yakaa roughly means Blood-Mahasohona or Graveyard’s Demon of Blood. His vehicle is a goat. Amu-Mahasohona or Amu-Sohon-Yaka‘s vehicle is a deer. Jaya-Mahasohona or Jaya-Sohon-Yaka‘s vehicle is a horse. Maru-Mahasohona or Maru-Sohon-Yaka‘s vehicle is a sheep. Golu-Mahasohona or Golu-Sohon-Yaka‘s vehicle is an elephant. However, Mahasona, who takes various shapes and sits on various animals, is a fearsome, terrifying Yaksha (demon).
Appearance of Mahasona, the Scariest Demon
The appearance of Mahasona is quite a tricky one to comprehend because of the different versions of folktales. However, one thing that every folktale says is that Mahasona is an unnaturally tall figure. In fact, most folktale versions mention that Mahasona is said to have a height of about 37 meters.
Some folktales imply that this scary folklore creature has four eyes and four hands. Meanwhile, some folktales stay with the bear head, human body, and tall figure descriptions without any other unnatural features.
According to the most common versions of the folktales, in his right hand, he carries a water buffalo and drinks its blood. In his left hand, he carries a jawlin. The vehicle of Mahasona is a giant boar. I guess this description is enough to visualise the scariest folklore creature from Sri Lankan culture.
Haunting Humans!
Mahasona is infamous for occupying graveyards, rocky hills, and mountain tops while often lingering in three-joint junctions, four-joint junctions, and bathing spots. The ones who travel along the streets at midnight and at dawn encounter Mahasona. Mahasona does not take possession of a human body as soon as he sees one. Instead, he makes the human scared first and makes the man run. Then he hunts the man down and hits his back in between his shoulders. When Mahasona does that, a five-finger mark in blue appears on the back of the person. That is how the other people identified that someone had been attacked by Mahasona.
Mahasona mostly encounters males and almost none of the females have been troubled by him. When a man is hit by Mahasona, his whole body starts to shiver, the entire body becomes full of pain, straightening up the neck becomes so hard, and severe diarrhea characteristics start to show. When a person is possessed by Mahasona, Sinhalese call it Mahason Dishti.
Treatments for Mahasona’s Attacks: Exorcism for Mahason Dishti
The effects of Mahasona’s attacks are extremely hard to treat. Unlike most of the evil spirits called Yakshas and Prethas, who are trapped using mantras by putting knots in threads, Mahasona cannot be trapped like that. The only thing that can make Mahasona obey is performing the ritual called Mahason Samayama and following a mystic chanting power called Gotaimbara Dehena. That is because the King of Yakshas, King Vesamuni, has allowed Mahasona to take human prey. Mahasona takes chickens in place of human prey. Therefore, the mystic performers give chicken prey to Mahasona to save the one who has been attacked by this scary demon.
The patients who have cholera and diarrhea attract Mahasona’s attention. Therefore, these patients should be protected as they are treated with medicine. Country people in ancient times were careful not to even mimic Mahasona’s name when they were passing a graveyard. That is because this demon is such a terrifying one. Most of the time, the person who was terrorised and then attacked by Mahasona has passed away.
Do you wish to know more scary folktale characters like this? Click here to read about 7 more scary demons and evil spirits!