The 18 Disease causing demons
1 Kanna-sanniya – causes blindness (kana- blind)
2 Kora-sanniya – causes lameness (kora- lame)
3 Gini-jala-sanniya – (fire water sanninya) demon with fire on head causes fever and ague
4 Vedda-sanniya – sanniya with a bow like Vedda – causes bubonic plague
5 Demala-sanniya (Tamil sanniya) causes bad dreams and hallucinations
6 Kapala-sanniya causes insanity
7 Golu-sanniya causes people to be dumb (gola – dumb)
8 Biri-sanniya causes deafness (biri- deaf)
9 Maru-sanniya causes delirium
10 Amuku-sanniya causes vomiting
11 Gulma-sanniya causes parasitic worm infestation
12 Deva-sanniya causes epidemics such as smallpox, cholera, typhoid
13 Naga-sanniya causes bad dreams especially about snakes (naga- snake)
14 Murta-sanniya causes swooning and unconsciousness (murta – swoon)
15 Kala-sanniya causes black death (kala – black)
16 Pita- sanniya causes illnesses connected with bile e.g. drowsiness, headaches, vomiting, nightmares (pita- bile)
17 Vata-sanniya causes flatulence e.g. shaking, insanity, burning of limbs (vata- wind)
18 Slesma-sanniya causes illnesses connected with mucus e.g. mucus secretion from mouth, anus, urine, attacks of anxiety, epileptic fits (slesma – mucus)
These demons wished to roam around causing problems to humans starting at the court of Kola-sanniya’s father, the King. Then they set out for Sri Lanka to cause diseases there. This was before the people were Buddhist although they had heard of Buddha.
The Sri Lankans tried to make a high fence to keep out the demon army but it was no good. They appealed to Buddha who at first refused but then took pity on them and travelled to Sri Lanka with 500 attendants. It was an arduous journey involving the crossing of many rivers but as soon as they came to a river the waters parted so that they were able to cross in the dry.
When Buddha and his attendants arrived in Sri Lanka they were met with devastation. Rotting corpses were lying everywhere in Sri Lanka. There was in addition drought and famine. However as soon as Buddha appeared it started to rain, washing the corpses away into the rivers and out to sea so cleaning the land.
The demons were terrified when they saw Buddha and begged for mercy. He ordered that they should be brought food and sent them away into another country. He ordered his attendants to sprinkle holy water everywhere to cleanse the land. Then he preached to the people of Sri Lanka who then became Buddhist.
