© 2023 Dr. M. Sheppard

Demons Disease Causing Demons Kola-sanniya and his companions Atura-sanniya Kalu and Aimana-yakka Vata-Kumara Kalu-Kumara Sunni-yakka Mahasona Siri-yakka

Atura-sanniya


He was born in Russia but his mother had already died. Her body and the baby were left in the bush. He had supernatural powers and was already a demon. He survived by eating corpses and when he grew up he would ambush and kill humans and then eat them.

He gathered an army of 7,700 other demons and together they roamed about killing and eating humans. It became so bad that Buddha met with Isvara and the Demon King Vesamunu-rajjuruvo to organise a compromise. The three of them came down to Earth and found Atura-sanniya asleep. Buddha directed his halo towards him and this awakened him. Atura-sanniya’s servants told him that 3 men were begging for alms outside the house. Atura-sanniya angrily went to the door to tell the men to go away but grew afraid when he saw who it was. He told Buddha that he was only taking revenge for the death of his mother.

At first he refused to give in to Buddha and stop what he and his demon army were doing but then Buddha directed his halo radiance at Atura-sanniya and the demon army, burning their skins. They begged for mercy and Buddha agreed that they  must stop killing people but they could continue to cause them problems so long as when offerings were made to them  and mantra were recited, they must restore their human victims to health.

The offerings that Atura-sanniya receives are five kinds of seeds, rice and curry presented in a special basket woven from leaves – a tatuva.

Atura-sanniya is all black, he wears a crown and on his forehead he has cow-dung ash (Hindu fashion). His hair is curly and around his neck he wears a pearl necklace. He has four arms and carries a bow, arrows and trident.